WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — Camping is redefined and can warrant a civil penalty if violated in Wrightsville Beach after the town passed no-camping ordinance changes last week.
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The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a no-camping ordinance amendment at Thursday, Dec. 12’s meeting, though Town Manager Haynes Brigman admitted it was not in response to widespread issues.
“We have only had a couple of complaints in the last several years, and we have not issued any citations,” Brigman wrote to Port City Daily in an email on Friday. “We mostly address these situations with verbal warnings.”
Zoning administrator Robert O’Quinn from the planning department said the former ordinance was broad and “essentially unenforceable.”
The former ordinance from 1995 consisted of two sentences restricting temporary structures from being used for camping within town limits. However, it provided no time frame, no defined terms, and no examples to help with regulation.
The “Tents, Camping, and Camp Sites” ordinance now has two sections: “Definitions” and “Restrictions.”
The first section defines “camping” and “temporary shelter.” The former is defined as “using town property for living accommodations,” including using public benches or vehicles as temporary shelters, and even laying down bedding on town property with the intention of sleeping. The latter is defined as any structure or cover that protects someone from natural elements, such as a tarp or a tent.
The second section prohibits anyone from camping, using temporary structures overnight, or sleeping on benches within town limits, including beaches and sand dunes. Temporary structures and tents are allowed during the day time — like taking a tarp on the beach for shade — as long as they’re not for overnight. It also states that these restrictions are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., but late night and early morning fishing trips are allowed to use temporary shelters as long as there is no intention to sleep under it.
“I’ve never heard of people camping on the beach,” Alderman Hank Miller said.
“It happens occasionally,” O’Quinn said. “With this ordinance, sleeping under the pier would be considered camping.”
New Hanover County passed a no-camping ordinance in Feb. 2023 to prevent homeless populations from spending the night on county property. The City of Wilmington and Southport have both considered following suit and passing similar ordinances last year. However, Wilmington’s ordinance was rejected in June 2024.
Port City Daily asked Brigman if there was an increasing homeless population that the town was attempting to address with the ordinance and if so was the town providing other ideas to help house the population.
“The Town will occasionally deal with drifters that come in and out of Town, but we do not have a homeless population problem that the ordinance is attempting to address,” Brigman wrote to PCD in an email on Monday.
The changes come with a civil penalty if violated, costing $50. Citations for civil penalties can be issued by both town police and park rangers. However, O’Quinn said regulation will primarily be in the hands of the latter. Though park rangers will be on patrol at night, the ordinance will still be reliant on complaints as it has been in the past.
PCD asked Brigman for the number of camping complaints in 2023 and 2024, but he said there were only a “couple” over the last several years.
The ordinance changes are effective immediately.
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