North Myrtle Beach’s electric scooter ban to push out rogue businesses. Here’s why
A Florida-based company called Slidr popped up in the city of North Myrtle Beach about a month ago and started offering electric scooters that could be rented through its mobile app.
As the scooters began to be abandoned on sidewalks and in front of businesses, the issue was brought to the North Myrtle Beach City Council’s attention after multiple local businesses along Ocean Boulevard and near Main Street complained.
The complaints prompted the city council to take action, unanimously voting on an ordinance Monday that would punish users if they leave scooters out on the sidewalk or on public property.
City spokesperson Ryan Fabbri said that the ordinance was passed not only for safety, but as an effort to push unlicensed companies like Slidr out of the city.
“I see the value, and I’ve been in larger cities like Atlanta, Nashville and Chicago where they have the same kind of operation and it makes sense,” Fabbri said. “You’ve got a lot of people who don’t have access to their own personal vehicle or own a vehicle, so this is just one more option in addition to public transit. But, for here, it just doesn’t make sense. And if it ever were to happen, there has to be a lot of regulation.”
Brick and mortar rental stores with business licenses in the city are not affected by this ordinance. Slidr did not have a business license or agreement to operate in North Myrtle Beach. Fabbri said that similar companies rarely apply for a business license.
A phone number to contact Slidr for comment could not be found.
The ordinance describes the electric scooters and e-bikes as “shared mobility devices,” which is defined as “any wheeled device, other than an automobile or motorcycle, that is powered by a motor; is accessed via an on-demand portal, whether a smartphone application, membership card, or similar method; is operated by a private entity that owns, manages, and maintains devices for shared use by members of the public; and is available to members of the public in unstaffed, self-service locations, except for those locations which are authorized by the city under a franchise agreement.”
If an electric scooter or e-bike is left on the side of the road or on a sidewalk in the way of the public, the device will be held for 48 hours, according to the ordinance. If someone comes to collect it, they will have to pay a $100 fee. If someone doesn’t come to collect it within two days, the device could be discarded, auctioned off or donated.
Frank Schulze, manager of Bargain World, at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Main Street, said that while he hasn’t had a problem with electric scooters on the sidewalk, he does have a problem with them blocking doorways and preventing customers from coming in or out of the building.
He worries that people could trip on the scooters.
When The Sun News visited Ocean Drive Beach, no Slidr scooters were found, not even in parking lots shown on the company’s app.
“I believe Slidr likely removed the scooters as a result of the ordinance,” Fabbri wrote in a text message Wednesday.
North Myrtle Beach is not the only city to crack down on electric scooters and e-bikes.
Myrtle Beach passed an ordinance in 2019 with a lot of the same wording as North Myrtle Beach’s ordinance, but with the addition that people cannot operate the scooters and e-bikes “in the public right of way or on public property anywhere within the city.”
Conway announced a six-month electric scooter program in February, in which members of the public can rent scooters from a Coastal Carolina University student’s rental company called Peel Scooters. The scooters can be accessed from multiple designated parking lots, rather than from a random spot in the city.
The lots have multiple locations in the city. After the six months is up, Conway will evaluate the program for safety to see if it can continue.
