New Horry County boating, fishing license office to stay closed through Labor Day

UPDATE Aug. 27, 2021 at 1:30 p.m.: SCDNR has advised that its office located in Aynor, S.C., will remain closed through Labor Day and should reopen Tuesday, Sept. 7. The closure is COVID-19-related.

“The closure is necessary to protect the heath and well-being of SCDNR’s staff and customers,” the agency said in a statement Friday. “SCDNR sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this temporary closure may cause to our customers.”

The Sun News’ original story continues below.

The new South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources office in Horry County, located in Aynor, will temporarily close due to “staffing shortages and Covid related issues.”

David Lucas, a spokesperson for SCDNR, said some staff at the office are “experiencing symptoms of Covid that require testing and quarantine per our protocols.” He added that those employees being off of work “will leave us too short-handed to operate the walk-up counter for the remainder of the week.”

The Aynor SCDNR office is customer-facing and allows residents to obtain boating licenses and titles at the office, as well as needed tags for turkey and deer hunting. Before that office opened in April, those titling services were offered in Charleston and Columbia.

Five DNR employees work at the Aynor office, which includes a customer service area as well as staff offices.

Lucas added that SCDNR doesn’t expect the closure to continue once the affected employees are back at work.

“At this time, we do not anticipate that the temporary closure will have to be extended,” he said.

The Aynor location is also home to SCDNR law enforcement officers who base some operations out of the facility. Lucas said those operations would not be impacted by the temporary closure “in any way.” Those DNR officers may respond to boating accidents, drownings or other water and outdoor related issues.

“...closing the licensing/boating part of the building that handles walk-in traffic from the public will not impact law enforcement operations in the region in any way,” Lucas said in an email.

DNR’s announcement comes as some local governments are putting in place new restrictions a the delta variant of COVID-19 spreads. On Monday, Horry County announced that it would “strongly encourage” face coverings in all county buildings, said public-facing offices may have occupancy limits and that some departments may require residents to make appointments.

That announcement followed one that the county Treasurer’s office would conduct business via drive-thru only, and that the county Auditor’s office would close to the public, and conduct business over the phone.

DNR is currently leasing the building from Horry County for a five-year period. The building was previously used as a fire station before the county moved operations to a new facility.

In a statement announcing the closure, DNR said it “sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this temporary closure may cause to our customers.”

According to DNR’s statement, residents can still purchase recreational hunting and fishing licenses, tags, and permits online. Those transactions will include a “small convenience fee,” according to DNR.

DNR also advised that residents can purchase licenses and permits at license vendors located across the state, including big-box retailers and locally-owned sporting goods, hardware, or bait-and-tackle shops.

Residents will have to process boating transactions, like registration and titling, via the mail. DNR advised residents to visit their website for answers to questions, applications and other assistance.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information from Lucas.

This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 10:41 AM.