Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2008

Biker blocs gear up for duel

Campaigns start up to fight council decision

Pro- and anti-bike-rally forces are forming across the eastern seaboard, heading for a showdown.

Via e-mail blasts, phone calls, blogs and advertising, people on both sides are putting out the rallying cry, calling for people to attend several public meetings over the next few weeks.

They're responding to a Myrtle Beach City Council decision a week ago to raise taxes to fund an effort to push the rallies out of town.

The May rallies - the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association Myrtle Beach Rally and Atlantic Beach Bikefest - are seen as a scourge or savior to local businesses and residents. Some say business is worse in May than in the dead of winter, while others say they do almost half their business for the year during the rallies.

“We're not going down easy, I'll tell you that,” said Craig Smith, owner of several clubs and a bar at biker hotspot Broadway at the Beach. “If they're going to try to get rid of it, we're going to fight them.”

Today, Smith is hosting a pro-biker meeting at his club Revolutions. He said a “hunk” of his business comes during the rallies, when dozens of vendors sell biker wares.

On June 17, City Council outlawed those vendors and raised taxes to fund a plan to get rid of the bikers. Mayor John Rhodes plans to ask Horry County Council to make similar moves.

City Councilman Chuck Martino said he thinks Myrtle Beach residents should “caravan” to Horry County Council meetings to express their thoughts.

“I don't think Myrtle Beach residents have made their voices heard to all the elected officials who can have an impact,” Martino said. “They've made themselves clear with us, but we're only one part of this.”

One local man who plans to go to Tuesday's County Council meeting is Tom Rice, an attorney and longtime resident.

“I think the bike rallies are a black eye for Myrtle Beach,” he said. “They give it a bad name, and they are a huge detraction to the quality of life.”

That meeting could be a key turning point - if Rhodes makes it on the agenda.

In anticipation, some groups are sending word to supporters to show up.

Hakim Harrell, a rally promoter and CEO of Cycle Shoe International in Philadelphia, sent an e-mail to the media and supporters urging people to go to the county meeting on Tuesday and providing e-mail addresses for local politicians.

“I feel that if we work closely together with both bike communities, we can convince [City Council members] to reconsider their decision,” Harrell wrote in the e-mail. “At the end of the day, we are still going to go to Myrtle Beach anyway.”

The rallies are neither sponsored by nor completely enclosed in Myrtle Beach, so if the city wants to successfully get rid of the rallies, it will likely need to coordinate with other municipalities. Already, Atlantic Beach, the small, oceanfront town to Myrtle Beach's north that hosts Bikefest, has said it plans to keep supporting the rally during Memorial Day weekend.

Several county politicians, including Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland, said they support Myrtle Beach's efforts to get rid of the rallies, but there has not been a formal vote. Gilland said she did not want to discourage bikers from coming to the Grand Strand throughout the year.

“Bikers are great for Horry County,” Gilland said. “But I think 300,000 at a time has overwhelmed our ability to enjoy them.”

Although rally supporters have said that eliminating the events would hurt the economy, Gilland said she thought the economy would recover. Gilland said she thought most of County Council backed Myrtle Beach's efforts.

Councilman Brent Schulz, who represents part of Atlantic Beach and Myrtle Beach, said he was keeping an open mind but would rather do away with the rallies.

“It might not mean getting rid of bike weeks. It might mean stepping up enforcement,” Schulz said. “But when people can't sleep and they are scared to go out, there's a problem.”

County Councilman Carl Schwartzkopf said he would wait to make a decision until he got more information on the economic impact. He wasn't sure if other local lawmakers would do the same.

“This will turn out to be an emotional decision, rather than a rational decision,” he said.

Club owner Smith said he is getting ready for a big crowd at today's meeting.

“If it's any indication from the phones ringing, it could be a lot,” he said. “I have no idea whether it will be 100 people or 500.”

He said he has not heard anything official from his landlord, Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., one of the largest companies in the Myrtle Beach area. The company has not returned repeated requests for comment from The Sun News.

Terry Neilon, owner of Beach Customs bike shop in Little River, said his group of 15 to 20 local riders will reroute their weekly ride and head to Revolutions for the meeting. He, too, sent an e-mail about the meeting to his list of a few hundred customers.

“It's not to say that things couldn't be improved to accommodate other folks,” he said. “I understand the feelings people have about congestion and noise and all that, but . . . rather than fix the problem it seems to me they just want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. There ought to be a better way to go about it than to completely go against it.”

The Myrtle Beach Harley-Davidson Dealership e-mailed a call to action to its contact list, said Mike Shank, a promoter and spokesman for the dealership.

He said people have strong opinions on both sides.

“If it affects them that much then they will show up at these meetings and they will continue to call and they will fight it until they can't fight it no more,” he said. “Trust me I've heard it all from people who are outraged [over the plan to get rid of the rallies] to people who can't wait for it to be gone.”

Contact LISA FLEISHER at 626-0317. Contact LORENA ANDERSON at 444-1722. Contact MIKE CHERNEY at 444-1765.