Charleston, S.C., City Code ch. 29, art. II, div. 2 — TOURISM COMMISSION | Code of the City of Charleston, South Carolina (Supp. No. 115: codified through Ordinance No. 2026-092, enacted May 26, 2026) — City of Charleston

Charleston, S.C., City Code § 29-31 Establishment.

Sec. 29-31. - Establishment. There is hereby created the City of Charleston Tourism Commission. (Ord. No. 1983-22, § 4, 5-10-83)

Charleston, S.C., City Code § 29-32 Membership; appointment; terms of office.

Sec. 29-32. - Membership; appointment; terms of office. The commission shall be appointed by the mayor upon the advice and consent of the city council and shall consist of fourteen (14) voting members including a chairman. Eight (8) members shall be persons who have demonstrated their knowledge and appreciation of the history and architecture of the city. Of these eight (8), at least four (4) shall be residents of the Peninsula, three (3) shall be residents from areas outside of the Peninsula and one (1) shall be a member of the city council. One (1) member shall be a member of the business community who shall have demonstrated his or her knowledge of business, commerce and urban economics. Effective the first meeting of city council in 2004, the number of members of the business community who shall have demonstrated his or her knowledge of business, commerce and urban economics shall increase from one (1) to two (2). Four (4) members shall be active participants in some tourism related business or association including but not limited to: (i) the carriage tour, walking tour, bus tour or tour guide business; (ii) a downtown convention and visitors bureau; (iii) a hotel and motel association; or, (iv) a restaurant association. Effective the first meeting of city council in 2004, the number of members who shall be active participants in some tourism related business or association shall decrease from four (4) to three (3). However, unless authorized above, no person may serve as a member of the tourism commission if any business with which that person is associated is regulated by the commission. The mayor of the city shall be a member of the commission. He may be represented at city meetings by a personal voting representative. The term of office, after the initial members, for all members of the commission, except the mayor, shall be three (3) years. Members may be appointed for one (1) additional three-year term, but no more. An appointment to fill a vacancy shall be only for the unexpired portion of the term. The chairman of the commission shall be appointed annually by the mayor. Any commission member who fails to attend three (3) consecutive meetings without an excuse from the chairman, or who fails to attend a total of seven (7) meetings in any calendar year, whichever occurs first, shall forfeit his or her seat. For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) Business means a corporation, partnership, proprietorship, firm, an enterprise, a franchise, an association, organization, or a self-employed individual. (2) Business with which he is associated means a business of which the person or a member of his immediate family is a director, officer, owner, employee, a compensated agent, or holder of stock worth one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) or more at fair market value and which constitutes five (5) per cent or more of the total outstanding stock of any class. (3) Immediate family means: a. A child residing in the member's household; b. A spouse of a member; or an individual claimed by the member as a dependent for income tax purposes. (Ord. No. 1983-22, § 5, 5-10-83; Ord. No. 1992-198, § 1, 11-10-92; Ord. No. 1998-174, § 7, 9-22-98; Ord. No. 2002-49, § 1, 3-26-02)

Charleston, S.C., City Code § 29-33 Duties and responsibilities.

Sec. 29-33. - Duties and responsibilities. The commission shall: (1) Oversee the broad range of tourism-related matters that affect the economic and general welfare of the citizens of the city in order to ensure that visitors can enjoy the historic and cultural aspects of the city's heritage consistent with the maintenance of the environmental quality of life of its citizens; (2) Make such policy recommendations to the mayor and city council as will further the goals of tourism management, particularly in the areas of parking and routing of tourism-related traffic activities, the qualification and licensing of tour guides, the determination of vehicle appropriateness and the enforcement of tourism management regulations; (3) Hear appeals from the decisions of the department of livability and tourism; (4) Apply Robert's Rules of Order to the conduct of its meetings, except as otherwise provided by these rules of procedure; (5) Issue such regulations as the city council may, by ordinance, authorize; (6) Review the annual report of the director of the department of livability and recommend revisions to procedures as required; (7) Monitor the enforcement and decisions of the director of the department of livability and tourism to ensure consistency with long-term tourism planning goals; and (8) Have such other duties and responsibilities as the city council may from time to time direct. (Ord. No. 1983-22, § 6, 5-10-83; Ord. No. 1998-174, §§ 8, 9, 9-22-98; Ord. No. 2015-164, § 17, 11-10-15; Ord. No. 2016-070, § 1, 5-24-16; Ord. No. 2019-025, § 1, 4-9-19)