Duct Cleaning in Murrells Inlet, SC

A Murrells Inlet bar is facing a third lawsuit in more than six months, accused of overserving alcohol to a customer who ended up driving a vehicle while intoxicated and causing a crash.

Suck Bang Blow, 3393 Highway Business 17, hosted a live concert event at the bar on June 29, 2025, which encouraged high-volume alcohol consumption, according to the lawsuit filed Nov. 7.

During the concert one of the customers, Kelvin Patrick Alvey, left the bar and operated a motor vehicle while intoxicated, the suit states.

Alvey was sold and served alcohol at the bar before the crash that injured Angela Martin Crowder, Eddie Dean Crowder and Nolan Ryan Crowder, who filed the suit and were in the vehicle that was hit by Alvey, the complaint says.

Alvey, along with Rebecca Ann Polatas, Four Snakes Capital and Highway 17 Investments, doing business as Suck Bang Blow and Murrells Inlet Management Group, were named in the suit. It is believed Polatas is the owner of the vehicle being driven by Alvey, according to the suit.

A message left for Suck Bang Blow owners was not returned by publication.

The suit claims that Suck Bang Blow knew or should have known that allowing “visibly intoxicated persons” to leave their premises and drive posed a risk of “catastrophic harm” to other drivers, the suit said.

The suit accuses the bar of being negligent in its operation and enforcement of its written policies and procedures prohibiting service of alcohol to visibly intoxicated patrons.

Suck Bang Blow defendants have been previously sued or otherwise placed on notice for overserving intoxicated patrons who later caused motor vehicle collisions, “demonstrating a continued pattern of reckless disregard for public safety and foreseeability of harm to third parties,” the suit said.

The bar was named in a similar suit in April and again in August also alleging the overserving of alcohol to customers.

Alvey was arrested and charged with driving under the influence on June 29, 2025, after causing a collision with the vehicle driven by the Crowder family. The crash occurred about 7 p.m. as the family drove northbound on U.S. 17 Business in Murrells Inlet. Alvey was driving at a high rate of speed when he struck the plaintiff’s vehicle head-on, causing significant bodily injuries to the Crowder family, the suit says.

The suit is asking for a jury trial and damages related to the crash.

MURRELLS INLET — A health care provider that wants to open a psychiatric hospital in Murrells Inlet contends Horry County officials are violating federal law by refusing to allow the hospital to operate there, according to court records.

The Asha Vista Behavioral Institute had planned to open a 78-bed inpatient facility in a nearly 50,000-square-foot building on U.S. Highway 707. The land was previously the site of Hope Arbor Assisted Living Facility from 2015 to 2019.

The proposed hospital would care for adults with mental illnesses such as major depression, mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, according to public records.

But the group can't locate its hospital there after the Horry County Zoning Board of Appeals on Sept. 8 unanimously rejected a request for a special exception to accommodate the project. Asha Vista needed the exception because county regulations require this type of facility to be at least 2,000 feet from residential areas and there are neighborhoods nearby.

The provider has appealed the board’s decision, asking the court to reverse what the group argues are discriminatory zoning policies that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The group alleges the board’s decision was based on stigma and assumptions about its services and patients. The provider argues that without the county’s restrictive zoning laws for inpatient psychiatric hospitals, the exception wouldn’t have been necessary in the first place.

“Zoning restrictions and decisions that discriminate against providers of services for individuals with mental health illness violate the ADA,” the appeal stated.

A county spokesperson could not be reached, and Zoning Administrator Pam Thompkins declined to discuss the case. County officials typically do not comment on pending litigation.

All about the zone

The Asha Vista Behavioral Institute wants to renovate the Murrells Inlet building and convert it into their third hospital. The organization has two other facilities in Massachusetts.

During last month's ZBA meeting, Asha Vista representative Fran Sauvageau told the board the hospital would not treat those with alcohol and drug addictions.

Sauvageau said the facility would be locked to prevent patients from leaving the facility at will, and a typical stay would be less than 10 days.

"We specialize in crisis stabilization, enabling patients to return to communities as quickly and as safely as possible," he told the board.

Those behind the hospital insist there's a growing need for this type of care in Horry and Georgetown counties. They pointed out the importance of adding psychiatric beds is highlighted in the state's 2024 South Carolina Health Plan.

Local health care professionals also submitted letters of support.

One letter came from Dr. Winston McIver, a family practice physician who treats patients from communities like Burgess in southern Horry.

"I see firsthand the urgent need for accessible, culturally competent behavioral health services in our region," McIver wrote. "This is most pertinent to underserved groups, who often struggle with limited access, stigma and a lack of representation in traditional healthcare systems. Asha Vista Behavioral Institute brings a vital timely resource to this region."

Opponents voice concerns at hearing

The site for the proposed hospital spans about six acres and sits near the Oak Arbor and Springfield subdivisions, along with some other single-family homes, according to county records.

The property is zoned highway commercial, and health care facilities are typically allowed to operate in that zoning. But psychiatric hospitals cannot move into this zone without an exception.

The county's rules specifically apply to psychiatric hospitals, outpatient substance abuse treatment facilities and counseling facilities that prescribe medication, according to county records.

The ZBA held a public hearing on Sept. 8 regarding the hospital’s application. Many area residents spoke out against the facility, expressing fears that patients would commit crimes and harm the neighbors.

Sauvageau disputed those claims, saying their opposition was not based in fact but from "discriminatory animus toward individuals with mental illness," according to the appeal.

After board members denied the application, their order said the center did not meet the necessary criteria for the zoning exception.

But the hospital maintains the board did not have a factual basis for rejecting their plans.

"When considering a request for a special exception, the board is required to apply certain criteria and is required to issue an order with separate and specific findings of fact and conclusions of law,” the appeal stated.

Asha Vista noted that psychiatric facilities are the only state-licensed hospitals facing these specific zoning restrictions in Horry County.

"The Ordinance’s disparate treatment of inpatient psychiatric hospitals may be unique in South Carolina," the appeal stated. "The Charleston County and Greenville County zoning ordinances do not differentiate between inpatient psychiatric hospitals and other inpatient hospitals, like general acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, and long-term acute care hospitals."

The provider also maintains the ordinance is discriminatory because those with mental illness are considered people with disabilities under the ADA.

"Zoning requirements and decisions are 'activities of a public entity' to which the ADA applies," the appeal stated. "Zoning restrictions that impose disparate requirements on otherwise comparable facilities based solely on the disabled populations they serve violate the ADA."