Carolina Beach businesses benefiting from free parking

CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WWAY)– If you’re heading to Carolina Beach, you won’t have to pay for parking for the rest of this year. 

Today, we wanted to check in with local business owners to see what impact, if any, it will have on their businesses.  

At a meeting earlier this month, some business owners were very outspoke against the parking fees being charged and many said it would impact them by discouraging customers from coming to their businesses. 

Rebekah Theodore, Co-Owner of Nauti Dog on the Carolina Beach Boardwalk says the free parking has helped business in the last few days. 

“We’ve definitely seen an uptick in people coming to the restaurant, as well as you know the weather might have something to do with it,” Theodore. “It’s really nice weather, but I do think that it has made people kind of made people feel a little bit happier about not having to pay to park.”   

Paid parking will resume in March.