Ocean Isle and Sunset Beaches consider paid parking programs for 2025

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Free parking at beaches in the Cape Fear may soon be a thing of the past.  

Both Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset Beach are considering paid parking programs starting in the summer of 2025.  

Ocean Isle Beach’s Board of Commissioners held a public meeting Tuesday to discuss the proposed program and work out details, but they haven’t yet voted on it. 

If approved, the program would run from April 1 to October 31, with parking costing $5 per hour for up to three hours, $20 per day, $80 per week for seven consecutive days from the time of purchase, and $175 per calendar season. 

Mayor Debbie Smith said although it will be a difficult decision to make, it may be the only way to keep up with the area’s rapid growth. 

“I personally have always been opposed to paid parking at Ocean Isle Beach, but times are changing,” Smith said. “And they’re changing fast enough that if we’re not proactive, I fear that we are going to be caught in arrears, and I’d rather be proactive than reactive.”  

Sunset Beach Town Council met on Monday to discuss its own paid parking proposal. Councilman Peter Larkin discussed the potential impact of not adopting the program.  

“I think it’s inevitable,” Larkin said. “Everybody else is going to have it by this coming summer. If we don’t have paid parking, we are going to be inundated with people trying to save $25 a day for parking at Ocean Isle or other beaches.” 

Though pricing and dates are still in discussion in Sunset Beach, Councilman Charles Nern said paid parking would allow the town to expand public parking without raising taxes on residents.  

“Taxpayers, and we got a lot of them that don’t go to the beach should not have to pay,” Nern said. 

Mayor Smith in Ocean Isle echoed that sentiment. 

“I see the need in expanding parking spaces to accommodate our visitors in the future. I don’t think it’s quite fair that only the property owners pay for it,” Smith explained.