Bikers converge on Myrtle Beach city council

Tuesday afternoon's Myrtle Beach's city council meeting drew quite a crowd.

Dozens of people packed council chambers in anticipation of discussion about the May bike rallies. Although there was no formal item on the agenda, more than a half dozen people spoke out during the public comment section.

What started out as a pretty routine council meeting quickly turned into a debate over money, sleep, and who has the right to do what, where and when.

Council members listened without interruption as more than a half a dozen people spoke out about the rallies.

Councilman Mike Chestnut said, "This is what we were expecting and you know our meetings are open for the public to speak and the mayor did a great job of letting everybody speak, gave them their time to speak we didn't interrupt anybody, everybody conducted themselves in an orderly way and that's all we expected."

And with people both for and against the rallies passionately expressing themselves, the crowd was just about equal when it came to support.

Zachary Winrow said someone needs to speak for the service industry and as a full-time bartender in Myrtle Beach, he says it's people like him who will suffer the most if there are no more bike rallies in Myrtle Beach.

Winrow was one of more than a half dozen people who spoke during the public comment portion of Tuesday afternoon's meeting.

"Twenty percent of my income comes from the Harley rallies and without that income I couldn't make it through the winter, I’ve got little babies to feed and without that extra income the winter would be very, very tough for me to make it through. I’m going to have to move, I won't be able to sustain my life as a bartender in the city anymore, I would have to look for another town to move to where the tourist industry is accepted."

Those in favor of keeping the rallies on the Grand Strand said the bikers bring jobs, money, and repeat business, many of the reasons they came to the beach in the first place.

But not everybody supports the bikers.

Birgit Darby said, "I think it's gotten completely out of control and I just don't think we can sit back and let them run over us the way that they have in the last few years."

Chestnut said everybody is being affected one way or another by what council is trying to do, but all council wants to do is balance things out so everybody is treated the same.

"What's next is we're still in the planning stages as far as what's going to happen next, as far as me and city council I think we are just taking the stance that enough is enough.” said Chestnut.

City council is waiting to hear from other cities before anything will officially be done.

They'll ask the Grand Strand Coastal Alliance, a group made up of councils from neighboring towns, to get that feedback.

North Myrtle Beach mayor Marilyn Hatley said the Grand Strand Coastal Alliance is planning to have a meeting on the issue in late July or early August.