FOLLY BEACH, SC (WCSC) – As of Tuesday, the City of Folly Beach is ceasing the distribution of short-term rental permits with some exceptions.
At Tuesday’s special City Council meeting, an ordinance temporarily halting the issuance of new business licenses for short-term rentals will take effect.
The city said this three-month freeze on short-term rental permits will remain in place until a new permit cap is voted on. The hat was provided by a group of concerned citizens.
In June, city leaders voted to ban short-term rentals on Folly Beach. Since then, a new cap has been proposed by the citizens group Save Foley’s Future, which would limit 800 short-term rental permits to non-resident owners.
The city said that because the group’s petition received so many signatures, the City Council would be forced to accept their proposed rent cap or put the request to a public vote. When you verify the signatures and everything is fixed, this will be used to pause the license distribution.
But not everyone feels its influence.
Exceptions to this ban are renewals of all permits issued year-to-date in 2022, new owners of all properties granted year-to-date permits in 2022, homes under construction or with applications for subdivisions, and first-level permit residences.
The city administration stated that this suspension of short-term rental permits is intended to continue the status quo until the issue is resolved one way or the other, and that we are working to achieve this as soon as possible.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday morning at 9 o’clock in the 2nd Floor Council Chambers at 21 Center Street.
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