Downtown Wilmington business owners not happy about new South Front Street parking restrictions

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — For the past 27 years, the 300 block of South Front Street has been open to public parking, but that’s different now that new restrictions have gone into effect.

Doug Springer owns Wilmington Water Tours. He said many homeowners voiced concerns during city council meetings about speeding drivers on the street and how difficult it was for many who live there to back out of their driveways.

Last month, Wilmington city council unanimously approved restricting parking along that block to “permit-only” between 9 am and 3 am.

But Springer said the new parking rules not only hurt his business but his employees too.

“That’s actually the last place left for our employees and customers to park, within a safe, reasonable distance,” Springer said.

When the city first implemented “permit-only” parking on other downtown streets, Springer said two of his employees quit because they were concerned about having to walk so far to work from their cars.

With the restrictions in place, Springer said the only place for his employees and customers to park is the Market Street parking garage.

One of his employees, Samantha Lee, said the city needs to make more parking available in downtown.

“This city is so awesome because of how many small businesses there are, locals can stay and live and work here,” Lee said. But, um, if the city doesn’t provide parking for people who work in these businesses, how can we also demand that these businesses stay open and give us services that we desire?”

While he doesn’t support the restrictions, Springer does understand and supports why the homeowners requested them.

A City of Wilmington spokesperson said that anyone who parks along the 300 block of South Front Street without a permit will be given a warning citation, but that will end on October 15th. After that day, any violation will be a $40 ticket.