Next Myrtle Beach biker meeting October 22 at 5:00 p.m

Many bikers packed county council chambers for another meeting to deal with the recent movement to curb bike ally,s in the County. Six people of the who people who spoke during public input were three in favored of the rallies and three opposed the rallies.

Horry County Council hasn't taken a stand either way when it comes to the rallies. They've are trying to explore ways to deal with the congestion, noise, and unruly behavior.

The commitee first met a couple of weeks ago and asked county staff, including department heads from public safety, zoning and code enforcement, to come up with recommendations for the committee to consider.

In the staff's briefing memorandum they wrote in their conclusion,

"Staff proposes reconfiguring the temporary vending overlays to limit vending east of the Waccamaw River and to encourage vending in the western portion of the county. Staff also proposed amending the Noise Ordinance to require a special event permit for all outdoor entertainment, contests and shows."

First, on the issue of altering vending operations, the staff recommended, among other things to:

Limit vending locations east of the Waterway to shopping malls/centers ...."
Limit the number of permits issued east of the Waterway to 50 permits north of Hwy 501 and 50 permits south of Hwy 501
Increase permit price to $1500
The number of total permits issued would drop to 400, and the duration of the permits would be reduced to eight days, down from ten days
To further help congestion, staff proposed several traffic management options, including utilizing traffic barricades in the following areas:

US 17 Business in the Murrells Inlet area
US 17 Business in the area around the Harley-Davidson Dealership
US 17 in the Restaurant Row area
Highway 9 in the vicinity of HB Spokes
In all cases, the barricades would be used to prevent traffic from turning left from both directions. They would also prevent pedestrian traffic from crossing from one side of the road to the other.

County staff also suggested the council could amend the noise ordinance special event permit section to "prohibit commercial outdoor entertainment and other activities including, but not limited to, all contests, stunt shows, burn-out pits, motorcycle/car washes and concerts unless the issuance of a special event permit has been approved by the public safety committee."

The staff pointed out that the amendment would not only target the rallies but also events like the Blue Crab Festival, car shows, etc.

If someone does apply for a special events permit, they might be required to receive endorsement of certain county agencies and also provide beefed up security, better lighting and medical personnel.

After the recommendations were explained, many of the bikers in attendance seemed pleased.

The committee and members of the public offered input to the ideas, and the staff will take those, tweak the plans and present any updated suggestions at the committee's next meeting which is scheduled for October 22 at 5:00 p.m.