What’s going on with the AirBnB statutes in North Myrtle Beach, SC?
Discussions remain underway about a potential new ordinance that could require short-term rental owners to adhere to new policies in North Myrtle Beach.
On Tuesday, city council members met in executive session for a legal briefing about the short-term rental ordinance, according to their annual budget retreat agenda.
The legal briefing followed previous workshop sessions in November and January about what the ordinance could entail. At the time, interim city manager Ryan Fabbri said adding additional staff and resources to ensure rental enforcement for these short-term rental properties could cost the city close to a million dollars, if passed.
“It’s a privilege to do business, to use your house as a rental property,” Fabbri said at a workshop presentation in front of city council in November 2024. “But you’ve got to do it the right way, otherwise that luxury is taken away from you. We have no mechanism to do that now.”
According to numbers Fabbri presented in November, approximately 1,700 of the 5,400 short-term rentals in North Myrtle Beach do not have local responsible parties.
On Jan. 7, city council held its second workshop about short-term rentals in the area. A recording of the nearly 90-minute meeting is available here.
At that meeting, Fabbri said much of the previous narrative around short-term rentals comes from a draft ordinance presented by a local business, Elliot Realty.
Brandon Cox, Elliot Realty’s chief operating officer, also presented to the city council at the January workshop.
There has been some public backlash to Elliot Realty ’s involvement in the workshop, with some claiming it’s a conflict of interest since the business could benefit from the proposed ordinance.
Following the workshop, Cox sent the following statement to The Sun News via email on Jan. 16:
“We were happy to participate in a recent workshop along with other members of the public and business community to offer suggestions and find solutions for the city or residents to know who to call when problems arise at a short-term rental. The intent of the draft ordinance is simple--to require that someone who is local be able to respond physically if needed whether it be the local owner, a local rental management company, or a local individual that meets minimum professional certification requirements. We appreciate the city’s transparency in providing an open forum. The goal is to provide solutions that protect our community by balancing individual property rights with quality of life for residents.”
The Sun News reached out for additional comment on Tuesday and left Cox a voicemail.
Until the annual budget retreat this week, short-term rentals were not mentioned on any regular city council meeting agendas since the Jan. 7 workshop meeting.
The proposed new ordinance could allow the city to add potential permitting requirements and enforcement mechanisms for short-term rental owners and operators. As of Tuesday afternoon, no official draft of the proposed ordinance was on a city council meeting agenda.
