Wrightsville Beach joined several other North Carolina beach communities June 8 in opposing a lawsuit against Emerald Isle that could prevent the public from accessing the dry sand beach — a decision that could affect both tourism and beach renourishment.
A property owner in Emerald Isle recently filed a lawsuit against that town, claiming their property line extended to the mean high water mark, and they could therefore exclude the public from that portion of the beach. The N.C. Supreme Court is reviewing the case, so Emerald Isle asked beach communities to stand behind them by signing a letter and donating $2,000 for attorney costs.
A ruling in favor of the property owner in the case, Nies vs. Emerald Isle, would only affect parts of Wrightsville Beach because most of the beach strand is town or state-owned, said Wrightsville Beach town attorney John Wessell. But the north end of the beach near Shell Island Resort and the southern tip of the island are private property.
“So if this decision goes in favor of the private property owners, anybody who walked around near Masonboro Inlet would be restricted to the area below the mean high water,” Wessell said. “The same applies in front of the Shell Island hotel.”
Wessell is also concerned about the impact to coastal tourism statewide if beachgoers are no longer allowed to access large portions of the beach. Most people currently assume, Wessell said, the public has access to the entire beach strand.
If the court rules in favor of the property owner, he said, “it could have a significant adverse impact, potentially, on tourism in North Carolina.”
A drop in tourism could also mean a drop in county room occupancy tax collections, which fund lifeguard pay, town tourism marketing and beach renourishment. And state funding for beach renourishment could also be affected, Wessel said — he has heard state governments are less willing to fund projects if the beaches are not completely public.
Wrightsville Beach joins Dare County beaches in supporting Emerald Isle. Carolina Beach and Kure Beach leaders will consider the request during meetings later this month.
Alderwoman Lisa Weeks didn’t hesitate in making the motion to support Emerald Isle, which the other Wrightsville Beach aldermen unanimously approved.
“I just think it’s fundamentally the right thing to do,” she said.
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IN New Jersey the public has NO Beach “Rights”. If you want to go to the beach in NJ , you must pay a fee (about 7 dollars a day) and that is for just about every inch of NJ Beaches.
Additionally in NJ, owners commonly fence off their beaches from the public.
This is what Nieses from NJ and the Civitas Institute of NC want for NC.
Why?… Because there is money to be made off the publics love affiar with and cultural connection to the Sea and our beaches. .. And it keeps the poor off the beaches.
We must not allow North Carolina to become New Jersey. The public must retain full and unrestricted access to our beaches. WE ARE NOT NJ.