The Myrtle Beach area Harley-Davidson dealer plans to open a storefront in North Myrtle Beach during the May motorcycle rallies, and the corporate events team for The Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Co. may follow suit next week.

North Myrtle Beach city staff talked this week with business partners Harold Worley and Mark Lazarus over the specifics of an arrangement with The Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Co. to set up shop at the site of the O.D. Pavilion amusement park on Main Street during the Spring Cruisin' the Coast Motorcycle Rally, city spokeswoman Nicole Aiello confirmed. Worley and Lazarus, a current and former Horry County councilman respectively, said they will be making about $250,000 in improvements to the property to bring the local and corporate Harley groups to the site.

"It's just been a conversation with staff. Nothing has been done to push this into motion on the city's part other than a conversation," Aiello said. "If it does happen, it will fall within the legal ordinances that the city already has and within their legal right as business owners within the city."

The city changed the wording in a request to the state Accommodations Tax board this year, asking Jan. 12 before the plan had been worked out for $35,000 to pay for public safety and other staff overtime for the Harley rally and Memorial Day Bikefest. The city asked for the same amount of money last year to cover the Memorial Day bike rally alone.

Lazarus and Worley said they plan to move forward with the event, and that a representative from Harley-Davidson's corporate office will visit Monday to make sure the site is suitable for test drives and motorcycle rentals. If she gives the OK, the Harley Owners Group would likely set up a pin stop at the location and could attract as many as 10,000 Harley riders to the event.

"We believe in this event and are offering our property and financial support to bring it to the area this year because of the impact it could have for our and other local businesses," Worley said. "There could be as many as 10,000 people staying in the hotels, eating at the restaurants and buying souvenirs and other local goods during those five days."

Lazarus added, "I think with the work that has gone into planning this event, that it will be a benefit to the businesses and have the least impact on the day-to-day life of residents. We've taken care to make sure that this is a controlled event that avoids some of the concerns for the community in other locations during the rally."

The Myrtle Beach dealer would operate out of a building that Worley owns on Ocean Boulevard where a bicycle rental company is operating. They would be allowed to set up merchandise tent displays in the asphalt area where the amusement park operates, but all sales would be required to happen inside the store. Lazarus said they have not worked out the details of how long the Myrtle Beach Harley dealer will operate from the building, whether it will be for the duration of the rally or for the longer summer season.

Because there would be no other vendors or outside sales on the site, the plan does not require a special events permit or ordinance change - both options originally proposed by the businessmen. The plan would also not require a public hearing before the City Council to move forward.

"In supporting businesses in town, we want to make sure that the citizens don't get trampled in this," said Ron Busick, president of the North Myrtle Beach Citizens' Association. "I would say I feel that the way this was done might be viewed as manipulative. We wish that it had been brought before the City Council and the public would have had a chance to talk about and express their concerns in public."

With May quickly approaching, the partners decided to move forward this way, Worley said. If the venture proves to be successful, he said they want to move forward next year with public hearings and possibly vending.

Busick said he has been hearing concerns and questions from residents about the increased motorcycle traffic and from some businesses on Main Street that are afraid the motorcycle shop and rally traffic will dissuade other customers that make up most of their foot traffic from coming to the Main Street area for the rally.

"The vast majority of people are torn because they want to be supportive of business interests, and I would venture to say that most of them have no problem with the statement issued last year that as long as they abide by our local ordinances, the bikers themselves are welcome," Busick said. "There's a big difference between that and holding a rally where 10,000 bikers might come into the city over the course of five days."

Other business owners said Thursday that the biker traffic will bring in a much-needed boom for an otherwise slow year. Brothers Chris and Bill Griste own a restaurant and ice cream parlor on Main Street close to the Pavilion site. Both said they see an increase in business during the Pavilion's season and saw an increase during the bike rallies last year.

"I just think it's very important that everybody reflect on how they came to the beach and I think it's very important that we don't lose our diversity," Chris Griste said. "The bulk of our season is about 180 days, and it's tough to make a living on 180 days 365 days a year. Whether it's Sun Fun, or college students, or bikers, or the shaggers or whoever, people end up moving here or retiring here because they have a special memory of some special event. I think it's ludicrous to cut anyone out of that."

Lazarus said the partners plan to have a news conference with the finalized details of the store and event Tuesday. The spring rally is scheduled to take place from May 11 to May 15.