City Council could allow more horse-drawn carriages in downtown Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington City Council is weighing the possibility of allowing more horse-drawn carriages in downtown Wilmington.

The issue was brought up Monday morning at the City Council agenda briefing.

The five current horse-drawn carriage permits in the Port City are possessed by Springbrook Farms Incorporated. The company has gradually acquired the permits over the last thirty years. No other business has ever requested a horse-drawn carriage permit, until now.

Another company, Reign Carriages, wants two permits so it can operate carriage rides downtown.

The City Council has three options: take no action, increase the number of permits from five to seven and take no further action, or increase the number of permits and take further action.

If the council takes no action, the number of permits would stay at five. No new permits would be authorized unless one of the current permits is given up or forfeited.

The council could change Wilmington City Code to allow for seven permits instead of five, but no other issues would be addressed. These issues include where Reign Carriages would operate and how it would interact with Springbrook Farms, as well as any infrastructure concerns.

The third option would increase the number of permits and address other concerns. Infrastructure at locations that the council deems acceptable for horse-drawn carriage operation would be addressed. The City Council could also rewrite Wilmington City Code to create a system to regulate horse-drawn carriages.