Changes to parking in Sunset Beach not receiving warm reception

SUNSET BEACH, NC (WWAY) — The summer beach season begins mid-May.

But Sunset Beach’s new parking payment system, along with a reduction in parking spaces on the town’s barrier island, is not getting a warm reception.

The town’s new payment system is similar to ones in place at other beach towns, where drivers can scan a QR code with their phone or go to a website to pay to park.

The single-day fee is $20 or $10 a day in the spots near the town’s pier.

Wilmington resident Seth Shepard visited Sunset Beach for the first time on Tuesday.

He said the cost could keep him from coming to the town more often.

“The parking’s already like limited, and then you have to pay just to go to the beaches,” Shepard said. “I feel like, me personally, I moved down here for the beach, so it’s kind of unfortunate that you have to spend the extra money, just for that with cost of living and everything going up.”

But the biggest change is the reduction in the number of parking spaces on the island.

Councilman Mike Hargreaves said there are an estimated 300 designated parking spaces currently available.

Visitors can not park along Main Street and many of the town’s side streets.

Hargreaves said safety was the biggest reason for the change.

“The confusion, the noise, especially on Main Street, which was, when you put, when you put all the cars parking on both sides of the road,” Hargreaves said. “You put golf carts and people and bicycles and pedestrians walking and cars, it was, it was getting to be a dangerous situation.”

Sunset Beach resident Richard Dysinger said the changes will help the town better handle the population growth Brunswick County is seeing.

“We have to figure out a way to absorb that onslaught, without being overwhelmed by it, and I think the parking plan, while not perfect at it’s inception, was the correct first step,” Dysinger said.

Hargreaves said the map showing where you’re allowed to park will change over time as more designated parking spots will be placed along certain streets.

He added that the town could add another parking lot, but that the council hasn’t yet approved any such projects.