Thursday, April 25, 2024
Increased numbers of bond hearings are being planned for as the Atlantic Beach Bikefest over Memorial Day weekend draws near.
Part of planning for the weekend includes special bond hearings beginning at 6 a.m. Friday morning and convening every six hours thereafter through Sunday night.
The only conclusion that can be drawn from these preparations is that many more arrests are expected this year.
Two months, much confusion and many hard feelings later, the ordinance to change bike rallies was killed by Horry County Council Tuesday night by a 10-2 vote. Council members Harold Worley and Gary Loftus voted against the majority.
This means the current law under which vendor permits are issued will remain as it has been for the past three years.
Vendor permits will be issued for seven days at a cost of $800 east of the waterway and $500 west of the waterway.
“It still amazes me that with tourism being one of our state’s best industries city & county councils want to shoot themselves in the foot by running people away from Myrtle Beach. I am a former truck driver and being so I have traveled all over this wonderful country. When I would stop at places from Maine to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the Gulf Coast all who rode motorcycles would ask after seeing I was from South Carolina ” How do I get to Myrtle Beach”. I can’t tell you how many times this happened. The draw is amazing! The monies this generates for our great state can’t truly be calculated, both for Myrtle Beach & the state in general. Do they realize how many people return to our state after just traveling through it? The “Great State of South Carolina” from the mountains to the sea is beautiful! Why do you want to run off our best commercial asset?”
The above was a comment by “David a. Horta” on our last story about the Harley Davidson Bike Rally. He states the obvious – the bike rallies introduced many tourists to Myrtle Beach and brought a lot of money into the local economy.
The Horry County Planning and Zoning Commission added the latest twist to the continuing Bike Rally saga last night when it recommended modifications to the proposed county ordinance regarding temporary vendor and special permit modifications to the county zoning ordinance.
The Planning Commission is required by state and local law to review and make a recommendation to county council with respect to any ordinance on zoning or zoning change. The proposed ordinance affecting vendor permits would make changes to Appendix B of the county’s zoning ordinance.
Third reading of the ordinance was on the agenda for the regular meeting of county council this past Tuesday night when it was “discovered” at the eleventh hour that the ordinance had never been referred to the commission for review and recommendation.
An eleventh hour discovery that the ordinance amending the vendor and special events permits needed to go to the Planning Commission for a recommendation prior to final consideration from council keeps an issue potentially affecting the May bike rallies undecided.
Third reading of the ordinance was scheduled for county council last night. If the ordinance had been approved in its present form, vendor permits would be allowed for seven days at reduced fees from prior years. Both would be positive results for the bike rallies.
Instead, council chairman Tom Rice announced county attorney Arrigo Carotti had contacted him earlier in the day stating the ordinance must be reviewed and a recommendation received from the Planning Commission prior to final consideration from council.
Bikes rallies and gun control, two of the most controversial issues to come before Horry County Council in some time, should be put to rest at tonight’s regular meeting barring any last minute surprises.
Council agenda lists a resolution directing a “more aggressive approach to be taken by the Horry County Police Department in the enforcement of existing laws” with respect to the discharge of firearms in close proximity to residences.
This resolution comes to council instead of an ordinance that would have severely restricted gun use in the county. A presentation by Public Safety Division head Paul Whitten and Horry County Police Chief Saundra Rhodes to the county Public Safety Committee made the case that current state and local law were sufficient to deal with any problems of weapons discharges in the sub-divisions. Both Whitten and Rhodes said there was no need for a new ordinance to address the issue.
In what can only be called an arrogant abuse of parliamentary procedure, Horry County Council chairman Tom Rice called a five minute break, in the midst of debating an ordinance on the floor, because voting on amendments to the ordinance didn’t go his way.
This blatant lack of respect for the elected body he serves and abuse of power as chairman came during council’s regular meeting Tuesday night, but did not produce the result Rice hoped for.
The ordinance, of course, was about reducing the number of permit days for vendor and special event permits from the current seven days to five days. The ordinance, if passed as originally written, would have directly affected the Harley Davidson bike rally and the local small businesses that depend on it for revenue.
Discussions on the May Bike Rallies by Horry County officials will begin Thursday February 23rd at a special meeting of the county’s Public Safety Committee. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the Horry County Government and Justice Center on 3rd Avenue in Conway.
Called by committee chairman Brent Schulz, the only item on the meeting agenda is Biker Rally 2012. When he announced the special meeting during the regular council meeting of February 7th, Schulz said the committee would be prepared to stay the whole night for discussion and requested all interested members of the public to attend the meeting.
In addition to public safety enforcement, the only issue the county has direct control over is the number and duration of vendor and special event permits the county issues for the Harley Davidson and Atlantic Beach rallies.
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