Myrtle Beach Mayor Discusses Bike Rallies
With the City of Myrtle Beach's recent decision to discontinue its association with Grand Strand-area motorcycle rallies, the Beach Blog has sought out community leaders to expand on their thoughts behind the City's decision. Last week, we heard from Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. Today, we hear from John Rhodes, Mayor of the City of Myrtle Beach, who weighs in at-length in the following Q & A:
Why did the city decide to end its association in any events related to the bike rallies?
We looked at the numbers that are coming in to our community, and what we can handle. Three straight weeks of bike rallies were simply too much for our small community. We weren't talking about a weekend or a few days. Back-to-back bike rallies were overwhelming, and the community said, "No, thanks." It's not like a 4th of July crowd coming in. This is a crowd that is on the move all the time, on loud, fast motorcycles. They're riding, they're going up and down the streets. We have as many people on the 4th of July, but they are on the beach, in the stores and restaurants and recreational places. They are visiting all of Myrtle Beach, not just visiting for a rally. With the rallies, the party was the thing, and Myrtle Beach just happened to be the location.
And then we had a noise factor. It bothered me that a teacher could not teach students because of the rumblings of the bikes going by the school. I had principals and teachers tell me that, basically, their students should be on vacation (during the rallies) because they can't hear what's being taught. That's a concern. And when we have visitors who don't respect the community - our residents or our business people - we have great concern.
Are we a family resort? We've always been a family resort. Bikers have families, too. And we welcome people who ride motorcycles. But the rallies were too much. We want bikers to come here and respect our community, and respect how our people have to get up in the morning to go to work ... how our people have to go to sleep at night because they've got school the next day ... and know when to shut the motors off. Know when to stay out of the neighborhoods. They were unable to do that. And the rallies were turning away our regular visitors during May. We needed to bring some order back to the community, we needed to reach out and grab hold of what Myrtle Beach is all about, and pretty much said that, "Hey, we welcome bikers, but we do not welcome rallies."
Since you announced the City's decision, what kind of feedback have you received?
This wasn't my decision alone. This was a unanimous decision by City Council, in response to the public's concerns. Most of the response has been very good, but, understandably, some aren't happy. Some hotel and restaurant people may lose dollar-wise in the short term, but feel that investment - if you want to call it an investment they're making, through the loss of dollars - will pay dividends down the road. They're looking at the long-range plans, and looking at what it will be like five years, 10 years from now.
The residents and many of the businesses are pleased. And then you've got some people in the business community who thrive off of the bike weeks. For instance, one business had a sign that said, "City Council (Stinks)." That's their opinion, and they're entitled to that. And for those who haven't expressed an opinion, it's a wait-and-see time for them. But right now, I'd say the reaction has probably been mixed. We have to be concerned about the residents, and still balance the needs of the business community. Allowing the effects of the giant rallies to continue just didn't make sense.
To the extent you've had discussions with neighboring cities, how would you characterize the feedback you've received from your government counterparts in the surrounding areas? How do they feel about your decision?
(Horry) County Council right now, they've got mixed emotions about the vendors. They just voted to limit the number of vendors (outside the city limits), so there are some concerns on County Council about the issues also. They are hearing from their residents, too, so not everyone loves the bike rallies. The only vendors North Myrtle Beach has are at Barefoot Landing, and that contract is for three more years. So, they really don't have a dog in the fight when it comes to the vendor permits. They welcome the bikers to North Myrtle Beach, and that's where the Harley rally originally started. Atlantic Beach is where the Memorial Day rally started, so if they want to welcome the bikers there, then by all means we want to help them by sending interested folks their way.
OK. So you'll have an economic void that you'll need to fill. What is the City's plan at this point to fill the gap - your pitch to generate a different kind of economic interest in Myrtle Beach for those three weeks in May?
Well, we're going to try to do some campaigns to let people know that bike rallies are not welcome in the City anymore, and that hopefully they'll relocate somewhere else ... We have visitors the other 49 weeks of the year, so I'm confident we'll have visitors in May, too, now that the rallies aren't keeping people away.
I'll tell you what - you've got a lot of people talking about how the business was never going to come back, that families didn't come in May, that if it wasn't for the bikers you wouldn't have any business. Well, I was talking to a business person a few weeks ago, and he was giving me his thoughts about ending the rallies, and he wasn't particularly in favor of it. And as our conversation went on, he said that bike rallies had really hurt his business for Mother's Day weekend.
I said, "Mother's Day - that's a May weekend, correct?"
He said, "Yes."
"So you're telling me that Mother's Day was a big weekend on the Grand Strand before bike rallies."
"Yeah, Mother's Day was really good. We had good crowds, and it was just a good weekend."
"And I know for a fact that, at that time, Memorial Day weekend was really close to being the biggest weekend of the year, including the 4th of July."
"Yeah, it was unbelievable."
"Well," I finally said, "if we get rid of the bike rallies, then I guess two successful weekends out of three isn't bad, is it?"
So we would have a chance to go back after that business that we have lost, that was recognized as good, solid business, good family business. We will move in those directions, and we will strive to do other things in the community to help draw people in. We're not going to say, "The bikers are gone, let's sit back and relax now." We can't do that. We cannot allow ourselves to go to sleep on this. We've got to continue to look at how we can fill those voids and move forward.
How soon do you expect it will take to win back those visitors who purposely stayed away from Myrtle Beach during the bike rally activities?
That's a good question. I'd say we'd anticipate three years - because first, the public has to be convinced that the bikers are not coming back. And that's going to be a promotional situation where we get out and promote and advertise the fact that May is bike rally-free. So we have to see what happens.
You stop and think about it - (bike rally supporters) keep talking about all the places that welcome them. If bike rallies were such a great business for a city, if bike rallies were so financially positive for cities, then like with any big convention, why aren't other cities coming after them? What city do they feel will open up their arms and welcome them? I don't know of one.
I guess the only baseline comparison you'd have would be the other cities that have had major bike rallies, like Laconia (N.H), Daytona and Sturgis (S.D.) ...
What do you have in Sturgis? Wide open spaces. Daytona? They've moved so much of those activities out of the city limits. Why? Daytona does not look at the bike rallies like they look at NASCAR. Totally different. And none of those communities has back-to-back bike rallies that lasted as long as ours did.
What would you say today to bikers who would still be interested in visiting Myrtle Beach?
We welcome you to Myrtle Beach, as long as you come and abide by our ordinances and laws, and have respect for people in this community - whether it's the business people at location you're staying, or the residents that are here that are not going to be afraid to get out on the road. You would expect the same of us if we visited your hometown.
When you're on the highway, you have to be on the lookout for bikers. You really do. Take senior citizens who drive; it makes them nervous. Young teenagers in high school that drive, it's a scary situation because they're still not thinking like an adult. They hop in the car impulsively - "Come on, let's go" - and (can) make a careless mistake where somebody gets injured or killed. That kid will have to live with it. That's an option I don't want them to have.
So, if you come to our city, obey the laws and show respect for our city, then you're welcome - but not as (part of) a massive rally.
You've laid out the rules and ordinances pretty clearly on a new Web site (www.MyrtleBeachBikerInfo.com) that you've promoted. For those still unaware, what are some of the key new laws that people need to be aware of when they come to Myrtle Beach?
Of course, there's the helmet law. That's something we believe is needed to protect lives. If the helmet wasn't an instrument of safety, then why would those bikers who run road races or do trick riding wear helmets? To me, it's a safety issue that hopefully will save lives. As a matter of fact, last Sunday I was driving (out in the country) and along the way we passed a group of 75 to 100 bikers. I'd say 90 percent of them had helmets on. So to me, it's a small percentage hollering (against) a helmet law.
Two, the noise ordinance. State law says that every motorized vehicle has to have an operating muffler. Straight pipes are not operating mufflers. This is a law that has not really been enforced by the highway patrol, or the city police or the county. We're just enacting enforcement of it.
Then there's the thong ordinance. It used to be that you'd get a warning first and then a ticket, and now we've left it to the discretion of the police officer whether to issue a warning or a ticket the first time. I think enforcement is basically going to be (based on) attitudes.
Then there's the 1 a.m. curfew for those 18 and under. That's going to be an important one. We hope that will take kids off the street and provide benefits year round.
The ordinances are also (compelling) many bar owners to make sure their bouncers have the proper SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) training and certification. That's going to give them more opportunities to control what goes on in their bar a lot better, and I think this is something that was really needed. I had SLED representatives tell me about a week ago they were tickled to death, that they've trained a lot of people, and that it seemed to be accepted pretty well. This will save us a lot of headaches down the road.
The city recently announced its plans for the Military Appreciation Days festival, to occur the last weekend of May. Tell us about it.
We're looking forward to great participation, to honoring our veterans and also our current soldiers who are serving and protecting us. It's just a way to celebrate the Memorial Day time the way it was meant to be celebrated.
There have been other military festivals around the country that get their hotels to give good rates for our military, and also offer activities like air shows, Coast Guard demonstrations and such. They've been able to build up lots of excitement that way, and that's the kind of thing we're looking to do. You honor our military, but you also show appreciation by giving them an affordable opportunity to bring the family down and have a nice weekend with them.
Can you see a weekend like this eventually evolving into something on a scale either equal to or greater than what we've seen in recent years with the bike rallies?
I don't see that. I think it can be an exciting weekend, but I don't see it developing into numbers like the bike weeks. That would probably be pretty wishful thinking. But realistically, I think we can have a very good turnout and a very good weekend. Remember, you'll also be mixing in your regular tourists (during that time), so you can't look at it and say "OK, the military people will fill this up." You're going to have spectators and vacationers coming down just to watch the events. So, hopefully, it will turn out to be a good investment.
We've had a great response already. We've had eight bases that have already responded to be an active part of this. And it really is just a weekend, not three straight weeks, like the rallies were.
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