Myrtle Beach area residents voice carnival worries

Several residents raised concerns during a public hearing Tuesday about a county ordinance that would let a carnival set up shop in the parking lot of the Myrtle Beach Mall.

Residents raised concerns about sanitation, noise, safety, security and other issues during the public hearing on the ordinance at Tuesday's Horry County Council meeting. The council agreed to set up a meeting with residents to directly address their concerns, and to offer several amendments to the ordinance at the council's Public Safety Committee meeting being held on May 17.

The ordinance, which will allow carnivals in highway commercial zoned properties with more than 50 acres and parking in excess of zoning rules, passed second reading Tuesday and will go before council for third reading at the May 18 council meeting. Third reading also will include a public hearing at the request of council in case some concerns are not addressed at the Public Safety Committee meeting or the community meeting.

Resident representatives from Briarcliffe Acres and the Briarwood community on Tuesday raised concerns about how the carnival, which would start June 11 and close on Aug. 27, would operate and would affect the adjacent neighborhoods.

We're concerned about "increased trespassing and crime in surrounding neighborhoods. Noise ... and traffic. Increased congestion may increase accidents. There are numerous bad accidents in front of that mall," said Gwen Beck, an HOA board member for Briarwood. "Liability: Who will be the point person who we go to when something arises from these events? Permanence: Wow much time has to lapse between three months perms? Is it possible that this could become permanent?"

Some of the changes being considered for the Public Safety committee discussion arose from the fear that the ordinance may be too vague and allow for unintended loopholes that would cause issues for residents. The discussed changes include specifying a length of time for the carnival to set up shop, requiring a copy of the lease agreement for approval and carefully defining what constitutes a carnival.

Ashley White, the promoter for J & J Amusements, which owns and operates the carnival, said many of the issues brought up at council would be covered by state Department of Health and Environmental Control regulations, the county's amusements ordinances and by the lease agreement the carnival would sign with the mall's management company.

"DHEC has requirements for anything over three days. We would provide our own security. No one is allowed to stay on the proposed site. It's against the lease, the ordinance, DHEC, you can't do it," White said. "What we're proposing would follow all of the rules with the county, state and mall."

She said on-site portable toilets would be emptied daily, food preparation establishments would be required to have sinks and water tanks. To meet all of the DHEC regulations, the carnival company would likely hire off-duty Horry County police officers as extra security, and the location near Bass Pro Shops was chosen to lessen the noise and traffic impact on residents.

Councilman Brent Schulz, who is working with White on a fishing festival set for June near the carnival site, said the site was directly accessible from the S.C. 22 and U.S. 17 interchange. He also said any sound made at the carnival would have to travel through the mall building before reaching the residential neighborhoods north of the site.

Other details released by the amusements company include hours of operation, which would be from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the kinds of amusements present at the site. White said the rides would be geared toward children including tea cup kinds of rides, a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel and Tilt-a-Whirl style ride.