Business delivers beer, controversy to beach

CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WWAY) — You’re sitting on the beach enjoying a cold beverage and you run out of beer. No need to make a beer run, the beer now comes to you. But the new business, called the Brew Thru, is also delivering controversy to Carolina Beach.

For beachgoers who like a cold one under the hot sun, it’s simply a great idea.

“I can’t imagine anything being any better,” said Joel Shelton of Carolina Beach. “Can you bring donuts, too?”

Shawn Hogan of Raleigh agrees.

“It saves me time from having to leave the beach when I could be spending more time out here,” Hogan said. “It beats the crowd coming back on the beach, especially during the holidays when there’s a line getting back on this beach.”

But some say delivering beer is a bad idea, including Barb Lynch with Justice in Motion, a non-profit organization that supports law enforcement.

“Alcohol is a drug,” Lynch said. “When people are consuming alcohol and they are in a water, beach, boating environment, they don’t have full capacity. It is a dangerous situation.”

The Brew Thru crew rode around Freeman Park Friday to promote their new service. Town officials regulate the park on the north end of Pleasure Island, a popular place to camp, and a place where alcohol is permitted. Because owner John Childers has an off-premise permit to run the Brew Thru, it is not against the law for him to deliver beer.

“We’re just hoping everybody will respect us, and we’ll respect them,” Childers said. “And if all of us act responsible, this thing will work.”

Childers says his crew is going to be sure to check IDs and will not serve people who are heavily intoxicated, but that’s not good enough for Lynch.

“Bringing alcohol to people, we are encouraging them to drink and placing them and others in danger,” she said.

Some beach visitors have mixed feelings.

“One of my concerns could be the encouragement to maybe be constantly drinking all day if it’s easily available to bring alcohol out,” Angela Sapp of Burlington said. “So I think they’ll maybe have to watch that a little bit, but other than that I think it’ll be a great service to everybody out here on the beach. I’m looking forward to it.”

Childers is encouraging ALE to work with him to make sure people are not drinking under age or getting behind the wheel drunk.