Why Myrtle Beach Zoning, Not the Listing, Decides How a Forest Dunes Property Can Be Rented
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Buyers who compare a Forest Dunes house with an oceanfront condo a few blocks away usually treat rental use as something they'll decide after closing. In the City of Myrtle Beach, that decision has mostly been made already. Zoning keeps most traditional residential neighborhoods out of short-term rentals. A separate 2024 ordinance keeps short-term condo units between Kings Highway and the ocean from switching to long-term leases. So two buyers on the same stretch of beach can end up with properties that each allow only one kind of rental, and the two kinds are opposite.
A listing sheet rarely spells this out. The answers are in the city's zoning map, in Ordinance 2024-069 and in a pending federal lawsuit, and each one is worth checking before an offer.
The city sets one threshold for everything. A rental of less than 90 days is short-term under both city and state law, according to the City of Myrtle Beach Planning & Zoning Department. The same page explains which properties can use it. Any zoning district whose name begins with R does not allow short-term rentals. The one exception is RMV, the Residential Multifamily Visitor zone.
The city is blunt about what that means for houses. "Most Myrtle Beach residential neighborhoods are NOT zoned for short-term rentals," the department writes. A property outside an eligible zone "cannot be converted to or approved for that use." There's no exception for oceanfront single-family lots. The only carve-outs the city lists are RMV zoning and grandfathered uses.
The grandfathered group is small. The Planning & Zoning page says only 24 houses in traditional residential zones citywide are grandfathered for short-term rentals, because they were consistently rented that way decades ago, before the current zoning took effect. A separate city explainer puts the count at "fewer than 30." Neither page is dated, but 24 is the more precise figure.
Breaking the rule is a misdemeanor. Upon conviction, fines run up to $500 and/or 30 days per occurrence.
We could not find a public record that names one zoning district for all of Forest Dunes. The city's guidance applies to any traditional residential neighborhood, and the way to answer the question for a specific address is the city's GIS zoning map. For questions about a specific property, the department's number is 843-918-1050. The city's static zoning PDF is dated July 2023, so the live map is the better tool.
East of Kings Highway, the city regulates in the other direction, keeping short-term condo units from moving to long-term leases.
In April 2024, Myrtle Beach City Council put a moratorium on converting short-term rentals to long-term rentals east of Kings Highway. In December 2024, it made that permanent with a zoning overlay. WPDE reported that the second reading passed unanimously on December 10. The overlay "applies to every short-term rental in a building of two or more units between Kings Highway and the Atlantic Ocean." WBTW identified the measure as Ordinance 2024-069.
The city's reasoning comes down to accommodations tax. Long-term renters don't pay that tax, and after a run of conversions the city began losing revenue. In data the city shared with WPDE, every 1,000 units converted from short-term to long-term costs the City of Myrtle Beach $2.48 million in accommodations taxes and costs the county another $1.19 million. The same study counted 48 jobs lost per 1,000 conversions.
That explains why the city regulates in both directions. Neighborhoods stay residential, and the visitor buildings stay in the visitor pool that produces tax revenue. A buyer's plans for a property have to fit the lane the property is already in.
The overlay has limits. According to WPDE, existing long-term rental landlords can carry on as usual as long as they hold a long-term business license. The overlay applies going forward to buildings constructed for or used for short-term rentals.
| Property type near Forest Dunes | Rentals under 90 days | Rentals of 90 days or more | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| House in a traditional R zone | Not allowed unless grandfathered | Allowed with a business license | City zoning, R-district rule |
| House among the city's grandfathered few | Allowed | Allowed with a business license | Pre-zoning use, per the city |
| Short-term rental unit in a multi-unit building between Kings Highway and the ocean | Allowed | Conversion barred | Ordinance 2024-069 overlay |
| Property in RMV or another eligible zone | Allowed with a business license | Depends on the overlay if east of Kings Highway | City zoning map |
The rule on houses is old, and Forest Dunes has felt the friction it was written to prevent. In 2018, WMBF reported concerns about weekend vacation traffic in Forest Dunes, including cars coming and going and parking on the grass. The same report said the Forest Dunes area had four short-term rental properties at the time, among the roughly 30 citywide that could operate because they were renting before the zoning law was enacted.
Mark Kruea, then the city's spokesperson, explained the purpose to WMBF this way:
"There is a reason why a residential neighborhood is for long-term residential use. If you turn it into a commercial area then you've lost something intrinsic to the residential area."
Those 2018 counts are history. They don't describe which Forest Dunes homes hold grandfathered status today. The city's current citywide figure is 24, and a single address can only be confirmed through the city. Grandfathered status is attached to past use, so a buyer considering a house marketed with rental history would want written confirmation from the zoning office before relying on it.
The condo-side overlay hasn't been settled. On February 6, 2025, WMBF reported that MBSC Property South had sued the city, challenging the overlay under state and federal law and asking the court to void it.
On August 28, 2025, the federal district court issued an order on the city's motion to dismiss. Several claims were allowed to proceed at the pleading stage, including Planning Act, constitutional and Fair Housing Act claims. The spot-zoning, unauthorized-tax, contract-rights and vested-rights theories were dismissed with prejudice. That order didn't rule on whether the overlay is lawful. It only decided which arguments could move forward. The court's order also describes the overlay a little differently from the 2024 news coverage. It covers buildings with more than two units "if ever used as a hotel or short-term rental," and it bars conversion to rentals of 90 continuous days or more.
On January 30, 2026, a story in The Sun News still described the lawsuit as active. As of October 2026, we found no final judgment, repeal or amendment. Two sampled 2026 City Council agendas, from May 12 and September 8, listed no amendment to the overlay. For now, the conversion bar remains in force for covered condo units east of Kings Highway while the case is pending.
For a property in an eligible lane, the process runs through the city first and the state second.
The business license applies to long-term rentals too. A Forest Dunes house leased for a year still goes through the city's licensing process.
Does an oceanfront location let a Forest Dunes house be rented short-term? Not by itself. The city's rule depends on the zoning district, not on distance to the beach. Its stated exceptions are RMV zoning and grandfathered pre-existing use.
Can a grandfathered status be created now? The city says a property not already in an eligible zone cannot be converted to or approved for short-term use. Grandfathered houses qualified because of consistent rental use from before the current zoning.
If I buy a short-term rental condo between Kings Highway and the ocean, can I lease it for a full year later? Under Ordinance 2024-069, converting a covered unit to a long-term rental is barred. That ordinance is currently being challenged in federal court, so the rule could change.
Who confirms the rules for one specific address? The City of Myrtle Beach Planning & Zoning Department at 843-918-1050, along with any HOA or condominium association whose documents may add their own limits.
If you're weighing a Forest Dunes home against an oceanfront condo and the rental question matters to your plans, Kim Brooks can help you confirm a property's zoning, licensing history and building rules before you write an offer. Schedule a consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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