Neighbors who live in a South Miami neighborhood say they are fed up with the ruckus coming from a nearby gym. But the gym owner says he’s being unfairly targeted. NBC 6’s Alyssa Hyman reports
Neighbors in a South Miami neighborhood said they are fed up with the ruckus coming from a nearby gym, but the gym owner says he’s being unfairly targeted.
Gabriel Verona showed NBC 6 the dozens of citations that have been piling up from the city of South Miami.
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He has 77 of them to be exact. He’s accused of violating the city’s noise ordinance.
On the citation, under "facts constituting reasonable cause," it says, “sound emanating from structure at 6600 SW 62nd, South Miami, FL on date and time cited above could be heard from outside the property line.”
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That address is where he runs his business, Stunna’s Gym - a boot camp and personal training facility. He’s been there since 2017. Despite complaints early on from a handful of neighbors, Verona said initially he was not in violation.
“In 2019, they changed the noise ordinance to zero noise can be heard outside these walls, so what you hear now is technically breaking the rules and that’s a fine,” said Verona.
That’s when he said the citations started pouring in. He said he spent thousands of dollars making changes to his doors and sound system to appease his neighbors.
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“We don’t even use our mics anymore. We can’t even come outside. We'll probably get cited for this. I mean, it’s pathetic,” he said.
“It’s stressful. It’s frustrating because I did everything by the book. You guys licensed me to be here. I’m okay, now. I had to make a lot of changes just to run my business.”
NBC 6 reached out to the City of South Miami, the city attorney confirmed there are three neighbors in particular who have been making the complaints.
“You can’t even hear me within the back yard,” said Verona. He cupped his ears and then said, “if you go like this and you want to hear something you’re going to hear us but it’s not a disturbance.”
However, the neighbors who have been complaining disagree. NBC 6 spoke to one of them off-camera who said the noise has been an issue from day one.
The neighbor says they hear screaming, profanity and weights slamming, saying it's ruining their homes.
“You guys can’t hear me inside your home,” said Verona. “It’s when you come out and you want to sit in your back patio and your backyard is a commercial business. We're here you’re gonna hear us.”
It’s also an expensive issue for Verona, who will be in municipal court Friday morning to face a judge for several dozen of these violations. He said he’s facing up to $20,000 in fines.
The mayor of South Miami, Sally Philips, responded to NBC 6 late Thursday night, saying in part: “Both parties have taken actions to aggravate each other. It is not a situation that has an easy solution.”
