Skip to main content

Malfeasance - Parking Meters

 



Malfeasance - Parking Meters


Well, it looks like the City of North Myrtle Beach has decided to stick it to those of us that like to do business in North Myrtle Beach.  In case, you're not up to speed on the parking meter situation in North Myrtle Beach, you'll soon find out that it's gonna cost you $4 per hour just to park your old jalopy practically anywhere in North Myrtle Beach.


Now before you defenders of parking meters get your noses all out of joint, I understand that I can still park free at most big box stores.  Oh yeah, there's plenty of parking at the shopping centers that are full of businesses owned and operated by companies that are headquartered outside of North Myrtle Beach and Horry County.


For the record, I don't drive to North Myrtle Beach to shop and eat at the big box stores.  I can do that in cities closer to where I live.  I go to North Myrtle Beach to spend a little money and a whole lot of time with the mom and pop merchants that give the city it's character and charm.  Now, I'm gonna have to spend a little more money and a lot less time with the business owners that make me want to go to North Myrtle Beach in the first place.


As for those of that were figuring you could get rid of some of that spare change in your car's console or that little hole where your ashtray used to be, you better think again.  Most of these new parking meters will only accept a debit or credit card.  (I don't even want to get started on how I feel about a cashless society.)  So, I reckon the real reason that the coin operated parking meters went away is because of the human factor.  The digital way means less theft and loss and less manpower.  Nobody wants a meter maid dropping a days take of quarters, nickels and dimes in a storm drain.


We're also told that the money raised from these increased parking fees will go to a fund to improve the city.  In my opinion, if you want to improve the city, get rid of the parking meters.  I figured that somebody would look at how the City of Myrtle Beach has already ticked off a double hand full of folks with their parking meter nonsense.  I especially get my dander up when I see a parking meter at a public beach access.  Did you know the land that those beach access areas sit on in Myrtle Beach was given to the city by that big family owned company that has had more to do with the growth of our area than any of these so called parking meter experts?


The bottom line, parking meters are bad for business... unless you want to give vistors to your city the business.  If you have a dissenting opinion, then you're probably just idling in a fire lane.


Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Rankin Senate Issues Hurt Horry County Residents

Rankin Senate Issues Hurt Horry County Residents By Dennis Mitchell A recent article by a Columbia news outlet claimed senators are looking to change SC Senate rules in order to remove Horry County Sen. Luke Rankin from his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.   The desire to remove Rankin from the committee chairmanship apparently results from his opposition, during the last session, to the SC Justice Act, which proposed to amend liability law to make each defendant in a personal injury lawsuit liable only for their percentage of liability that led to the injury or loss. The passage of the act was important to small business owners, especially those in the hospitality industry.   Twenty four state senators, a majority in that chamber, signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation. However, the bill was stalled in the Judiciary Committee for over a year and, when it did finally get to the floor for debate, a powerful Democratic senator was successful in tabling the am...
Read more

SC Senate Proposed Budget Effectively Bypasses Horry County

SC Senate Proposed Budget Effectively Bypasses Horry County By Dennis Mitchell The SC Senate Finance Committee budget for next fiscal year follows a similar pattern with many years past – Horry County gets crumbs while other counties around the state get the cake. The county will receive some funding from the Department of Transportation budget and some money will come from the Department of Education for teacher salary increases. However, in the special project appropriations area, the area where earmarks for specific projects are included to help counties with capital projects, the county will receive approximately $15 million while other counties receive considerably more for their projects. Most of the special projects money comes to Horry County from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. The two biggest are $5 million for the Myrtle Beach Downtown revitalization project and $2 million for a multi-purpose pathway between Conway and Myrtle Beach along the rail line owned ...
Read more

Rankin Out of Touch

  Luke Rankin is out of Touch with Voters Horry County Senator Luke Rankin put himself in a political box last week that he will find it difficult to get out of as reelection time rolls around. With reform of the process which elects judges in the state being a hot topic among the voters and other elected officials, Rankin chose last week to voice support, in an hour-long speech on the Senate floor last week, for the current process. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Vice Chairman of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, Rankin has a lot of say in who becomes judges in South Carolina. He probably can’t be blamed for wanting to keep that power in his hands. However, 695,791 voters in the recent South Carolina Presidential Primary election answered a question included on the ballot of whether the current process of electing judges in the state should be reformed. Over 91 percent, 634,345 to be exact, said YES. When 9 out of every 10 voters disagree with the positio...
Read more