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North Myrtle Beach city leaders met in private to discuss a potential short-term rental ordinance during the annual budget retreat in Pinopolis earlier this month.

No action was taken regarding any potential ordinance at the retreat, and interim city manager Ryan Fabbri said he doesn鈥檛 expect an ordinance would be introduced to council until after the busy summer season winds down after Labor Day.

鈥淲hatever we would do, if anything, it wouldn鈥檛 take effect until probably January 1, 2026,鈥� he said.

The topic has been discussed at length by city council, with multiple workshops being held on the subject late last year. Recently, a quote from one of those meetings from Fabbri began circulating around North Myrtle Beach Facebook groups, which said 鈥渋t鈥檚 a privilege to do business, to use your house as a rental property, but you鈥檝e got to do this the right way, otherwise that luxury is taken away from you.鈥�

Fabbri said at the city鈥檚 budget retreat meeting that the quote was taken out of context, and that the city is only considering ways to enforce AirBnB rental units that are causing neighbors issues.

鈥淥f all the regulations that we鈥檝e discussed, there鈥檚 not one regulation that would prohibit or restrict anyone鈥檚 ability to rent their house as a short-term rental if they chose to do so. We鈥檙e not talking about doing anything like that,鈥� Fabbri said. 鈥淎ll we鈥檙e talking about is restrictions that would help us monitor the short-term rental activity and then be in a position to respond and curb negative activity.鈥�

North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley said the ordinance is being considered because of complaints from constituents regarding late-night noise, parking issues and police being called to short-term rental units.

鈥淥ur main issue that in the R-1 districts, our residents are being impacted. Their lifestyle has been impacted by the VRBOs and HomeAways and that type of thing,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e trying to just get a better control of the noise and the trash and the parking and that type of thing with this ordinance and management. Because it鈥檚 very important that our departments know who is managing each house and a contact number of how we can get a hold of you because we may need to call you in the middle of the night, and these people have to be available if there is an issue at their home.鈥�

As the city looks for ways to address the issue, an ordinance adding requirements for property owners is in the planning stages, but no policies have been solidified.

The city issued a statement following the budget retreat: 鈥淩egarding the legal briefing for the proposed Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance, City Council has not yet reached a decision on an ordinance regarding short-term rentals in North Myrtle Beach. While the City continues to discuss the potential development of an STR Ordinance, City Council and Staff recognize that this is a complex issue with many legal considerations, and the City is committed to ensuring any proposed regulations are both effective and legally sound."

At one workshop, a draft ordinance was presented by Elliott Beach Rentals, which manages hundreds of rental properties in North Myrtle Beach and is an influential business in the community. Hatley said the ideas the company presented to council will certainly be considered, but that the city will be coming up with its own ordinance based on input from several stakeholders.

鈥淓lliott Realty did write an ordinance that they thought would be fair and presented it to us, but that鈥檚 not the ordinance that we will end up with," Hatley said. "Will we take a few ideas from that? Maybe. But it won鈥檛 be the ordinance that we end up passing. They made their presentation. We heard them, and now we decide which is best and what is best for everyone. For the community, for the people who rent and for the rental companies.鈥�

Some ideas workshopped by council included requiring that those renting out a property in city limits have a 鈥渓ocal responsible agent鈥� who would be required to respond to complaints about activity at the rental property 24/7. Another proposal Fabbri outlined is requiring that those renting their property out be required to purchase a permit from the city that could be revoked if there were repeated offenses with no improvement.

鈥淭he idea of a permit. I know it鈥檚 not popular with some folks, but it鈥檚 just one extra layer of requirement that if anybody who rented their house or their condo or property as a short term rental that didn鈥檛 play by the rules and had nefarious activity whether it鈥檚 excessive noise or whatever,鈥� Fabbri said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not like a one time thing and we take it away.

鈥淚t would be something that鈥檚 repetitive over time and we just could not get these property owners to get their short term rental property to comply. It gave us just a tool to say hey listen we鈥檙e going to have to take away your permit. But it would be a last-ditch effort. Something we could have at our disposal with the idea that probably in any given year it wouldn鈥檛 happen.鈥�

The next council meeting is May 5, and a city news release stated there will be no short-term rental ordinance introduced at that meeting.