Promoters are planning a Miami Beach version of the Freaknik event that was banned in Atlanta. 

Hoping to avoid a repeat of this year’s Urban Beach Week mayhem, Miami Beach city officials on Tuesday said they would keep an eye on a “Freaknik Miami” event planned for March. But organizer Otis Bailey said the event will have nothing in common with the original Freaknik, a once-regular Spring Break event in Atlanta that was eventually banned — or Urban Beach Week, which has drawn an estimated 250,000 each year around Memorial Day since 2001 and proved deadly this year.

“It’s not like we’re taking over,” said Bailey, 27, who expects a maximum of 3,500 people to participate. “We’re basically booking rooms and having parties.” Still, promotions for the Miami version of Freaknik have caught the attention of some residents who are raising concerns with city officials. Some have pointed to the event’s website, which boasts suggestive photos and big claims. “Coming in spring 2012 we are bringing you a Freaknik experience bigger, badder, and sexier, than you have ever known before,” the website says.

“Only this time, we are taking Freaknik to a place that it has never been, a place that can only house a Freaknik of this magnitude…MIAMI, FLORIDA!” City Commissioner Jerry Libbin said administrators have told him that the potential impact appears to be minimal. “At this point, it’s potentially all much ado about nothing,” he said. “Everybody’s welcome to come to Miami Beach. … It’s all about what you do when you get here and if you obey the law.”

Assistant City Manager Hilda Fernandez said the city will monitor information on the promotion, which so far amounts to a travel package during Spring Break. “There are no city-approved special events permits that have been requested or issued for that period associated with anything called ‘Freaknik,’ and at this time we are not aware of events occurring on private property,” Fernandez wrote in an email. Bailey said he and other promoters expect to bring about 3,500 people — mostly students from historically black colleges and universities in the Southeast.

The website is promoting a $350 package that includes hotel, bus charter and alcohol during the ride, which leaves Atlanta on March 8 and departs Miami Beach at noon on March 11, a Sunday. The site says organizers will book rooms at four hotels, including the Kent Hotel and Colony Hotel. Some residents who are trying to do away with Urban Beach Weekend have sounded the alarm on Freaknik. The “END: Memorial/Urban Weekend in Miami Beach” Facebook page, with 6,417 “likes,” included this message this month: “WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE for City Hall to take ACTION against those with no respect for our city? A full-blown takeover of South Beach is being promoted via internet as we speak (Freaknik 2012) — and STILL NO ACTION from City Hall.

” Bailey said he thinks his event is getting a negative reaction because of this year’s violent Memorial Day weekend, when a police shooting killed a 22-year-old man and left three officers injured and four bystanders with bullet wounds. The concerns are unwarranted, Bailey said, pointing out that Freaknik Miami will even have a philanthropic edge.Organizers intend to award three $500 scholarships for local high school students and bring some sports equipment for local Boys & Girls Clubs. “We’re not coming to the city empty-handed,” Bailey said. “I don’t think Urban Beach Week was offering anyone scholarships.” Miami Herald staff writer David Smiley contributed to this report.

via miami herald