North Myrtle Beach to open hotels, short-term rentals following coronavirus shutdown
Hotels and other accommodations services will be allowed to operate in North Myrtle Beach on Friday following a roughly three-week shutdown, but must abide by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s orders to restrict visitors from areas prone to the coronavirus.
An order enacted by North Myrtle Beach officials last month restricting hotels, short-term and accommodations services from opening is set to expire on Thursday, according to City Spokesperson Pat Dowling, with City Council expressing no interest in renewing the ordinance after McMaster extended his State of Emergency order for another 15 days.
“As is true in many communities, there are differing opinions among residents concerning what should and should not occur in the COVID-19 environment,” Dowling said. “The city, knowing it would allow its short-term/long-term rentals ordinance to expire, and understanding that the Governor extended his executive order 2020-19, believed that the part of its emergency ordinance pertaining to short-term rentals should no longer take precedence.”
The expiration will now allow those facilities to reopen on Friday with the understanding that visitors from geographic areas subject to or identified as locations with extensive community transmission of COVID-19, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, are prohibited. However, existing reservations will be honored.
Restrictions on long-term rentals are also set to expire on Thursday, Dowling said. He pressed that all businesses and individuals involved in the short-term rental business and members of the traveling public should familiarize themselves with all of McMaster’s COVID-19 oriented executive orders.
Currently, Surfside Beach, Horry County’s and Georgetown County will re-open hotels on April 30 after being closed for a month due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. County Council has no plans to extend its emergency ordinance.
Myrtle Beach City Council met on Tuesday via conference call to craft a proposal that would see accommodations services reopened on Friday, with restrictions on capacity and restricting stay from those living in coronavirus hot spots, such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Orleans.
Myrtle Beach officials will meet again on Thursday to officially vote on a motion to reopen accommodations services within the city, including hotels and short-term rentals.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 11:08 AM.
