Georgetown County follows suit, ends hotel reservations due to the coronavirus pandemic
Georgetown County on Friday followed the lead of Horry County and enacted an ordinance to discourage visitors from entering the county in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Georgetown County Council instituted an ordinance to close reservations at all hotels, campgrounds and rental businesses such as Airbnb and VRBO in all unincorporated areas of the county from noon Saturday through April.
On Thursday, the councils of Horry County, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach enacted similar decrees, and on Friday morning Surfside Beach did the same.
The Georgetown County ordinance includes “but is not limited to condos, hotels, beach houses, Airbnb, campgrounds, hunting cabins and other overnight lodgings.”
Visitors checked in prior to noon Saturday may remain through their existing reservation but can’t extend it, and units consistently occupied by the same occupant since March 1 are exempt, though new occupants including family and friends cannot be added at the unit. Also excluded are short-term rentals for applicable health, government, military, law enforcement and other personnel responding to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency.
Violation of the ordinance is punishable with a fine of $200 or 30 days in jail for each day of violation.
Unlike Horry County, Georgetown doesn’t have much in the way of amusements and those weren’t addressed in the ordinance. The Marshwalk in Murrells Inlet remains open.
Golf courses are also not being forced to close. Myrtle Beach City Council is the only government body to close golf courses thus far in the two counties.
Georgetown County spokesperson Jackie Broach said the council reacted to expressed concerns from residents, and after Horry County and other municipalities to the north enacted ordinances closing accommodations providers, the council didn’t want visitors just heading farther south to stay.
Georgetown County has had three confirmed coronavirus case among residents as of Friday morning.
The county declared a state of emergency on March 16 and all government buildings, parks and recreation facilities have been closed to the public since March 18.
Also on Friday, Pawleys Island Town Council passed an emergency ordinance banning short-term rentals from 5 p.m. Saturday through April, according to a release on the council’s website.
This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 1:12 PM.
