If you've been coming to the Myrtle Beach area for many years, you probably already know that what we call "The Grand Strand" is actually a conglomeration of nearly a dozen different municipalities, counties and jurisdictions. Down in our neck of the woods, we deal primarily with three: Horry County, Georgetown County and the Town of Surfside Beach. As you might expect, the differences in rules between these three can sometimes get a bit confusing. We do our best to keep you up to date on where you can (and can't) do what, and the Town of Surfside Beach has recently made some changes to its parking and traffic flow policies that could have an effect on your vacation.
First of all and most noticeable, the town has recently installed parking meters in several locations along Ocean Boulevard and Seaside Drive. At the same time, the town has instituted a "No Parking" policy along both of these roads in any location without a meter. While the meters are located in the road's right of way and on town property, they may in many cases sit directly in front of rental properties.
What does this mean for you as a guest? Well, we're still trying to figure that out. Because the town has granted a "free parking" courtesy to town residents, we've asked if the same privelege will apply to rental guests, especially those parking in front of their properties. We haven't yet heard back, but we'll let you know as soon as we receive a definitive answer. We've also asked for the same courtesy to be extended to trailers during the area's three "Bike Week" festivals; while the town declined, they did offer free parking for trailers in both the 13th Avenue South and 16th Avenue North pay parking lots for those weeks. (Dunes will also continue to allow trailer parking on our properties as well, including overflow capacity on the lot adjacent to our laundry on Highway 17 and Patrick Avenue in Garden City.)
In addition to the parking meters, the town has also changed the traffic flow on South Seaside Drive to a one-way pattern. If you're familiar with the area, you know that Seaside runs between Ocean Boulevard and the beach in a few locations near the town's center, and its southern run consists of two two-block sections which are separated in the middle by Portofino III. The new flow, which you can see on the map, consists of a "converging" pattern in which the northern and southern avenues head east, then towards each other on Seaside before meeting and heading back towards Ocean Boulevard on the middle avenue. While this may present a minor inconvenience for a few properties, we'll provide new driving directions and don't think it will become a major issue.
For more information, you can visit the Town of Surfside Beach's website or give us a call at any time.
