Until this morning, the fate of Ultra Music Festival hung in the balance. The organizers put forth a new proposal to host the festival on Virginia Key, 10 minutes away from Bayfront Park. Among opposition from Rapture Music Festival and the residents of Key Biscayne (who do not belong to the same county district as Virginia Key), the matter was brought to vote this afternoon at the Miami City Council.
After over three hours of contentious deliberation the council voted today to approve Ultra’s proposal to move to Miami Marine Stadium and Historic Virginia Key Beach Park in Virginia Key. The stipulation of the deal was the fee of $2 million to the city of Miami from Ultra for the ability to sell up to 60,000 tickets to the festival. The contract will be in place for two years, with a revocable option within 60 days after the festival given special circumstances.
Commissioner Joe Carollo was the main opponent of the proposal for the majority of the deliberation, choosing to focus mainly on the money that would be owed to the city by the festival. Fluctuating from $1.4 million at 50,000 tickets to the final number of $2 million at 60,000 tickets, Carollo finally conceded a YES vote following a lengthy explanation during the vote tally. 
Miami City Council Discussion on Ultra Music Festival
Discussion as it pertains to Ultra begins at 9:00 in the live stream.
https://www.facebook.com/CityOfMiamiGov/videos/328185041297349/
The topics discussed during the meeting included traffic and transportation, environmental impact, land use, and a provision for money for the construction of an African-American Museum at the beach park.
$1 million of the fee would apparently go directly into a trust for later use, with the rest of the fee to be divvied up accordingly. Parking at the festival will apparently only be available to VIP Parking ticket holders, of which only “several hundred” will be sold.
At least two council members were very wary of voting YES in the final vote. It passed in a 4-1 vote.
Photo via aLIVE Coverage for Ultra
