Palm Beach rejects request from 'Real Housewives of Miami' to film on Worth Avenue

Plans for the cast of a popular reality television show to visit Palm Beach next week were scuttled by the Town Council on Tuesday.

During their meeting at Town Hall, council members unanimously denied a request from a producer of "The Real Housewives of Miami" to film scenes at several businesses along Worth Avenue. Shooting was to have begun Tuesday and continue through May 20, said Veronica Salinitro, a producer of the reality show that focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women living in Miami.

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Council members said they were concerned about safety, traffic and security issues that would arise from filming along Worth.

The same concerns were cited last month when the council denied a request from a London-based film studio to shoot scenes for a limited TV series starring Annette Bening and Sam Neill in Palm Beach. Producers for that series, titled "Apples Never Fall," had sought cooperation from the town to film scenes in Palm Beach for two to four days in late July.

The town permits filming in its commercially zoned districts outside of season, and both projects would have fit within that window. "In fairness to the applicant, right now, with just how busy we are and with what we're doing, we just haven't been approving any of these," council member Julie Araskog said Tuesday.

"The Real Housewives of Miami," which debuted on Bravo in 2011 and moved to Peacock in 2021, recently completed its fifth season.

Production is underway on Season 6, Salinitro said, and producers were hoping to film a small cast trip to Palm Beach. Filming would be done documentary-style with a small footprint of up to 12 crew members, including two camera operators, one audio mixer and three to four producers and production assistants, Salinitro said.

Producers obtained permission from business owners to film inside their stores and restaurants on Worth, Salinitro said, but the production required council approval to move forward with the production.

"We have some location agreements that we already secured with some owners of the restaurants and stores on Worth Avenue," she said. "We just wanted to ask if you'd allow us to film."

The council said it wouldn't agree to that.

"I just feel that for security reasons, and because of this town, the way it is, that we should not allow these types of things to go on," Council President Maggie Zeidman said.

Council members have acknowledged their opinions on allowing commercial film projects to be shot in Palm Beach have changed since "Parker," a movie starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez, was filmed on the island in 2011.

"There's no redeeming quality to this," council member Bobbie Lindsay said last month. "Maybe five years ago, I would have felt different, but today I'm not comfortable with it."

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach says no filming 'Real Housewives of Miami' on Worth Avenue