WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — Wrightsville Beach’s Parks and Rec Advisory Committee is proposing a moratorium on special events taking place on town property and the beach strand next year as the town undergoes three bridge replacements. The board of aldermen weren’t sure if the moratorium would minimize the town’s disruption by getting rid of traffic or add to it by taking away any remaining sense of normalcy.
The committee recommended allowing town-sponsored events to occur in the summer of 2027 to prevent visitor inundation at a time when traffic is going to be at its peak. It recommended still allowing event holders unassociated with the town during the shoulder season.
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ALSO: Turkey Trot could get booted out of Wrightsville Beach this year
Ultimately, the aldermen voted unanimously on allowing events before Memorial Day and after Labor Day weekends while construction is ongoing, however, tabled all conversations about summer 2027 events until next month.
“Everybody can take a deep breath,” Mayor Pro Tem Jeff DeGroote said. “Everybody can look into it and then come back next meeting with a concrete decision.”
Set to begin in spring 2028, a $105 million North Carolina Department of Transportation construction project includes replacing the bridge on U.S. Highway 76 (Causeway Drive) crossing Banks Channel, and two on U.S. Highway 74 (West Salisbury Street), one crossing Lees Cut and the other crossing Banks Channel. The bridges are in a state of disrepair from age, hence the project scope. Balfour Beatty was named the contractor for the project in February.
The disruption the construction will have on life on Wrightsville Beach has been discussed for months, but primarily centered on traffic impacts. It’s predicted to significantly worsen as construction goes on in phases, even before events are factored in.
Already some event organizers, such as Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, which hosts the Turkey Trot in town annually, has pulled from the town — primarily for outgrowing the event on Wrightsville Beach but also because impending construction will take years to complete.
Per town policy, only special events (not sponsored by the town) approved prior to 2015 are allowed from April 1 to Sept. 30. Four events fit this category — three surf contests and a pier-to-pier swim contest — all of which could be forced to cancel or reschedule if the aldermen eventually vote on a peak season moratorium. The events bring in about 700 people annually, in addition to the roughly 50,000 that visit Wrightsville Beach in the summer.
An exception to the policy are weddings or other ceremonial activities that people want to host; however, both would also be affected by the moratorium.
In 2025, Wrightsville Beach hosted 27 weddings, 78 park reservations and 39 rec center reservations, among other special events on town property. The town made over $28,000 from these events throughout the year, according to data presented by the committee.
Port City Daily reached out to the town to ask if it would be saving any money, such as with covering public safety or facility upkeep, by not hosting special events but did not hear back by press.
Four recurring special events that take place between May 15 and Sept. 15 could be impacted should the aldermen vote to take up the measures. The events include the Grey Liston Pier to Pier Swim, ESA SNC Surf Contest, Wahine Surf Contest, and ESA SNC Surf Contest, which collectively earn the town $1,260 yearly in permitting fees.
The pier-to-pier swim, an event which has taken place for 13 years, has the most participants with an average of about 300 attendees.
Rick Liston — father of Grey Liston, which the pier-to-pier swim event is named after — spoke during public comment. The event is hosted to support and raise money for the Grey Liston Scholarship in Athletics Endowment, which provides scholarships to UNCW swim or diving students in their undergraduate career. The Listons started it after Grey died in a mountaineering accident in 2013.
Because they typically hold the event the Saturday before Memorial Day, the swim will need to be rescheduled should the moratorium pass an aldermen vote. Liston told Port City Daily moving the event earlier would mean swimmers endure colder water, while possibly conflicting with stakeholder schedules, such as UNCW.
“It’s sort of an equation that you’ve got to find something optimal,” Liston said.
Liston wasn’t the only one concerned about the committee suggestion.
Alderman Todd Schoen countered the park and rec committee’s proposal to place a moratorium on special summer events. He noted the town wasn’t shut off from visitors and beachgoers during construction, so it shouldn’t be from event organizers either.
“We’re not canceling people going on the beach,” he said. “What’s the difference of, say, 100 people putting down a chair or 100 people coming down for a surf contest? If we’re not limiting people from going on the actual strand or the sand, I don’t know why it would be for that specific thing.”
Alderman Zeke Partin suggested allowing exceptions to be granted upon organizer request, though Town Manager Haynes Brigman advised against the idea. He indicated the aldermen could be accused of favoritism.
In the end, the aldermen decided unanimously to push off the decision until their next meeting. They agreed to revisit allowing events in both the summer and off-season in 2027. If they discover the events cause too much traffic and too many problems for the island, the aldermen could reverse or uphold the moratorium.
“We may have to tell them after the fact: ‘Hey, sorry, it didn’t work this year, you can’t have it next year,’” Brigman said to the aldermen. “That is just the reality that we live in.”
Despite this sentiment, the aldermen voted 3-2 to turn down three new special events presented by the Wrightsville Beach Longboard Association for 2026, citing town policy about not permitting any new special events during the summertime.
Schoen and DeGroote dissented.
“I mean, I definitely can’t vote against surf contests, I own a surf shop,” DeGroote said.
The rejected applications include two surf contests in June and August and a surf festival and movie night the same day as one of the contests.
However, the aldermen did approve two recurring surf contests from the longboard association, to take place in October and November.
Wrightsville Beach Longboard Association president Shawn O’Donnell did not have a comment regarding the aldermen’s decision to not approve their summer events. He did say after the fall, the association is planning to host its events at a different beach while the bridge replacements are ongoing.
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