There's good news and bad news about parking in North Myrtle Beach

After a lawsuit brought to light safety concerns along Ocean Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach, officials are hiring a consultant to help improve parking in the city and make areas safer for residents and tourists.

The consultant will propose a short-term plan for the 2019 season and a long-term plan that will identify parking needs for the next five to 10 years. The plan will take into account costs and funding for any necessary projects.

In April, 24 residents filed a lawsuit against the city, citing dangerous and unlawful parking in the median along North Ocean Boulevard between 3rd Avenue North and Shorehaven Drive.

Mid-June, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, upholding the city's right to allow parking in the grassy area between the north and southbound lanes. However, a day after the judge dismissed the suit, the city blocked off parking to the median with orange cones.

Message boards are set up, informing drivers they can no longer park in the median.

Pat Dowling, public information officer for the city, said there is no connection to the lawsuit and the decision to not allow parking in the area.

Dowling said the city wanted to block off lanes of traffic closest to the median so people who parked in the median would not open their doors into traffic. The South Carolina Department of Transportation, which is in charge of the road, said the city could not do that.

"When that was not allowed they just decided to close off parking to the median until further announcement, just to be safe," Dowling said.

Dowling said the city is working to remove the cones along the medians on Ocean Boulevard and place permanent "No Parking" signs.

As the city prepares to hire a consultant, residents can no longer place anything in a public right-of-way, which has blocked parking spaces along residential roads in the city.

According to Dowling, some residents have placed their own "No Parking" signs in public right-of-ways. These signs, and other obstructions that are easily removed, must be moved by property owners. Dowling said the city will work with residents to explain why the objects need to be removed and when they need to be removed by.

To make parking easier for residents and tourists, the city has worked with the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce to create a website that shows free parking spots throughout the city.

"Everybody locally knows where they can or cannot park, or at least they know where the free public parking spaces are and where the paid parking spaces are," Dowling said. "But the traveling public doesn't know that, so this is a great site."

This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 11:56 AM.