Ambassadors and enforcers. Who will write tickets at Hilton Head’s beach lots this summer?
With new parking fees launched in recent weeks at most Hilton Head Island beach lots comes a troop of “ambassadors” that may appear to visitors like parking enforcers. They aren’t, but they can and will affect who will be getting a dreaded parking ticket that could range from $50 to $500.
Once free to park at the Alder Lane, Driessen, Fish Haul, Folly Field and Islanders beach parks, it will now cost non-resident beach-goers $3 an hour to secure a spot on weekdays and a flat $20 on weekends regardless if a visitor is out for a 30-minute jog or a five-hour family beach day. The charge will also have a “convenience fee” added. The town’s centerpiece beach at Coligny is currently exempt from the fees.
On Monday, a small gray vehicle labeled with “Town of Hilton Head Island Parking Ambassador” and a Parking Control Inc. Municipal Services logo was parked among other cars at the popular north island spot at Fish Haul Beach Park. A woman dressed in a blue jacket with the company’s logo got out of the vehicle. When approached, the PCI employee referred the reporter to her company or the town for comment on what she was doing and her role in parking enforcement.
Later, she took out a phone to scan a beach visitor’s license plate to determine if a violation had occurred.
Who will write the tickets?
Other municipalities in the state have learned the hard way that having a private company hand out parking violations result in costly lawsuits. The town hopes to avoid that peril.
According to Bob Bromage, the town’s director of public safety, PCI employees do not have the authority to write a ticket.
Originally, PCI was going to handle enforcement, Bromage said, but the arrangement has since changed after the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office issued its opinion that municipalities should not have a third-party enforcing its parking ordinance. In November, the Attorney General’s Office issued its opinion that parking enforcement, part of a municipality’s police power “may not be delegated to private entities.”
In the months to follow, lawsuits challenging local government’s contracts with private companies to issue tickets and collect fines have been filed in Myrtle Beach and even in the city of Beaufort. Other private companies were named in those lawsuits, not PCI.
In short, Hilton Head’s community code enforcement officers will be the ones to issue tickets and warnings. Only town employees will perform the enforcement of the parking ordinance, Bromage said.
Beach parking enforcement is a state-wide concern
PCI is currently named in a class action lawsuit in Charleston County, where two county residents took action against Folly Beach, Isle of Palms and PCI, according to The Post & Courier. Both Folly Beach and Isle of Palms contract with the company to manage their city parking lots and enforce parking ordinances, which includes writing tickets and citations.
But this is not the case on Hilton Head, according to Bromage.
On Hilton Head, PCI employees are in charge of staffing the parking sites. Some will be stationary while others will travel between lots depending on the volume of vehicles in the lots. They are there to assist with payments, which are now done from a phone screen and to monitor the lots for potential violations.
Here’s how parking tickets get issued
The PCI employees are equipped with a scanning app to see if the car attached to the license plate number has paid for parking, had a resident permit or has not paid the posted fee. If they believe there is a violation, they are to contact a town employee from community code enforcement to issue a warning or write a citation.
The town’s website says that code enforcement is also responsible for enforcing short-term rentals regulations, a parking master plan, expanded beach services and e-bike regulations.
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 12:28 PM.
