Myrtle Beach looks for divorce with Horry County over campground property deal

A quiet vote last week by the Myrtle Beach City Council could end a long-standing dispute with Horry County over a revenue-sharing plan at two popular Kings Highway campgrounds.

Since 2004, revenues generated by leases from Lakewood and Piratewood resorts for use of 145 acres of property have been split between the two local governments, with 75 percent funneled to the county.

In late 2020, a city vote to sell the land formally known as Seascape Properties to its tenants for $60 million was met with opposition by Horry County because the nearly $3 million it got annually through the deal helped support operations at Myrtle Beach International Airport.

After losing a civil suit that cleared the way for a city land sale, county leaders next turned to the Federal Aviation Administration — saying the U.S. government has a say in what happens to the property because of its link to the airport.

City leaders voted Oct. 11 to pull out of the deal as of Friday, pointing to the lack of a

“That (agreement) importantly did not entitle the county to proceeds of the sale of the campground properties. Since then, the county has essentially repudiated terms of the IGA by taking the position in state court and before the Federal Aviation Administration that it is not only entitled to the rental revenues, but also they’re entitled 100 percent of the sale proceeds, which is not at all what the IGA says,” City Attorney William Bryan said at a Sept. 27 council meeting where the termination was first discussed.

It’s not immediately clear whether the county plans to challenge Myrtle Beach’s planned divorce.