Atlantic Beach approves earlier curfew, discusses town’s future with state tourism department

Council members voted Monday night to end the official events of Atlantic Beach Bikefest earlier each night in an effort to help the Grand Strand get control of Memorial Day weekend this year, while also looking to the future of the festival.

Atlantic Beach Town Council members passed second reading of an ordinance Monday agreeing to set the curfew during Bikefest at 2 a.m. this year. The town curfew was 4 a.m. last year.

Town officials also met with representatives from the state’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Monday morning to discuss the future of Bikefest and of the town in general.

Police Chief Timothy Taylor said his desire to end festival activities earlier was done to coincide with the time that most bars and restaurants close in other parts of the Grand Strand.

Mayor Jake Evans said the town wanted to help other areas of the Grand Strand.

“It’s neighborly,” he said. “If that is something [other Grand Strand officials] thought we could do to help with this year’s festival, we have no problem doing that.”

Vendors will have to shut down their booths at 2 a.m. and police will encourage festival-goers to head home, Evans said.

Members of the town’s Bikefest Committee suggested extending the hours of the festival, having things shut down one hour later than last year at 5 a.m. The Bikefest Committee, which is comprised of three residents and two council members, presented its recommendations to Town Council on Monday.

“Committee members initially suggested going until 4 at the committee meeting [on Saturday], but today they said that it’s a decision that the Town Council should make,” Evans said after the meeting. “They didn’t want to recommend a time at all today.”

Grand Strand officials have been working to get control of lawlessness on Memorial Day weekend after three people were killed and seven were injured in eight shootings on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach.

The motorcycle festival has taken place in Atlantic Beach since the 1980s, but has grown to attract tens of thousands of people who spend the weekend all along the Grand Strand.

Atlantic Beach has adopted a similar ordinance for years, Evans said, which establishes the vendor rates, sets the official dates and enacts a curfew.

“Obviously, we want to get the ball rolling earlier this year,” Evans said, adding that they typically pass the ordinance in April.

The vote comes the same day as S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director of Corporate Communications Dawn Dawson-House met with town leaders for what she called an “exploratory visit.”

Dawson-House toured the town Monday morning with Evans and other town officials to get a better understanding of the boundaries, layout, history and problem areas of Atlantic Beach.

“I don’t know what we’re going to get, but we’re gathering information and will come back with ideas for how to move forward,” Dawson-House said.

She said the governor’s office would like the event to become more family-friendly or possibly move to a different date.

Gov. Nikki Haley initially called for an end to Bikefest, but changed her stance on it after a meeting with Atlantic Beach officials, saying the event could go on if the Grand Strand gets control of the crime seen on Memorial Day weekend.

“The image of what took place on [Ocean] Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, that’s something that never took place in Atlantic Beach,” Evans said of the shootings and other lawlessness.

Councilwoman Charlene Taylor told Dawson-House that the community has thinned out over the years, changing what began in 1980 as a community affair into a huge event.

“A lot of the families moved out of town,” she said. “[Atlantic Beach] thinned out, and Bikefest got bigger.”

Officials told Dawson-House that in the long term they hope to make Atlantic Beach a walkable community, bringing mixed-use development into the town with tall buildings that have businesses on the first floor and residences above.

“From the tour today it seems that 50 to 70 percent of the property is vacant and in different stages of underdevelopment,” she said. “There are some clear lots. Some are for sale, some are not for sale.”

About 10 percent of the town’s $600,000 budget comes from vendor permit sales, Evans said.

“So any kind of evolution from [Bikefest] would have to generate that kind of money to keep the town solvent,” she said.

Evans said the town is interested in expanding the Bikefest Committee into a Special Events Committee that would work to have events in Atlantic Beach year-round.

A Bikefest Task Force, which includes Atlantic Beach, Myrtle Beach and other Horry County municipalities, has agreed to establish a 23-mile traffic loop around the county from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. beginning May 21 and going through at least May 24 in an attempt to keep vehicles moving and ease congestion in the city, which Myrtle Beach officials have said lead to street parties and lawlessness.

The ordinance sets the rates for vendor permits, ranging from $300 to showcase information in a booth to $2,000 to sell alcohol. Vendors will be allowed to apply for permits after the ordinance’s second reading.

Town Council also voted to decrease the fees for vendors selling retail items or beer and wine on 31st Avenue South from $750 to $400. Vendor fees on 30th and 32nd avenues South would stay the same.

The Bikefest Committee suggested the change to bring in more vendors on that particular street and to reduce the number of vendors on 30th Avenue South, which gets very crowded during Bikefest.

North Myrtle Beach and S.C. Highway patrol operate a traffic chute on U.S.17 at 30th Avenue South to help direct those wishing to attend the festival into Atlantic Beach and allow drivers who don’t want to attend the festival to keep traveling north or south.

The Atlantic Beach Police Department has four full-time deputies, including Taylor, but there are hopes to gain more this year. The town has two K9s, one drug dog and one tracking dog, and acquired four new four-wheelers, all of which are expected to be in use during Bikefest.

Dawson-House said that she would take what she learned about Atlantic Beach back to the director of PRT.

“I learned a lot and will let you know what our thoughts are on all of this,” she said. “For whatever solutions to happen, it has to be Atlantic Beach solutions. It can’t be the governor’s solutions, PRT solutions, Myrtle Beach solutions or North Myrtle Beach solutions.

“They have to be Atlantic Beach solutions. If we try to impose solutions on you, that won’t be respectful,” Dawson-House said.

This story was originally published February 2, 2015 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Atlantic Beach approves earlier curfew, discusses town’s future with state tourism department."