Carolina Beach taxi service business no longer to operate in Kure Beach

KURE BEACH N.C. (WWAY)–A Carolina Beach taxi service has hit some unexpected speed bumps just as the busy tourism season begins.

“We have a lot of customers in Kure Beach and Carolina Beach,” said Sherise Boyak.

Boyak is referring to her business, Carolina Beach Adventure Taxi, which has been transporting residents and tourists around Carolina Beach in golf carts — classified as low-speed vehicles — as well as in the neighboring Town of Kure Beach for the past few years. But recently, that has come to a stop due to new challenges.

“We’ve never had any issues before. And then all of a sudden, within this last month, we’ve had drivers getting pulled over — even with customers on board,” Boyak said.

Boyak recently posted on social media that her taxi service would no longer operate in Kure Beach due to enforcement issues. She says she has been stopped there for not having the required registration and tags, whereas in Carolina Beach she only needs a taxi permit.

Boyak says the previous Kure Beach police chief allowed her to operate for the past few years, and she believed she was permitted under an informal agreement.

“We had a phone conversation, and he knew that we were permitted and paying taxes. We had all our taxi licenses through Carolina Beach,” she said.

However, Kure Beach Mayor Allen Oliver says the previous police chief did not give Boyak permission to operate without proper registration. He added that “any vehicle, including golf carts, needs a tag and insurance just like a regular car.”

He says the business is welcome in Kure Beach as long as it complies with state law.

Still, that may be difficult for Boyak, who says meeting the full requirements could be financially challenging for a small seasonal business.

“What this means for my business is we are just having to come up with a bunch of money, that we unfortunately don’t have at the moment, because we’ve already had to spend a bunch of money on insurance something that we already have,” said Boyak. “We’ve already had the courtesy to come into the town. We have all the requirements of the tags, we have all the insurance, we have all the safety, everything.”

Boyak says along with possibly having to require tags and registration in Kure Beach, she will have to also get tags and registration after 2027 in Carolina Beach.