CAROLINA BEACH — The Carolina Beach Town Council shot down a request for motorized carts on the beach strand.
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“This is the worst thing I’ve seen come up to council,” council member Jay Healy said at the Tuesday night meeting.
The current town ordinance allows for non-motorized carts on the beach strand and the town expanded the allowed vendor permits from six to 10 in 2023. Motorized vehicles are only allowed at Freeman Park, though the proposal before council regarded “power-assisted” carts as still needing manpower to operate. The proposal also notes the carts must be electric and gas-powered would not be permitted.
Still, council members weren’t a fan of the possibilities that would open up with the ordinance change.
“One of our goals is trying to keep Carolina Beach small and I think this is just the opposite,” Healy said.
While Mayor Lynn Barbee and Mayor Pro Tem Deb LeCompte didn’t agree with Healy that the proposal was the worst they had ever seen, they also weren’t in favor of it.
“We have enough on the beach,” LeCompte said. “We have electric bikes on the beach — which we would like to get off but we can’t because the North Carolina legislature has not given us that underlying legislation to do that. I don’t see why we should change what we already have.”
The ordinance change was requested by Carolina Beach pizzeria Uncle Vinny’s, owned by Vinny Doria; he did not respond to interview requests from Port City Daily nor showed up to represent the item at Tuesday’s meeting.
Council opinions matched concerns presented by staff, who recommended the council deny the ordinance change after discussions with police and fire departments. There were concerns about sellers navigating an already-crowded beach strand with a motorized cart, along with the potential for blocking emergency vehicle paths.
“There are a lot of vehicles on the beach, whether it’s existing emergency personnel or the beach services that are out there, and just concerns with the speed of course of these carts and increased response time and just maneuvering with that busy crowd,” senior planner Gloria Abbots told council.
The mayor indicated the ordinance change wasn’t specific enough on the definition of a cart, noting no size or speed limits.
“I mean, the fact that you got to do it with your muscles is the limit on this thing, and that makes sense,” council member Joe Benson said.
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