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No More Myrtle Beach

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City revs up anti-biker rally momentum
By Steve Porter
The Herald

The city of Myrtle Beach has released a 33-page document that illustrates the city
council’s concern that May motorcycle rallies have gone too far.
“Enough is enough” is the buzz-phrase being heard among local residents and
politicians who think the time has come to either find a way to eliminate the rallies
or restrict them to the point of discouraging bikers from coming to the city in May.
At the request of the council, Myrtle Beach city attorney Tom Ellenburg has
compiled a list of options that the council can consider.
Next Tuesday, at a special council workshop, the options will be put before the
council for discussion.
The goal will be to attempt to reach a consensus among council members on
which of the options should be enacted.
The first option is what is described as a “strong nuisance amendment” that
would expand the city’s present nuisance ordinance to include those activities
that, while not naming bikers specifically, would affect them almost exclusively.
For example, the amendment would require not only helmets but eye protection
as well. It would mean that in addition to wearing a helmet, a biker would have to
have a face shield or wear some form of goggles. It has been said many times
that one of the main attractions of the Myrtle Beach bike rallies has been the fact
that state law does not require helmets or goggles.
There remains a question of whether the city can pass a regulation that
supercedes state law. City officials feel there is a way to circumvent that provision.
The city already has a strong noise ordinance, but the almost $1 million the
council approved for dealing with the rallies is expected to provide the money to
purchase many decibel meters which will be used to closely monitor the noise
made by motorcycles.
The monitors will be routinely used at numerous checkpoints where bikers will be
asked to rev their engines and be measured. If they’re too loud, they’ll be
ticketed. If a gutted or otherwise altered muffler is found, not only will an infraction
citation be issued, the bike could be impounded on the spot. Depending on the
year of manufacture, even EPA stickers will be among the driving, ownership and
insurance documents that all bikers will be forced to produce. Checkpoints could
be created through the use of “jersey walls” traffic ramps and the breakup of
Kings Highway so that traffic cannot move unhindered and avoid the checkpoints.
The new amendment and associated ordinances are aimed at the party
atmosphere on Ocean Boulevard and associated streets back to Kings Highway.
The new regulations, if adopted, would ban drinking, cooking and otherwise
partying in hotel parking lots and hotels will be asked to post their lots to that
effect.
In addition, there would be a juvenile curfew and new and tougher regulations
regarding juveniles rentalof hotel rooms. They could be barred from renting a
room without an adult in their presence and there would have to be positive
photographic IDs presented.
Bars in the city would have to close at 2 a.m. Parking spaces would be limited to
one vehicle or bike per space, and loitering on commercial property would be
banned.
The initial response from bikers has been complaints that the city is
discriminating against them and some warn that the NAACP or the ACLU will be
filing lawsuits if the regulations are enacted.
City officials have already indicated that the entire range of new restrictions, with
a couple of exceptions, are designed to become effective on a year-round basis,
not just limited to bike weeks.
On that subject, however, the city council at its Tuesday meeting went ahead and
gave final approval to the banning of all vendors from city OZ zones during the
month of May, which after the move of the Harley-Davidson dealer events to Hard
Rock Park means no more vendors at Broadway at the Beach or anywhere else
in the city.

No More Myrtle Beach 8/23/08