A new class action lawsuit has been filed against the City of Myrtle Beach and Lanier Parking by James Daniel and others, alleging that the city engaged in an unlawful parking contract, specifically an illegal parking contract, with Lanier Parking.
The suit states: The law of the State of South Carolina does not permit a municipality of South Carolina to contract with a private entity to enforce the municipality’s parking ordinance as it is a prohibited delegation of the municipality’s police powers.
James Daniel resides in Horry County and serves as the primary figure in the lawsuit concerning the illegal parking contract.
Daniels has been issued multiple citations for parking violations in the City of Myrtle Beach, which was issued by Defendant Lanier Parking Meter Services, LLC and/or Defendant Lanier Parking Holdings, Inc. as a result of the illegal parking contract.
The suit states: The Defendant municipalities and other municipalities contracted with the Defendant Lanier Parking Meter Services, LLC and/or Defendant Lanier Parking Holdings, Inc. for it to provide enforcement of their parking ordinances. These Defendants, by and through its employees, officers or agents patrols the streets of the municipalities looking for violators of the ordinance, writes tickets for the violators, and collects the fines. The municipalities and Defendant Lanier Parking Meter Services, LLC and/or Defendant Lanier Parking Holdings, Inc. then split the fines based upon a formula in their contracts.
Daniels is informed and believes that the process of allowing a private entity to police parking violates the laws of the State of South Carolina, including those procedures by which Defendant Lanier Parking Meter Services, LLC and/or Defendant Lanier Parking Holdings, Inc. are the entities to which there can be an appeal by a plaintiff or others who have received a ticket.
Further, upon information and belief, the Class consists of individuals who paid or received parking tickets and those individuals only appeal process is through Defendant Lanier Parking Meter Services, LLC and/or Defendant Lanier Parking Holdings, Inc. with no independent judicial review by a court.
James Daniel v. City of Myrtle Beach and Lanier Parking, Horry County Action by MyrtleBeachSC news on Scribd
An opinion released on November 15, 2024, labeled this and other actions an illegal parking contract per S.C. State Law. S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson states:
Understanding the Implications of the Illegal Parking Contract
As mentioned in prior opinions, a municipality’s police powers are conferred to them by the Legislature primarily through section 5-7-30 of the South Carolina Code (Supp. 2023). Moreover, our courts and the Legislature recognize regulating parking falls under this authority. Owens v. Owens, 193 S.C. 260, 8 S.E.2d 339, 342 (1940) (recognizing a municipality’s authority to regulate parking); S.C. Code Ann. § 56-5-710 (2018) (specifying local authorities have the power to regulate parking “with respect to streets and highways under their jurisdiction and within the reasonable exercise of the police power. . . .”). For reasons explained below, because regulating parking involves the exercise of a municipality’s police powers, we do not believe such authority can be delegated to a private entity.
AG Wilson Opinion on contract parking by MyrtleBeachSC news on Scribd
Local News Via - MyrtleBeachSC.com
