COASTAL OBSERVER

It took less than five minutes for Georgetown County Council to approve an ordinance in June that limited surf fishing during the summer and set off a firestorm of opposition.

It took the council half an hour last week to make sure that ordinance was absolutely, positively dead. And one member still has his doubts.

“This has not been handled properly from the get-go. Let’s put it out in the sunshine,” Council Member Raymond Newton said.

The council called a special meeting to vote on an agreement for a joint industrial park with Horry County, but it put out word that it would use the opportunity to remove the amendment to the county beach regulations from consideration. It had postponed the final reading of the amendment the week before.

The measure was introduced without the text in May at the request of Council Chairman Clint Elliott, who said he had received complaints about shark fishing at Garden City.

The amended beach ordinance sought to ban shark fishing and limit surf fishing from 7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. from May through September.

The council approved second reading 5-0 with only brief discussion, prompted by Newton, about any impact on fishing from Pawleys Pier. After hearing complaints from anglers, the council voted to defer final approval at the start of its July meeting. It still faced a barrage of criticism during the public comment period that followed.

At the start of last week’s special meeting, Elliott moved to remove the amendment from the agenda and from “future consideration.” It had been listed on the agenda with two other deferred items.

Newton wanted to bring the surf fishing amendment up for a vote. “This is the only way to put this to rest,” he said.

Without a vote, the amendment could be brought back any time. If it came up for a vote and failed, it could not be taken up for a year.

Council Member Louis Morant agreed. “Let’s put it to rest once and for all,” he said.

But Jay Watson, the county attorney, said no action on the amendment could take place at the special meeting. It would need to be put on the agenda for third reading at a future meeting.

“I respect your opinion, but I totally disagree with you,” Newton said, but he was willing to wait a few weeks for a final vote.

Morant was persuaded. By removing it from the agenda, “we would be effectively killing it.”

“The goal is to kill this,” Council Member Stella Mercado said. “I want to do this the right way so we don’t waste the public’s time.”

If the council came up with a different version of the amendment, Watson said it would need to start from scratch, with three readings and a hearing.

The council could not “sneak it in,” he said. It would be at least a three-month process.

Watson added that the beach regulations were adopted in 1988 and could use some “editing.” The only change he has heard proposed is prohibiting people from putting hot coals in trash bins at beach accesses.

That could still happen if the amendment actually failed because only the section dealing with fishing would face a year’s wait, Watson said.

“This is not about fishing. This is our beach ordinance,” Council Member Bob Anderson said. 

If it comes up again, “the beach ordinance is not going to say anything about shark fishing as far as I’m concerned.”

Newton wasn’t convinced. If the council moved forward without defeating the amendment, “be prepared to answer for your vote,” he said.

The vote was 6-1 to remove the amendment from further consideration.

Newton said afterward that he is still wary of changes that the council wants to make to the beach regulations. The issue has only “been put in a closet where it can be taken out again,” he said.