COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Tuesday, Columbia City Council met to discuss how to keep COVID-19 cases down as college students return to campus.
Young adults between the of 21 and 30 contribute to 20 percent of COVID-19 cases in South Carolina. Now, thousands of them are back in town for school.
One specific concern council discussed is house parties.
"We’ve seen in other communities, and we’ve only had a few instances here in the Midlands so far, where students are hosting large house parties," Mayor Steve Benjamin says. "Large house gatherings [are] in direct violation of the governor’s executive order. We want to see large house gatherings and other high-risk events come to an end."
City council gave first reading to a proposed amendment to the rental housing ordinance that would make make throwing a big party a serious offense for tenants and landlords.
Mayor Benjamin explains the consequences:
"Property owners that are allowed to rent out their properties to prospective renters obviously have to comply with a significant number of rules. Violations of those rules culminate in a point system. And that point system can then lead to the revocation of the ability to rent that property. So, what this ordinance does is, it accelerates the process significantly by deeming one of these large house parties a serious offense under our ordinances, which would immediately serve as a 10 point penalty under the ordinance."
Once a landlord gets 15 points, they may not be allowed to rent out their property anymore and their tenants would have to move out.
The second and final reading of the proposed amendment of the rental housing ordinance will be held during an upcoming City Council meeting. See the proposed amendment HERE.
City officials contemplated bringing back a nightly curfew – but decided not to since Governor McMaster's last call executive order is in place.
"We’re going to ask the governor to continue [the order] until there’s a clear and consistent deceleration of new cases in the metropolitan area." The mayor continues, "If he decides not to do so, we reserve the authority as a council to reimpose a curfew under state law and city ordinance."
The last call order prohibits alcohol sales at any South Carolina restaurant or bar after 11 at night.