North Myrtle Beach bar owner sues city in federal court over noise ordinance

A popular North Myrtle Beach bar is suing the city in federal court, arguing an October 2021 noise ordinance is so vaguely worded that it violates First Amendment rights.

Sky Bar owner Michael Moshoures, who’s being represented by attorneys from the state American Civil Liberties Union chapter, named Mayor Marilyn Hatley and Police Chief Tommy Dennis in his 10-page suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

“The City of North Myrtle Beach has made it a crime to play “crude,” “smutty,” or “indecent” music at a volume barely perceptible to the human ear,” the suit alleges. “In so doing, the City has on the firmly rooted freedoms of speech and expression preserved by our federal constitution.”

City officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

Last October, the City Council approved a measure prohibiting Sky Bar from playing music containing vulgar and obscene lyrics above 30 decibels om 7:01 a.m. to 10:59 p.m the noise equivalent of speaking in a whisper.

From 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., the music can’t go higher than 50 decibels from Sky Bar’s 214 Main St. property line, roughly as loud as a normal conversation. The city ordinance also makes it illegal to play any music from 7:01 a.m. to 10:59 p.m. at a decibel level of more than 80 (garbage disposal levels of noise) and from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. at a level higher than 60 decibels.

Days later, ACLU South Carolina legal advocacy director Allen Chaney warned city leaders their noise control efforts ran afoul of federal law and urged them to drop it.

Sky Bar has lost customers and revenue in the months since the ordinance was implemented due to the restrictions, according to Moshoures’s suit, which describes Sky Bar as a venue that plays “rap, hip-hop and top 40 music.”

“Patrons of the Sky Bar show up each night expecting to hear music from these genres, which often include profane and sexually explicit lyrics,” the suit states.