News-Record.com

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - The Horry County Council could consider a compromise next week that would shorten at least one of the spring motorcycle rallies at the beach by three days.

A resolution is being drafted that would cut the mid-May Harley-Davidson rally from 10 days to seven days and limit the number of vendor permits that can be issued, county council clerk Pat Hartley told The Sun News of Myrtle Beach on Wednesday.

The proposal also would spread the vendors across the county. If the resolution can be completed in time, it will be added to the council's agenda for Tuesday's meeting, Hartley said.

The Harley-Davidson rally has been a fixture in Myrtle Beach for nearly seven decades and attracts mostly white riders. The Atlantic Beach Bikefest during Memorial Day weekend is a much newer event. It lasts four to five days, caters to black bikers and doesn't have the same kind of organization as the Harley rally.

The city of Myrtle Beach decided to raise taxes to look at ways to get rid of the rallies earlier this summer, but so far none of the surrounding governments have followed suit.

Officials estimate the two rallies bring more than 500,000 people to the Grand Strand every year.

The compromise is a good starting point for discussion, said Mike Shank, a partner in Festival Promotions, which does marketing for the Harley rally.

Horry County Councilman Harold Worley said he is glad there is a deal for the council to discuss.

"There's going to be some type of reasonable compromise on both sides," Worley said. "I believe this is pretty close to it. Could it be amended somewhat? Yes, but at least there is something on the table to create debate."

Word of the possible compromise came the same day a public meeting was held to discuss the rallies before representatives of all governments in Horry County except Atlantic Beach.

The meeting was held in a hall that could hold 3,000 people, but only several hundred showed up to speak for or against the rallies.