Petition to create surf zones in Wrightsville Beach has more than 350 signatures

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — A petition with more than 350 signatures is aiming to make it easier and safer to spend time at Wrightsville Beach.

The petition is calling for the creation of surf zones along Wrightsville Beach, areas where only surfers are allowed during the day.

Currently, around 10 no-surfing zones are in place in lifeguard stands along the beach.

Black and white checkered flags designate them and are usually between 600 and 750 feet in length between the flags.

Surfing is allowed outside those zones, but Wilmington resident Grayson Spendiff, who created the petition, said that poses a risk to both swimmers and surfers.

“The rest of the beach is kind of a free-for-all though so you can surf and you can swim,” Spendiff said. “My petition mainly is trying to, to have separate zones for surfers and swimmers so that you don’t get jumbled up in the kind of chaos that happens

Fellow surfer David Clark said he supports the petition as it could allow more surfers to come out during the day, rather than once the lifeguards leave after 5 pm.

“I think that’s a great idea. I mean, you need to keep safety for all the visitors and all the guests but at the same time, you got to time it right and if low tide is in the middle of the day, you can’t surf if you can’t surf,” Clark said. “So I would love to have surf zones where if low tide is like mid-day, you can come catch them for a while and enjoy the afternoon.”

WWAY asked a town spokeswoman about the petition.

While she did not know about it, she said that if someone presented a petition to the town’s Board of Aldermen, they would discuss it.

Spendiff plans to present the petition to the town once he gets 1,000 signatures.