Hilton Head considers urging islanders to shelter in place since sheriff can’t enforce

Resolutions urging Hilton Head islanders to stay at home, non-essential businesses to close and rental companies to stop booking will be considered by the the town Monday during an emergency meeting.

The meeting comes after Mayor John McCann said Thursday that the town would vote on its own shelter-in-place ordinance if S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster didn’t sign a statewide shelter-in-place order — which hasn’t happened.

On Sunday, McCann said the town could no longer authorize its own shelter-in-place order because Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Friday that he wouldn’t enforce any local shelter-in-place ordinances because under a state of emergency, he follows state laws, not local ones.

“The sheriff believes he reports directly to the governor,” McCann said.

Charleston and Columbia have enacted ordinances requiring people in those cities to shelter in place. The ordinances ignore a S.C. Attorney General opinion that says local governments don’t have that authority.

An attorney general opinion is non-binding but could affect a court’s decision if a resident filed a lawsuit.

McCann said Charleston and Columbia have their own police departments, which report to their city government, not the governor.

“We could do the mandate,” McCann said Sunday, “but there would be no one there to enforce it, and that is what is hurting us.”

Emergency meeting

The Town Council will consider three resolutions during its 2 p.m. meeting. The public can watch the meeting on the town’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TownofHiltonHeadIslandSC.

One resolution urges rental agencies, including hotels and motels, to voluntarily stop taking reservations through April.

A dozen rental companies, including Sea Pines Resort, sent a letter last week to the town saying they’d stopped all new rentals through April 9.

The resolution also will urge these businesses not to use promotional materials targeting other areas in the nation “hard” hit by COVID-19.

Another resolution will urge residents and guests to limit recreation to walking and biking or to activities that they can walk or bike to.

That would close all town parks and parking lots. The mayor closed all public beach accesses, parking lots and amenities on March 21.

The resolution would also ask property owner associations and private clubs to voluntarily restrict access to their beach facilities to walkers and bikers. While the town closed public beach access, private access has remained open.

The resolution would be effective through April

A third resolution would urge all non-essential businesses to close voluntarily through April.

Essential businesses are outlined in the Homeland Security guidelines and include communications, critical manufacturing, water, food and agriculture, and health care.