Coming off year-end budget data that shows Wrightsville Beach exceeded its projected parking revenue, the board of aldermen will explore ways to keep even more parking money by increasing fines for residents who charge money to visitors in exchange for parking on their property.
When the 2015 fiscal year ended June 30, Wrightsville Beach had collected $2.29 million in revenue from designated paid parking spots. The revenue was 9.3 percent above the town’s projections.
“We did well this year,” said town manager Tim Owens.
But town officials are wondering if they could have done better.
Over busy summer weekends, some Wrightsville Beach residents allow beachgoers to park in their driveways in return for payment. Town leaders and staff are now exploring ways to cut down on the transactions, which are against town law.
During its Aug. 13 meeting, the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen will give town staff direction on amending the ordinance to change the current civil penalty of a $50 fine to one that escalates up to $500 for repeat offenders.
The proposed change in town law is not specific to the practice of renting driveways, but Owens said that was what prompted the proposed escalating fines.
“I’ve seen instances where we’ve gone to these same houses more than once,” he said. “We’ll give them a $50 fine and it doesn’t seem to matter.”
Residents risk the $50 fine, Owens explained, because they can make two or three times that on a busy holiday weekend.
Mayor Bill Blair said he has heard complaints related to driveway renting.
“It’s not just driveways, it’s renting empty lots,” he added. “And you can’t have a couple people out there competing against your own town parking services.”
Some residents, in order to make room in their driveway for paying customers, use their residential hangtags to park in nearby metered spaces.
“The residential tags are for guests and certain uses but when you block the meter revenue and then take [your own] revenue that’s kind of a double hit,” Blair said.
Parking meters are a major source of revenue for the town, he said.
If board members agree to move forward with the changes, town staff will draft the amended ordinance and bring it before the planning board and then the board of aldermen.
Regarding the 2015 parking revenue data, Mayor Pro Tem Darryl Mills said the increase was anticipated.
“We found some extra parking spaces, so we expected it to be up some,” Mills said.
But not all parking-related revenue was up. Fines for unpaid parking were nearly 8 percent below projections, with $261,169 collected from parking tickets.
Owens said budget estimates come by examining data from previous years, and in this case, town budget officials overestimated the amount the town would take in from parking fines.
Terry Lane contributed to this story.
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Maybe the town of Wrightsville Beach should take all that parking revenue and build a parking deck or add more parking space so beach goers can actually find a place to park. Then they wouldn’t have to be so concerned about residents trying to help people out. Fining the residents does not solve the problem – there needs to be more parking for those of us who love the beach.