Parking Garage closed to CCMF fans without a parking pass

On Friday night, music fans had gathered on the top floor of the Pavilion Parking Garage to watch the Keith Urban concert sans wristband.

Fans did the same thing in 2015 to avoid paying for the costly ticket, food and drinks.

“It’s hella good,” said Jenna Plunkett, a Philadelphia native who goes to school at Costal Carolina. “This is way better than buying a $200 ticket when I can hear the concert from this parking garage for free.”

Plunkett said she and her friends had parked their car about 10 blocks away and walked up to the top deck of the parking garage.

But by Saturday night, the doors opening up to the top deck of the parking garage were locked.

“We have an ordinance that says people can’t gather in the parking lot,” said Lt. Joey Crosby of the Myrtle Beach Police Department. “The parking lot is used for parking only.”

Crosby said the police department works together with property owners during special events to enforce the ordinance.

Pavilion Parking Garage manager Mike Kish said they were trying to keep people from loitering. He said there were problems last year with people throwing beer bottles and potentially hitting pedestrians.

Kish said people could park on the upper levels of the garage, but didn’t want them standing around and loitering, especially on the top deck, which is closed off to vehicles and unlit due to maintenance.

“I haven’t seen it being a huge issue,” said Kish. “Ultimately it’s an effort to prevent people from loitering on the upper levels due to safety concerns that the Myrtle Beach Police Department has expressed to us.”

This story was originally published June 12, 2016 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Parking Garage closed to CCMF fans without a parking pass."