New Myrtle Beach club owner will have to wait for appeal decision

The new owner of a club in the former Heat Ultra Lounge building in Myrtle Beach will have to wait until next month for a decision by city council on whether his business can open.

Clayton Smith, who owns the club on 415 Yaupon Drive, is appealing the city’s decision to deny his business license for Club Heat after the previous club owner was charged with racketeering.

He met with the Myrtle Beach City Council on Friday morning for an appeal hearing, and the council took the matter under advisement, according to Mark Kruea, city spokesman.

Council and Smith have until Dec. 4 to write a summary and propose a draft order, and a motion for a decision will be on the council agenda for Dec. 8, Kruea said.

“Short answer ... no decision today, but none was expected today, either,” Kruea said in an email.

Smith told The Sun News last month that he purchased the business in October, taking over the club’s management and everything was going great with his new venture until he learned his business license had been denied. The club was forced to close.

According to the city’s business license division, Smith submitted a business license application for his company, Ming Heat LLC, doing business as Club Heat on Oct. 15.

The city reviewed the license application and denied the request Oct. 23.

The code section cited in the denial of the license stated, “The license official shall deny a license to an applicant upon a determination that: … the applicant, licensee or prior licensee in control of the business has engaged in an unlawful activity or nuisance related to the business…”

The owner of the former Heat Ultra Lounge, Vladimir Handl, is facing federal charges ranging from money laundering and racketeering to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He was charged earlier this year.

Handl’s attorney motioned for the charges to be dismissed, but the motion was denied in October.

The club also falls in a downtown district locked in a 2013 moratorium that put a freeze on any business licenses to new nightclubs or large bars that could serve more than 150 patrons. The area affected by the ban is bound by Sixth Avenue South to 16th Avenue North from the Atlantic Ocean to Oak and Broadway streets. The club on Yaupon Drive lies less than 500 feet within the southern edge of the district’s boundary.

“I love my city and I will not do anything to hurt my city,” Smith said, adding that he knows there are rules everyone has to follow and he plans to follow them.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 4:33 PM with the headline "New Myrtle Beach club owner will have to wait for appeal decision."