(WSVN) – Some friends like to get together to play frisbee in a city park … but then they were told they needed permits that would cost thousands of dollars to play. True or false? To find out, let’s toss the problem to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
People work hard, which is why it’s nice to relax a little.
Suhrud Rajguru: “So I love to exercise.”
And then about a year ago, Suhrud met some fellows who exercised by playing frisbee.
Suhrud Rajguru: “They invited me to join their little pick-up group.”
Every week or two they text each other and get together at Armbrister Park in Coconut Grove.
Suhrud Rajguru: “That is really fun, to get around with a bunch of people, throw around, play Ultimate Frisbee.”
A lot of fun … till it wasn’t.
Suhrud Rajguru: “We get approached by the manager from the parks at Armbrister, and they tell us that we need to have a permit.”
A permit to play in the park. Suhrud explained they are no different than kids playing on the basketball court.
Suhrud Rajguru: “We’re not an organization. We don’t charge any member to play. Why would we need a permit?”
The answer from the park rep?
Suhrud Rajguru: “Because we had more than 10 people, they deemed us as an organization, and we needed a permit.”
Suhrud explained that only eight people play the frisbee game at a time, below their 10-player limit, and they only use a small part of the field.
Suhrud Rajguru: “Typically we play at night, between 8 to 10 p.m., and usually there is nobody here.”
Suhrud read the City of Miami permit handbook and thought it was clear the guys didn’t need a permit, but he went ahead and asked about the cost of a permit.
Suhrud Rajguru: “To have an event one time would require around somewhere between $80 to $100-something.”
Suhrud was told the $80 permit fee was only good for two hours, meaning if they played once a week it would be $4,160 a year to play frisbee.
Patrick Fraser: “And you paid for this park with your taxes.”
Suhrud Rajguru: “Correct.”
Patrick Fraser: “But you can’t use this park.”
Suhrud Rajguru: “Correct.”
Patrick Fraser: “Well, you can for $4,100.”
Suhrud Rajguru: “Correct.”
Suhrud Rajguru: “All we want to do is just get together, have fun, play, relax.”
Cities and counties encourage residents to use the park, but can they block them in this case, Howard?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “Miami has a right to control their parks, but I never heard of a city who thought it was a problem for eight people to play frisbee. In this case, their own rules say the players do not need a permit because it’s less than 10 people. But even it was 10 kids playing basketball or baseball, or adults playing frisbee, it’s what parks were made for. Let them play.”
From the believe-it-or-not category, when we went over to Armbrister Park to talk to Suhrud, three fellows came over. The first words, about a permit.
Park employee: “Have they got the permit already?”
Patrick Fraser: “We don’t need a permit to interview someone.”
He took his phone call, and they walked away.
I contacted the City of Miami about the frisbee players haveing to have a permit. A spokesperson wrote: “The purpose of our rules is to prevent organizations from exploiting public spaces for profit.”
Then the good news for Suhrud and his friends: “It is not mandated to have a permit for this size group, and we encourage them to continue to use our wonderful parks.”
Suhrud Rajguru: “It’s great that the city understood that we’re just citizens trying to enjoy the park.”
Now is a few kids want to play basketball, they don’t have to pay, and adults don’t need a permit to throw a frisbee.
Suhrud Rajguru: “Thank you so much, Patrick, Johnnie and Channel 7 News. I really, really appreciate all of you.”
Johnnie is our photographer, who shoots all the Help Me Howards.
Glad we could straighten out that little misunderstanding at the park, and I admire people like Suhrud, who see something wrong and want to fix it. It’s the kind of people that make doing Help Me Howard so much fun for us.
Someone parked a problem with you? Wanna exercise your rights? Toss it our way, and permit us to help … for free.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
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