Myrtle Beach will be asked to raise parking rates

Parking rates at city meters could go up if the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corp. can convince the City Council next week that it’s worth the complaints to complete more capital improvement projects.

At Thursday’s redevelopment retreat, the agency board voted unanimously to ask the city to agree to a 25-cent per-hour increase, bringing the price for non-premium spots to $1 an hour and the price for premium spaces $1.50 an hour.

The increase would not affect parking garages or people with city parking stickers. It also would not affect anyone with a handicapped or veteran license plate or placard, because they can always park for free at any metered space statewide.

Board member Chuck Martino, a former City Council member, said he wouldn’t presume to guess which way the council will vote on the issue, but “I think they are going to look at it responsibly. Does the good outweigh the negative?”

The city has not raised parking rates across the board since the parking program began in 2004, though it has adjusted enforcement hours and areas, and made “spot changes,” in a couple of locations, said city spokesman Mark Kruea.

Martino said Myrtle Beach’s parking costs are among the lowest of East Coast resort towns.

The council has rejected parking increases in the past, but Martino said this increase would be used for capital improvements such as the plans to revamp the Fourth Avenue South area at Kings Highway.

The project is on the city’s capital improvement plan for 2014, but “for us, it’s a priority now,” Martino said. He hopes the council will accelerate the project if the DRC offers the extra $220,000 the parking rate increase is projected to raise to help with other city projects.

Though the city must approve all parking changes, the redevelopment agency shares parking revenue with Lanier Parking, which manages the city’s parking meters.

At the annual retreat, redevelopment directors agreed to spend $12,000 to buy 20 new parking meters, some to replace old ones that are past updating.

That money was in the agency’s budget for this fiscal year, but the board also has a projected $240,000 surplus to play with. Part of that surplus money will go to the Oceanfront Merchants’ Association’s request for $220,000.

It’s the same amount OMA received last year, but the agency is requiring OMA to do more for the money.

The board wants the merchants’ association to produce four weekend events in May and some in September, as well as run its annual Hot Summer Nights program, St. Patrick’s Day celebration and Oktoberfest.

OMA President Jonathan Staton said he and other board members are considering hiring an executive director for OMA, because since its inception four years ago, Staton and a handful of others have borne the responsibility for all of OMA’s work, and they do it voluntarily.

“On average, each of the OMA board members runs 1.75 businesses,” said Staton, who owns Dagwood’s Deli in Surfside Beach and Myrtle Beach, Bumstead’s tavern in Myrtle Beach, and a pay-to-park lot in Myrtle Beach.

“I hate to see so few people shouldering the burden,” redevelopment board Chairman Jay Bultz told Staton and fellow OMA board member Chris Walker, who also runs several downtown businesses, including Mad Myrtle’s Ice Cream Shoppe and Nightmare Haunted House.

The merchants’ association has a $500,000 budget this year, and uses that money to produce the shoulder-season festivals along with the Hot Summer Nights activities, from fireworks and concerts to the Monday night children’s carnivals that have increased in popularity since they began two years ago.

The idea of implementing a municipal improvement district in the downtown area arose again -- it’s an idea that has died for lack of support in the past.

“What if the DRC couldn’t fund events,” Martino asked Staton. “Would the business community down there step in or let them falter?”

“Certain people are never going to pay a dime,” Walker said. “I’m not married to the idea of a (municipal improvement district), but a dedicated source of funding would be awesome.”

A municipal improvement district is a special tax district in which the property owners pay extra taxes to support improvement plans within its specific geographic boundaries. Some of the money could go to OMA to help produce events, too. An improvement district expires though, once the list of improvements has been completed, unless the city chooses to extend it.

“Who would be in charge of the money?” asked DRC board member Karon Mitchell, owner of the Chesterfield Inn and other hotels.

“The City Council,” DRC Executive Director David Sebok said.

“Oh, no,” Mitchell said. “I don’t trust them.”

Other directors asked how much support the city would need to see before it agreed to implement a municipal improvement district.

“You have to be careful,” Martino said, “because you can have a very vocal minority, but also have more support than you think.”

Sebok said he would have to figure out what the improvement district’s financial goals would be to figure out what each property owner in the district would owe. Those figures were not available Thursday.

Others attending the retreat got a chance to voice their support for the continued funding of OMA.

“The Monday night kids’ carnival has finally taken off with the local families,” said Nan Trout, whose husband runs the Sky Wheel. “We are seeing a lot of community involvement, so we need to think about (funding) from a local perspective and not just a tourist perspective.

“People used to say ‘How long do you have to be on the boulevard -- isn’t it scary?’ Now they are seeing that it’s a fun, safe place to bring your kids.”

Board members also talked about plans to increase traffic in the Five Points, or Superblock, area around Main Street, Broadway, Ninth Avenue North and Oak Street. One possibility is offering free concerts in Nance Plaza before the Wednesday night fireworks in the summertime, so people could easily go from the plaza down to the boardwalk to watch the pyrotechnics.

Other plans for this year include restriping and repaving some parking spaces, buying a new golf-cart-style vehicle for parking monitors, and salting away $100,000 toward future land acquisitions. The board had considered bidding on three oceanfront lots owned by fiscally troubled attorney Harry Pavilack, which are now under foreclosure orders.

However, the Collins family, which owns the Second Avenue Pier, has indicated it will bid on the lots, Sebok said. The board agreed to put the money aside for the future, instead.