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Friday, March 29, 2024

Wrightsville Beach passes new parking rules

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Seven Wrightsville Beach residents spoke against proposed changes to the town’s parking rules during a Feb. 11 public hearing, but the board of aldermen approved nearly all the new rules, which added metered zones, extended hours of enforcement and raised the price of residential parking passes.

“I don’t think any of us like increases,” Mayor Bill Blair acknowledged, but said those increases are necessary to raise revenue for beach renourishment and create turnover at the town’s limited parking spaces.

One parking change residents did want to see — the removal of compact car spaces — was not included in the amended ordinance, because board members wanted to give parking staff another year to address residents’ concerns with stricter enforcement.

The new parking rules affect both residents and visitors, but only residents voiced their opinions during the public hearing. One resident, Karen Dunn, did speak for those across the drawbridge, pointing out, “We are limiting people that may not be able to afford to come here and pay for parking all day.”

But her suggestion that public transportation should service Wrightsville Beach Park elicited grumbling from those in attendance.

Visitors will be most affected by extending the hours of enforcement until 7 p.m. in lots with restroom facilities — Crystal Pier lot, Johnnie Mercer’s Pier lot, L-Shaped lot and north end lot — and adding metered zones on Harbor Island.

The new metered zones, which will be enforced May 1 through September 15, are the Town Hall lot, Keel Street from Old Causeway Drive to Seacrest Drive and Marina Street from Old Causeway Drive to Short Street. Like other metered zones in the Harbor Island business district, Marina Street and Keel Street meters will only be enforced 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to be less of a burden on those businesses.

Still, the business owners on those streets were opposed to the meters. Wrightsville Beach Chamber of Commerce board member Sue Bulluck spoke for them, saying “not only will it damage business, it will impair and impact safety with the loading of boats and coming of going of merchandise.”

Wrightsville Beach Park will also be a metered zone, but pay stations will allow two free hours.

The new rules also require residents to pay more. Residential parking passes increased from $25 to $35 and vehicle tax decals raised from $5 to $15 before April 1 and $30 after. Parking passes will also no longer be allowed on the stretch of S. Lumina Avenue near South End Surf Shop.

“That’s probably the worst area for college kids sitting out in the paid meters,” Blair said.

Residents were most worried about a new rule the board passed prohibiting a resident from parking in a metered space for more than seven consecutive 24-hour periods. Several residents said they needed street parking because they had small driveways or no driveways.

The punishment is a $150 civil citation, but board members and parking staff agreed it would be enforced lightly. They created the rule to address eight to 10 instances last summer of residents storing cars in metered spaces for four or five months at a time, Blair said.

“Up until this ordinance we had no way to remove those cars,” he said.

Owens said only obvious offenders would get tickets, and town attorney John Wessel added specifics on how the ordinance should be enforced.

“If [parking staff] goes by there four times a day, seven days in a row, I think that’s sufficient,” he said.

Compact car spaces

The board did not approve any specific changes to its compact car spaces, despite residents’ reports that larger cars were squeezing into the spaces and blocking their dock or driveway access. The spaces are relatively new, and town leaders and staff agreed to try to address residents’ concerns with stricter enforcement.

Previously, parking staff was more lenient about ticketing large cars for parking in compact spaces, as long as the car’s tires were within the white lines. But residents said cars’ bumpers were still blocking their accesses.

“So this year, [the spaces] are for compact cars only, and the entire vehicle must be parked in the space to avoid a citation,” Owens said.

The most frequent complaints came from residents of Waynick Boulevard and Oxford Street, the streets that gained the most compact spots when the spaces were relined. Charles Hunter said he couldn’t access his dock on Waynick Boulevard.

“It’s not an occasional problem, it’s almost every day during the summer,” he said.

E. Oxford Street resident Greg Campbell said seven compact spaces were added on his street, and in addition to blocking accesses, the extra street parking was damaging his yard.

Owens said certain spaces causing repeated problems could be looked at and adjusted.

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