§ 14-301. Article definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases when used in this chapter have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Accosting means:

(1)

To turn aside, approach or speak to a person in such a manner so as to cause apprehension or fear in a reasonable person that their movement is restricted;

(2)

To approach and engage a person by verbal harassment, aggressive or assaultive language; or

(3)

The unwanted touching of that person in an effort to draw attention to one's solicitation for contribution.

After dark means from one-half hour after sunset until one-half hour before sunrise. The times of sunset and sunrise will be established by the times listed in The Sun News or another newspaper publication of similar distribution.

Aggressive conduct is demonstrated by:

(1)

Accosting another person;

(2)

Forcing oneself upon the company of another;

(3)

Panhandling, begging, soliciting in exchange for contribution, off-premises canvassing or handbilling within 100 feet of the entrance to any financial institution or any automated teller machine, regardless of whether or not such automated teller machine is located at or near a financial institution;

(4)

Panhandling, begging, soliciting in exchange for contribution, off-premises canvassing or handbilling within 50 feet of any public or private outdoor dining area or public or private outdoor merchandising or city franchising area provided such areas are in active use at the time;

(5)

Panhandling, begging, soliciting in exchange for contribution, off-premises canvassing or handbilling within 50 feet of any public transit stop, taxi stand or public comfort facility;

(6)

Approaching a person standing in line waiting to be admitted to or served by a commercial establishment;

(7)

Touching the person without that person's consent;

(8)

Panhandling, begging, soliciting in exchange for contribution, off-premises canvassing or handbilling after dark by means of verbal communication;

(9)

Panhandling, begging, soliciting in exchange for contribution, off-premises canvassing or handbilling the driver or occupant of a vehicle traveling within any roadway when the person begging is within the right-of-way; or

(10)

Panhandling, begging, soliciting in exchange for contribution, off-premises canvassing or handbilling a pedestrian in the right-of-way, while the person begging is a driver or occupant of a vehicle traveling within any roadway.

Beg or panhandle is a form of aggressive or nonaggressive solicitation that includes any verbal or nonverbal solicitation made in person upon any street, public place or park in the city, in which a person requests an immediate donation of money or other gratuity from another person, and includes but is not limited to seeking donations:

(1)

By vocal appeal or for music, singing, or other street performance; and

(2)

Where the person being solicited receives an item of little or no monetary value in exchange for a donation, under circumstances where a reasonable person would understand that the transaction is in substance a donation, rather than a solicitation with a commercial purpose.

When the use of the spoken, written, or printed word or body action in a solicitation, request, offer, enticement for immediate contribution on behalf of oneself contains the element of an exchange of goods or handbills of relative value for the contribution sought, then the act is a solicitation in exchange for contribution, or the conduct of off-premises canvassing, as defined herein.

Boat means every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.

Breach of the peace means a violation of public order, a disturbance of the public tranquility, by any act or conduct amounting to violence or inciting to or likely to produce violence thought violence is not required, including any violation of any law enacted to preserve peace and good order. Peace, as used in the law in this connection, means the tranquility enjoyed by citizens of a municipality or community where good order reigns among its members, which is the natural right of all persons in political society as they go about their lives and business without fear and in safety.

Business means any commercial activity in which any real property, goods, product samples, or services are sold or offered for rent, lease, sale, barter, or exchange of consideration in the corporate city limits.

Camp means residing in or using any right-of-way or restricted public property or a vehicle for living accommodation, sleeping purposes or the storage of personal property, as exemplified by:

(1)

Remaining for prolonged or repeated periods of time not associated with ordinary use of the public place, along with an accumulation of one's personal property or while storing one's personal property on the public place, or apparently lodging in a parked vehicle.

(2)

Use of the area for purposes of maintaining personal hygiene or the provision of personal comforts normally associated with the human functions of food or beverage preparation and elimination of body waste, or sleep beyond that which can be characterized as a nap. The arrangement of the immediate surroundings so as to sleep is shown by the use or arrangement of one's personal property to induce sleep, whether temporary or permanent, or the use or arrangement of available materials to accommodate the environs for sleeping, or the making preparations to sleep, as shown by the use of bedding, coats, blankets, newspapers, or other materials so as to act as a foundation or cover for one to sleep. For the purposes of this section, a nap is brief period of sleep of less than an hour taken during daylight hours.

(3)

Use of the prohibited public place wherein, in plain sight, there is the storage of personal property associated with the provision of household or personal comfort to an individual or group of individuals.

(4)

Use of the prohibited public place for heated food preparation, except in areas specifically designated for heated food preparation. Heated preparation of food may be shown by campfires or cooking devices, litter or waste generated by food preparation.

(5)

Use of a picnic table, or other structure or surface intended for eating as a place for reclining, either on the seating surface or eating surface, or sitting on an eating surface in contraindication of its intended purpose.

(6)

These activities constitute camping when it reasonably appears, in light of all the circumstances, that a person is using the prohibited public place or vehicle as a living, lodging, or sleeping accommodation regardless of his or her intent, or the nature of any other activities in which he or she might also be engaged.

Consideration means anything goods or services of value, or a fee, cash payment or extension of credit that will be given in anticipation of completion or upon completion of the performance of a service, task or job, or in exchange for or any real property, goods, product samples, or services.

Contribution means money, credit, funds, personal property or anything of value.

Disorderly conduct means conduct that is defined in South Carolina Code 16-17-530 or Myrtle Beach Code of Laws in 14-61.

Forcing oneself upon the company of another means:

(1)

To confront a person within 3 feet of their person with a request for contribution;

(2)

To follow a person who has walked on or away from a request for contribution, or to call after and continue to verbally solicit in close proximity to the person addressed after the person to whom the solicitation is directed has made a negative response, either verbally or nonverbally, by physical sign, or by attempting to avoid or leave the presence of the person soliciting; or by other negative indication;

(3)

To physically block or divert, by way of movement of body or object, the passage of the person solicited; or

(4)

Otherwise engaging in obstreperous conduct, or using fighting words, or pejorative language that is intending intimidation so that one will accede to a solicitation just to be left alone.

Goods mean any tangible or fungible commodity or item of even nominal value, including consumables, product samples, exemplars and the like.

Handbill includes:

(1)

Recorded goods generally not available as a consumer product in the form of tapes, DVDs, CDs and the like; and

(2)

Printed or written matter, dodger, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, newspaper, paper, booklet or any other kind of printed matter or literature.

Handbill, commercial means any handbill which is primarily concerned with providing information about the availability, location, characteristics and costs of commercially available goods and services, which:

(1)

Advertises for sale, rent, lease, barter or distribution any business, service, merchandise, goods, product, commodity or thing in the stream of commerce;

(2)

Directs attention or invites attendance to any business, mercantile or commercial establishment, or other business activity, for the purpose of either directly or indirectly promoting the commercial interest thereof by the offering of any business, service, merchandise, goods, product, commodity or thing in the stream of commerce for sale, rent, lease, barter or distribution;

(3)

Directs attention to or advertises any meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition or event of any kind, in which any business, service, merchandise, goods, product, commodity or thing is the subject of commercial speech as either for sale, lease, rent, barter or acquisition by a consumer, or for which an admission or other entry fee is charged.

(4)

While containing some reading matter other than advertising matter, is predominantly and essentially an advertisement, or group of advertisements by different business for consumers, and is freely distributed or circulated for advertising purposes, or for the private benefit and gain of any person so engaged as the advertiser or distributor of the material.

(5)

Is distributed in conjunction with use of the spoken, written, or printed word, or any request, offer, enticement or conduct made contemporaneously in the distribution which is in furtherance of immediately collecting contributions for the use of oneself or others.

(6)

When as a recorded medium, contains commercially available entertainment musical performances and movies which are intended to be available for purchase in a retail establishment by the distribution entity on the creator of the entertainment data.

Handbill, noncommercial means any handbill which contains no elements identifying the handbill as a commercial handbill as defined herein, and pertains to charitable, religious or political beliefs or activities, and the communication and delivery thereof do not seek an immediate contribution as a result of receipt of the handbill. Verbal or written communication that is political, religious or charitable in nature and which also involves the request for the immediate contribution becomes a solicitation of exchange for money as defined herein, having involved the element of commerce.

Litter means garbage, refuse, waste materials or any other discarded, used or unconsumed substance which is not disposed of as required by law.

Mobile billboard advertising means:

(1)

"Backpack billboards," sandwich boards or other signs which are carried, borne, attached or fixed upon the person's body, which are not articles of clothing, or

(2)

Any vehicle or wheeled conveyance which carries, conveys, pulls, or transports any sign or billboard on the rights-of-way for the purpose of advertising a business, sale, service or goods for any form of consideration.

Newspaper means any newspaper of general circulation as defined by general law, any newspaper duly entered with the United States Postal Service in accordance with federal statute or regulation, and any newspaper filed and recorded with any recording officer as provided by general law.

Obstruct means to block, divert or interfere with pedestrian or vehicular movement on a right-of-way or restricted public property, entrance or exit to private property, or any other area open to the public by means of:

(1)

The placement of persons, or objects, or a person's movement or lack of movement of their body or object; or

(2)

The unlawful storage or placement of personal property, or placement of shopping cart, whether acting individually or in concert with others.

Obstruction object or instrument means and includes, but is not limited to, a device commonly known as a "lock box" or "sleeping dragon" or any of the components of such a device including but not limited to: pipes, tubes, wire handcuffs, chains, carabineers, or padlocks, or containers either weighted or not.

Off-premises canvassing is a form of soliciting which is primarily concerned with providing information about the availability, location, characteristics and costs of goods and services and means when a person who acts individually or on behalf of others, and either:

(1)

Makes a verbal or nonverbal solicitation or exhortation intending to entice or engage potential customers on behalf of a business;

(2)

Engages in the free distribution of goods for the purposes of advertising a business, sale, service or goods; or

(3)

Engages in the distribution of goods or services with a contemporaneous request or demand for an immediate contribution of relative value by a person.

Overnight means from sunset to sunrise.

Oversize vehicle means any motor vehicle which exceeds 20 feet in length, nine feet in height and/or seven feet in width. Motor homes and recreational vehicles exceeding these measurements are examples of oversized vehicles. Oversized vehicles are designed or used principally for carrying things other than passengers, including a motor vehicle to which has been added a cabinet box, platform, rack or other equipment for the purpose of carrying merchandise other than the person or effects of passengers; also, any unit consisting of a tractor and trailer so constructed as to haul merchandise or loads other than persons. The following are not defined as oversized vehicles subject to application of this division: Governmental vehicles and those private commercial vehicles under contract or franchise with the government used in the course of conducting public business, construction or repair, ambulances, hearses or automobile wreckers owned and used by a garage in connection with its regular business. Individuals who are disabled and require an oversized vehicle to accommodate the individual's daily needs, and pickup or light trucks, under 10,000 pounds GVWR, which are primarily used by the property owner for transportation purposes, organized professional tour buses, worker transportation buses, regional transit authority buses, church and private organizational buses, provided that parking is accomplished in a safe and lawful manner.

Panhandle: See beg .

Personal property includes, but is not limited to goods owned by an individual, such as flotation devices, lifejackets, clothes, tents, beach umbrellas, chairs, backpacks, carts, wagons, luggage of any shape, size or configuration that evidences its function is the containment, storage and transportation of personal property, bedrolls, blankets, pillows, sheets, clothing, utensils, cookware, cooking preparation materials, tents or similar structures, sleeping bags, bed rolls, blankets, hammocks, or other sleeping implements.

Picket or picketing means to make a public display or demonstration of sentiment for or against a person or cause, including protesting which may include the distribution of noncommercial handbills without solicitation, the display of signs and any oral communication or speech, which may involve an effort to persuade or influence, including all expressive and symbolic conduct, whether active or passive.

Protected zone means the core commercial tourist area defined as beginning at the intersection of the southern boundary of the right of 13th Avenue South and the Atlantic Ocean and running in a westerly direction along the southern boundary of 13th Avenue South to the western boundary of the right-of-way of U. S. Highway 17 (Business), then running along the western boundary of U.S. Highway 17 (Business) in a northerly direction to the southern boundary of the right-of-way of 7th Avenue North, then running along the southern boundary of 7th Avenue North and the extension of that boundary line in a westerly direction until it intersects with the western boundary of the right-of-way of Broadway, then running in a northerly direction along the western boundary of the right-of-way of Broadway, then running in a northerly direction along the western boundary of Broadway until it intersects with the northern boundary of the right-of-way of 9th Avenue North, then running in an easterly direction along the northern boundary of 9th Avenue North until it intersects with the western boundary of the right-of-way of U.S. Highway 17 (Business), then running along the western boundary of U.S. Highway 17 (Business) until it intersects with the northern boundary of the right-of-way of 21st Avenue North, then running along the northern boundary of 21st Avenue North and the extension of that boundary line in an easterly direction until it intersects with the Atlantic Ocean, then running in a southerly direction along the Atlantic Ocean Beach until it reaches the point of beginning.

Public beach means that area lying between the Atlantic Ocean and the easternmost property line of the property owned by private individuals or corporations, lying closest in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean; except that where there is a street leading east from Ocean Boulevard toward the Atlantic Ocean, and also "public beach" at these points shall mean the area lying between the easternmost edge of the public street and the Atlantic Ocean; and includes any area lying between the mean low water mark of the Atlantic Ocean and the primary dune line, bulkhead or seawall, as well as those lands subject to periodic inundation by tidal and wave actions so that no non-littoral vegetation is established.

Publicly accessible parking lots and garages means those structures and lots in which motorized vehicles are invited to park, either for a fee or as a component of public parking.

Recreational vehicle means any vehicle used for purposes other than the primary source of transportation for a household, including: travel trailers, pick up coaches, campers, motor homes, camping trailers, converted vans and buses, tent trailers, and other similar type vehicles for sleeping, travel, or temporary dwelling as for recreation or vacations.

Restricted public places shall include the following:

(1)

All publicly owned or managed buildings, grounds and property under deed, dedication, easement or lease, including structures and their premises built for specified uses and functions, owned or operated by political subdivisions or their instrumentalities or agencies, including but not limited to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, and beach walkovers and accesses, public parks and public beaches; drainage ditches, swales, swashes, ponds, culverts or basins; and parking spaces, garages and lots.

(2)

Privately owned landscaped (mulched, bushes, flowers or trees) or open space areas required by zoning laws to be accessible to the public as aesthetically pleasing cultivated open spaces required by law.

(3)

Private property that is readily accessible to the general public, or is otherwise open to common or general use or view, such as unrestricted parking areas lots and private alleys through which the public has historically passed without obstruction.

(4)

Vacant or undeveloped land and lots through which the public has historically passed without obstruction.

(5)

Publicly accessible parking lots and garages.

Right-of-way property means any publicly owned, leased or easement property set aside, platted or dedicated for pedestrian and vehicular travel, including the paved or unpaved portion of public streets and sidewalks up to the private property boundary, and includes any pedestrian safety areas or islands, crosswalks, parking spaces, sidewalks, curbs, planting strips or any part of any public right-of-way devoted to accommodating persons or vehicles in transit.

Roller skates or roller blades means any device or conveyance with any number of wheels, tracks or gliding surfaces, whether off-set or in-line, worn on the feet or that can be attached to the sole of a shoe, and which are designed to be or can be propelled by human power, and includes "in-line skates" or "rollerblades," most often propelled by the user in an upright, standing position or kneeling.

Sale means an act involving the exchange of consideration, or any trade or offer of trade for currency, credit, services, or goods.

Services mean any task, job, work, attraction, amenity or act which can be obtained through an exchange of consideration.

Semitrailer means any two-wheeled vehicle coupled to or drawn by or designed to be coupled to or drawn by any motor vehicle.

Sidewalk means that portion of the street right-of-way which is designated for the use of pedestrians and may be paved or unpaved and shall include easements and rights-of-ways. The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk by definition is not a sidewalk.

Skateboard means any board or any other object or device which has wheels attached to it by any means whatsoever and which is propelled by pushing, pulling, or gravitational forces, and to which there is not affixed any device or mechanism for steering or braking, propelled by the user who sometimes stands, sits, kneels, or lays upon the device while it is in motion. For the purposes of this chapter the term "skateboard" shall include the terms "scooter" and "coaster."

Solicitation in exchange for contribution is a form of soliciting and means conduct in which a who is acting on behalf of oneself or a non-profit or charity, suggests or requests by word, writing or gesture that immediate contribution for one's self or on behalf of others is expected or will be accepted when distributing any type of goods or handbills, thus injecting an element of commerce into the solicitation. When the person acts in furtherance of, or on behalf of a business, the conduct becomes off-premises canvassing.

Specified anatomical parts means human male or female genitals, pubic area, pubic hair, buttocks, anus, vulva or any portion of the female breast at or below the areola thereof.

Store means to gather together or to put or place one's personal property thereby using the public place as the repository of one's possessions, as exemplified by personal property remaining for prolonged or repeated periods of time, either attended or unattended, and not associated with ordinary use of the public place, or under any permit pertaining thereto.

Street means the entire width between property or right-of-way lines of every way or place of whatever nature, when any part thereof is open to the use of the public as a matter or right, for the purposes of vehicular traffic, including that portion that is known as the shoulder of the roadway and the curb. The terms "highway" and "street" and their cognates are synonymous as used herein. The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk by definition is not a street.

Tractor means any motor vehicle having four or more wheels designed or used for drawing other vehicles, but having no provision for carrying loads.

Trailer means a nonmotorized vehicle, with two or more wheels, designed to be coupled to or drawn by another vehicle, and used to transport other forms of recreational vehicles, or other forms of conveyance, materials or goods, including utility trailers.

Unpermitted campsite means a gathering of multiple stored personal properties on private property that is not a public campground pursuant to a permit or license authorized under federal, state or local statute or ordinance. The definition does not include a person camping on their own property. An unpermitted campsite exists when it reasonably appears, in light of all the circumstances that a person is using the property as a living, lodging, or sleeping accommodation regardless of his or her intent, or the nature of any other activities in which he or she might also be engaged.

(Ord. No. 2012-51, 8-28-12; Ord. No. 2013-27, 6-11-13; Ord. No. 2013-55, 8-27-13)