Here is the latest. Seems it's still not over even though some of the lawsuits have been dropped.
The state's high court said:
motel owners William and Carol O'Day cannot join another man's request for a court case against the city over Myrtle Beach's local motorcycle helmet law;
the O'Days cannot appeal the Horry County Circuit Court's refusal to stop the city from enforcing some of its new ordinances;
it's moot to ask the court to prohibit the city from holding administrative hearings for ordinance violations because the city has done away with the administrative hearing process.
The news comes on the heels of Tuesday night's City Council meeting, where it was announced that Harley-Davidson rally organizer Mike Shank had withdrawn his lawsuit that challenged the city's mandatory helmet laws and noise ordinances.
"That was the best move for us to make right now," Shank said. "It was a variety of things. It was something we decided was the best course of action for the time being."
Shank would not give specific reasons on why he withdrew the lawsuit, filed in October, but he said he is "frustrated with what the city has done."
"Everyone is impacted by this," he said. "It's put a lot of people in a lot of bad situations."
Three rally-related lawsuits are still pending, including the O'Days' case, which is in Horry County Circuit Court.
A federal judge will hear a lawsuit that alleges the city's new ordinances are overbroad, unconstitutional and restrict interstate commerce. That suit was filed by a Greenville attorney on behalf of Doghouse and Steel Horse Saloon owner Don Emery, The Master's Club,
www.myrtlebeachbikeweek.com and other business owners.
And the state Supreme Court still has Bart Viers' challenge of the ticket he received for not wearing a helmet.
The O'Days were among the first to file a lawsuit against the city after it passed 15 ordinances last fall to deal with some of the noise, traffic and public partying issues that have been common complaints during May's Harley-Davidson spring Cruisin' the Coast and Atlantic Beach Bikefest motorcycle rallies.
Their attorney, Tom McGrath of Virginia, is also representing more than 45 riders who were ticketed for not wearing helmets within city limits.
Those tickets would have been heard in the city's administrative court, except Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal issued a memo saying administrative courts were unconstitutional.
The city scrapped its plans for such a court after hearing from Toal and will now hear those helmet, noise and other infraction cases in municipal court.
The O'Days were also prohibited from joining Viers, who has asked the high court to hear his complaint about a helmet violation ticket he received.
McGrath could not be reached for comment on Friday."
Contact KURT KNAPEK at 626-0258.
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Topic: Update on Myrtle Beach Helmet Law (Read 5282 times)