Atlantic Beach officials vote for tattoo regulations

Atlantic Beach town council held a special session meeting Tuesday to talk about motorcycles, tattoos, taxes, and a retreat.

Council members Charlene Taylor, Jake Evans and Donnell Thompson arrived at the Atlantic Beach Community Center on 32nd Avenue for a 6 p.m. Executive Session meeting, where they were scheduled to discuss legal matters, but Taylor said it was canceled because the town’s attorney has the flu.

And much to the dismay of many people who came to the meeting, the Bike Festival item on the agenda was tabled.

Town Manager Kenneth McIver said the town’s attorney is still in discussion with representatives in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Horry County about the annual festival and needs more time to talk with them before council votes on the item.

Also tabled was an item about raising the local accommodations tax by one-half percent. McIver said the town’s attorney needs to check state law to make sure the town is following the letter of the law and the money it is collecting is going to the right place.

Council did pass first reading of an ordinance to regulate tattoo parlors. Members also decided to hold the annual budget retreat on April 24. A location has not yet been picked, but McIver said he intends to find a venue in the county to save time and expenses.

While the Bike Festival ordinance did not get voted on, it did get plenty of discussion. Thompson said McIver needs to get an answer from Horry County and other municipalities about the discussions they are having about the annual event.

Thompson said it doesn’t feel good to sit in limbo and it is not businesslike for the others to not be moving forward with expediency when it comes to the Bike Festival issue. Thompson said the leaders in the County, North Myrtle Beach, and Myrtle Beach had ample time to discuss the issues.

Taylor agreed and said time is of the essence and the town needs to know something right away. "We can't help them from coming, they can come, you know everybody can come, everybody's welcome, we can't tell people not to come to Atlantic Beach, they can come, the problem is we have to prepare for them to come we have to have the portables, we have to have the trash pick-up and all that." Taylor said.

Evans said the county and the other municipalities know the town will have to do what it needs to do to survive.

The meeting, which lasted about an hour, ended with McIver giving a report about some of the things being done to improve the town. McIver said a new nursery and three tattoo parlors have been opened and three buildings have been demolished and they are looking at getting rid of two more by the end of the week. McIver also said workers are getting rid of some of the town’s blight by clearing overgrown lots. He added that town hall, the police station, and a town truck now have the town’s label on them and he is working on improving the welcome center inside town hall. McIver said the goal is to make Atlantic Beach a destination, not just a drive by location in Horry County.