Myrtle Beach wants to brake bike rallies
Eric Connor - Jun 24, 2008
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As Greenville prepares to roll out the welcome mat for a motorcycle rally attracting thousands of bikers, South Carolina's chief destination for motorcyclists -- Myrtle Beach -- is telling the annual clientele that their welcome has worn thin. Eric Connor is Staff Writer for the Greenville News.
This week, the coastal city famous for its wide beaches, neon lights and May bike rallies moved to raise property taxes to generate $1 million to discourage future rallies after years of complaints about objectionable activity that the rallies bring along with their boost to the local economy.
"We've certainly struggled with the scope of the rallies for the past dozen years," city of Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Krua said. "They're simply overwhelming the community. The bike rallies have worn out their welcome."
However, problems with noise and crime that plague Myrtle Beach bike rallies aren't expected when the Gold Wing Road Riders Association brings its Wing Ding to Greenville July 3 through July 6, Greenville's mayor said.
The event coming to the Carolina First Center over the Fourth of July weekend will bring the rumble of motorcycle engines -- and upwards of 10,000 Honda Gold Wing and Valkyrie riders -- but under the umbrella of carefully laid plans, Greenville Mayor Knox White said.
The event, now in its 30th year, previously visited Greenville in 1995 and 2001.
Unlike Myrtle Beach, the Honda bike rally moves from state to state each year and places restrictions on activities such as the traveling vendors that up until a recent Greenville city action could apply for "transient merchant" business licenses in connection with the rally.
"This is a whole different kind of thing," White said.
In Myrtle Beach, civic leaders, residents and business owners have had to weigh the benefits and pitfalls of hundreds of thousands of bikers who for years have descended along the Grand Strand.
The city has yet to decide how to use the new tax money to discourage future rallies but has asked the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce to devise a strategy to attract more family-friendly events in May, Krua said.
The Chamber hasn't taken a position on the biker ban but will work to find alternative marketing for tourists, Chamber president Brad Dean said in a statement.
The action has not come without some biker backlash -- and from businesses who say the area can't afford to lose the economic boost the estimated 300,000 visitors who attend the rallies brings as higher gas prices slow travel.
Ben Brown, owner of B&M Custom Cycles in Myrtle Beach, said that the city's efforts to turn away bikers will backfire, sucking money from hotels, restaurants and retail stores and discouraging bike enthusiasts from returning with their families at other times in the year.
A February marathon in Myrtle Beach blocks access and brings nothing to Brown's business, but he said others should realize, as he does, that a diverse community dependent on tourism can't ban every group they don't agree with.
"It's like a book-burning here," Brown said. "Everybody wants to get rid of somebody they don't like."
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Article Comments
6/25/2008 11:31 AM
Bikers from across County are planning to attend the Horry County council meeting on July 1 to show their unified support for continuing both rallies.
Hakim Harrell, CEO of Cycle Shoe International and promoter of the Memorial Day events held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, said bikers from across the county are planning to ride into the area earlier in the afternoon on the day of the council meeting to get organized and then attend the meeting.
At this point we still have both bike rallies and what we need to do is sit down with city (of Myrtle Beach) officials and talk about how we can make the future bike weeks better, Harrell said. The city has to be willing to talk and make an investment in trying to come up with plans to better organize the rallies. I feel that if we work closely together with both bike communities, we can convince them to reconsider their decision.
Bikers from across County are planning to attend the Horry County council meeting on July 1 to show their unified support for continuing both rallies.
Hakim Harrell, CEO of Cycle Shoe International and promoter of the Memorial Day events held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, said bikers from across the county are planning to ride into the area earlier in the afternoon on the day of the council meeting to get organized and then attend the meeting.
At this point we still have both bike rallies and what we need to do is sit down with city (of Myrtle Beach) officials and talk about how we can make the future bike weeks better, Harrell said. The city has to be willing to talk and make an investment in trying to come up with plans to better organize the rallies. I feel that if we work closely together with both bike communities, we can convince them to reconsider their decision.
6/24/2008 12:47 PM
Myrtle Beach Sun News reported measures taken by the City Council, responding to local anti-rally interests, to end motorcycle rallies by passing a three-mill property-tax increase dedicated to an anti-bike-rally campaign. City staff members are tasked with coming up with a list of strategies for ending motorcycle rallies, and city leaders will choose which ones they want to try and which ones the city can afford.
Myrtle Beach Sun News reported measures taken by the City Council, responding to local anti-rally interests, to end motorcycle rallies by passing a three-mill property-tax increase dedicated to an anti-bike-rally campaign. City staff members are tasked with coming up with a list of strategies for ending motorcycle rallies, and city leaders will choose which ones they want to try and which ones the city can afford.
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