Parking violations in Folly Beach (Charleston, Myrtle Beach: neighborhood, live, restaurant)

[emilybh]

I to went to Folly Beach last weekend to try out a restaurant called "Conch" on Center St. I parked on one of the side streets, off of the other side of Center St, in front of some sort of a parking lot and as far off of the road to the side as I could get and when I came back there was a ticket on the windshield. I couldn't believe it because there was no signage saying parking wasn't allowed and there were other cars parked in the vicinity too. When I examined the ticket it said I was parked in the 100 block of E. Cooper. Under that there were a list of violations and checked off was "parking in the street" with a corresponding penalty of $50!

I'm going to contest it because I WAS NOT parking IN THE STREET. I was pulled WAY OVER. I even went home; came back; took a picture of how I was parked with my digital camera and when I came back saw an SUV parking just forward of the same spot and the SUV had NO ticket.

My question is. Is Folly Beach a separate town (with its own laws about parking) or do all the towns abide by state laws or is Folly Beach part of Charleston? I bet Folly Beach has its own ordinances about parking right?

I want to research the parking ordinances. I looked up the ones for Charleston and they allow parking on the side of the street as long as there is 10 feet for cars to pass (and I'd left at least that much space).

I wouldn't be so outraged if maybe he's given me a lower penalty such as parking too far from the curb for $30 (even though there was no curb) but having to pay $50 having done nothing wrong really rubs me the wrong way.

Also for others visiting Folly Beach since there are no signs to warn anyone about any of these, here are some of the other parking violations you might want to be aware of:

NO Parking within 15 ft of an interection -$50
NO Parking within 15 ft of a fire hydrant - $200
Parking on the wrong side of the street - $30
Parking on Dune - $200
Diagonal parking unless posted - $50

Then there is a line where an officer can write in another violation and make up a penalty.

Doesn't this seem a bit EXTREME?

Needless to say, the pleasant experience at Conch was quickly ruined when i not only saw the ticket but saw what I was being charged for and the amount due.

[Tommy1981]

Folly Beach is a seperate town, so they could and probably do have seperate regulations regarding their parking. The folks that live there are proud of their "neighborhood" beach community as opposed to a majorily developed property like Myrtle Beach.

Parking can be real problem for smaller towns, and sometimes the city uses the penalities as another revenue stream, kinda banking that they won't tick off too many tourist that are key to their local economy.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm planning to go to Folly Beach next weekend. I guess I'll know to make sure I'm in a legal spot.

[Rggr]

Folly Beach is its own town and they are tough on parking. If your tire touches concrete, you will get a ticket for parking in the street. Another thing people will do a lot at the beach is make a u-turn into a parking space. Make sure you are facing in the direction that is consistent with the flow of traffic.