Myrtle Beach chamber showcasing video of Ocean Boulevard during Memorial Day weekend to neighborhood watch groups

Residents of the neighborhoods on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base gathered in a room Wednesday at the Base Recreation Center while images of a shooting, motorcycles, young people crowding and dancing in the streets and scantily clad women dancing provocatively projected on a screen.

The video, compiled by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce from clips posted to social media, was shown to members of the six area neighborhood watch groups as a way to show residents what occurs on Ocean Boulevard during Memorial Day weekend.

Lynda Thomas, who organizes the Pine Lakes Estates neighborhood watch group, is showing the video to about 15 of the city’s 24 neighborhood groups on behalf of the chamber as a way to get residents to support Myrtle Beach’s plan to spend at least $1.65 million to get things under control next Memorial Day weekend.

Thomas has served on a planning committee with the chamber since shortly after Memorial Day weekend, when three people died and seven were injured in eight shootings along Ocean Boulevard. Brad Dean, president and CEO of the chamber, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

“You’re asking the people to foot the bill when they don’t know what they’re footing the bill for,” Thomas said, adding that most of the elderly residents in her neighborhood either leave town or avoid Ocean Boulevard on Memorial Day weekend. “They don’t have a clue what happens. They’re not on YouTube. They’re not on social media. They’re not directly involved.”

Tens of thousands of people come to town during Memorial Day weekend for Atlantic Beach Bikefest, Military Appreciation Days or to take advantage of a three-day weekend at the beach.

Residents at Wednesday’s meeting peppered crime prevention Officer Henry Bresadola with questions about the few details that have been released regarding the city’s plan for next year.

Bresadola, who said Dean has answered questions at other neighborhood watch meetings, said the city hasn’t been sitting on its hands and has been working to come up with a plan for next year.

“My request is for your support for the city’s plan,” Thomas told attendees at Wednesday’s meeting.

Initial pieces of the plan include plans to re-establish an emergency lane on Ocean Boulevard and one-way traffic on the boulevard from 29th Avenue North heading south to Kings Highway.

The city also plans to utilize a 40-mile loop to route drivers on Ocean Boulevard out of the city between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Memorial Day weekend, heading south toward Surfside Beach, through Socastee and then toward North Myrtle Beach.

The proposed traffic circle would require drivers to travel south to S.C. 544, west to S.C. 31, north to S.C. 22 and east to U.S. 17, where they would head south back toward Myrtle Beach. It takes about an hour to make the drive in normal traffic. The goal is to ease crowded streets in Myrtle Beach during the holiday weekend – which turned deadly this year.

Carl Siversten, who lives in Emmens Preserve, said he didn’t go to Ocean Boulevard during Memorial Day weekend this year, but knew what to expect.

“I wasn’t on Ocean [Boulevard], but what I was seeing was a lot of outrageous behavior,” he said. “What the city needs is to have a plan and execute it and then have enough enforcement that if you set out of line, you get arrested.”

The S.C. General Assembly approved a last-minute budget amendment in June that allows up to one third of accommodations taxes that would have gone to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce to market the Grand Strand be returned to Horry County and set aside to pay for public safety during events held in May.

Myrtle Beach officials intend to use accommodations tax money to pay for their plan – which city manager Tom Leath said will cost at least $1.65 million to pay for equipment and personnel. Based on last years numbers, up to $2.2 million could be available to Myrtle Beach with up to $5 million available to Horry County and its municipalities overall.

Thomas did not attend Tuesday’s South Myrtle Beach neighborhood watch meeting due to an illness in the family, but residents there said they already know what Memorial Day weekend looks like.

Craig Teller, who helps to organize the South Myrtle Beach group, said he didn’t need to see the video.

“The video is designed to show people the problem,” Teller said. “We saw it first-hand. ... We’re at the epicenter.”

The violence caused Gov. Nikki Haley to call for an end to Atlantic Beach Bikefest, but town officials have said they have no plans to do so.

But Ed Carey, who lives in The Market Common, said he doesn’t think Atlantic Beach is the problem.

“It’s too bad because Atlantic Beach keeps getting blamed, but it’s not Atlantic Beach’s problem,” Carey said.

Mary Cunningham, who lives in Seagate Village, said Wednesday she and her husband – who both ride motorcycles – looked forward to going out to Ocean Boulevard during Memorial Day weekend to see the bikes but some of the non-bikers who crowded the streets took away from their experience.

“I like bike week – both of them,” she said. “We don’t dress our bikes up the way they do. A lot of those bikes were really sights to see. ... But they don’t need to do away with bike week. They need to get control of the rest of it.

“But for both bike weeks, the bikers come to party and have a good time and not ask about what they do back home,” Cunningham said. “And then they go home and put on their suits and ties and go back to work.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2014 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach chamber showcasing video of Ocean Boulevard during Memorial Day weekend to neighborhood watch groups."