WILMINGTON — Last year the Town of Wrightsville Beach petitioned the North Carolina Department of Transportation to help end parking on property located across the drawbridge in Wilmington. Now, Wilmington is considering an ordinance that would amend City Code to increase penalties for parking on either side of a street that approaches a bridge.
There is already a code in the city that prohibits the actions, but the amendment would increase fines, as well as required minimum distances.
“Chapter 5, Article IV, Division 1, Sec. 5-52(a)(10) of the Wilmington City Code currently prohibits parking by anyone other than authorized personnel on either side of any street at the approaches to a bridge, an underpass or an overhead bridge within fifty (50) feet in either direction of the outer edge of such structure. The current civil penalty for violation of Sec. 5-52(a)(10) is twenty dollars ($20.00), as set forth in Sec. 5-122(d),” according to Wilmington City Council’s agenda packet.
The request would increase the fine from $20 to $50 for anyone caught parking on the property; it would also increase the distance from 50 feet to 100 feet from a bridge.
According to City Manager Sterling Cheatham, “Parking near bridges and overpasses, especially during the summer months in the area immediately adjacent to the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge, is a public safety issue which has become an increasing problem and for which the current civil fine is no longer sufficient to act as a deterrent.
“Additionally, the current prohibited distance of fifty (50) feet is insufficient to ensure safety around these areas. Expanding the prohibited distance and increasing the civil fine for parking in no-parking areas on either side of any street that approaches a bridge or overpass will help to deter future violations and increase safety in these areas of the City,” he concluded.
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