Myrtle Beach bar closing times back on table

Myrtle Beach will consider bar closing times again in 2017, after another early-hours shooting disrupted the city’s nightlife scene.

An ordinance that would have ushered in 2 a.m. closing times for “drinking places” like bars and clubs, and grandfathered in about 10 existing establishments, was tabled in a Dec. 13 City Council meeting. But City Manager John Pedersen confirmed a version of that measure will come before council again soon, as the city attempts to make a clearer list of which businesses would retain late-night status.

“What seemed to me to be a problem last time was...a mechanism to identify which places would be grandfathered,” Pedersen said.

Discussion on how to regulate late-night entertainment previously focused on the superblock, a small downtown neighborhood, after a Nov. 5 shooting there left five injured at Pure Ultra Club.

That incident sparked a series of moves, including an emergency ordinance to close all bars in the superblock at 2 a.m. Cleavon Oneal Dantzler, a suspect in the shooting, was arrested in the Forestbrook area Tuesday afternoon.

Late-night violence continued in the interim, however. Another shooting took place in the early hours of Dec. 24 outside 3rd Avenue Sports Bar & Grill, injuring four. That bar, at 1102 3rd Avenue South, is outside the restricted zone in the superblock.

Mayor John Rhodes suggested a stricter response in an interview Tuesday.

“Places that patrol their areas the way its supposed to be…I’m not interested in closing them,” he said. “But the places that are operating and are not taking care of the requirements...we need to look at maybe not just closing at 2 a.m., but shut them down, take the business license.”

The city is already able to pull licenses if continued criminal activity at a bar or club makes it a “public nuisance,” and it is in the process of doing so for two businesses, Natalia’s Bar & Grill and Pure Ultra.

Rhodes, who is running for re-election this year, said reduction of crime is a continuing priority for the city.

“We’re a small community, so when we have crime it gets magnified as to how much is going on,” Rhodes said.

Councilman Wayne Gray, also up for re-election, said he was undecided about citywide closing times. He said whatever council chooses to do, the city will have to talk to Horry County officials to make sure late-night crime is not simply pushed to another jurisdiction.

“If one does [enact restrictions], it may drive problems to another,” he said.

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach bar closing times back on table."