Business licenses at stake if owners don’t clean up their mess

A new Myrtle Beach ordinance could cost local business owners their licenses if they don’t clean trash and maintain their properties within the city’s timeline.

The ordinance, which passed first reading at city council on July 26, would give local businesses seven days after a warning to fix something the city terms a “nuisance,” such as overgrown foliage or a pile of boxes. After that point, the city would send in their own contractor to fix the problem and bill the business for the service.

“As we’re investing millions of dollars in the downtown, we still struggle with getting an expeditious response to our attempts to get private property owners to clean some of the private properties that they have in that area,” City Manager John Pedersen said at the council’s workshop.

Once the city has fixed the nuisance, the property owner has 15 days to pay a bill for the service. After that point, the business license would be suspended.

If the property owner doesn’t pay at all, their license could be revoked permanently, City Attorney Thomas Ellenburg said in the meeting. “That hopefully will not happen,” he added.

Right now, the city will warn businesses about nuisances on their property, and has the option to place a lien on a property if they use a contractor to cut crass or move trash. However, it is a difficult and lengthy process to get a business to pay the lien, Pedersen said, and since most bills range from $200 to $300, the city can’t force a property sale as leverage to make a business owner pay.

Pedersen said the city has been handing out flyers in the downtown area to notify local businesses of the possible change. The ordinance would take effect if its second reading is passed at city council’s meeting on Aug. 9.

Dave Sebok, executive director of the Downtown Redevelopment Corp., said the move will help fix a problem his organization has tried to combat for years. The DRC helps to pick up some trash in the central area of the city through its ambassador program.

“We don’t have any authority to do anything other than ask them (businesses) to clean up, and sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t,” Sebok said.

However, one local business said the city’s timeline for dealing with a nuisance is too short. Anita Sunday, the corporate manager for Aquarius Motels, called the new measure “ridiculous,” and said the city should instead threaten a fine if a business doesn’t clean up.

“The city does not work with the business people here,” Sunday said.

Chelsea Trakas, whose family has owned Aquarius for 21 years and who also helps manage its properties around Joe White Avenue and Withers Drive, said the motels have sometimes left foliage or materials in trailers, and that they comply after the city tells them to clean them up. Every spring, she said, the motels replace old or broken furniture, and as a result, some items have to be left temporarily outside.

“Usually we got it done before they fine us,” Sunday said.

But running a business can get in the way. Sometimes, Trakas said, it can take her employees two to three hours to haul larger materials to the landfill in Conway and then return. Resorting to city contractors instead has proved expensive. Trakas said this spring, the city quoted them roughly $1,500 to remove about 25 TVs they were replacing.

“We’re trying to clean up the place and get nicer stuff in, and you can’t get rid of the old stuff,” Trakas said.

Dallas Sellers, the general manager for Dagwood’s Deli at 400 Joe White Ave., said he thought the measure was a good one. He said that many of the smaller, low-budget motels produce a lot of the trash found on private property.

“I think it can’t hurt,” he said. “You don’t want tourists driving around here and seeing this mess.”

However, Sunday and Trakas said that businesses were not the major culprits in giving the downtown area a run-down look.

“I don’t blame the city for wanting to crack down on (trash,)” Sunday said. “But if they want to crack down on anything, it should be the homeless.”

Trakas and Sunday said that they’ve seen broken bottles and needles left around their properties and the downtown area, and blamed vagrants for the debris.

“God forbid some kid is walking through here and steps on a needle and catches something,” Trakas said.

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Business licenses at stake if owners don’t clean up their mess."