Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Mayor of Kure Beach wants to address possible parking changes, golf carts, bike paths, and more

The Town of Kure Beach’s Mayor Craig Bloszinsky has outlined some goals for the new year he would like to see addressed. (Port City Daily/Courtesy Town of Kure Beach)

KURE BEACH — While neighboring town Carolina Beach has pushed forward with projects like its Island Greenway and has made the town golf-cart-friendly, Kure Beach leadership has kept the town on a relatively stable course with little changes, despite experiencing notable growth.

But 2020 could be the year things start to change in Kure Beach — from parking changes to golf carts, Mayor Craig Bloszinsky has listed some priorities for the town heading into the new decade.

Kure Beach has been known for its free parking for years. While neighboring Carolina Beach and the fellow beach town of Wrightsville Beach charge visitors nearly $20 a day — Kure has remained steadfast with free parking.

Related: Kure Beach will hold public discussions on ‘the future of parking’

The town is actually hosting two public meetings to get input on the future of parking in Kure Beach. The meetings will be held on Saturday, January 11 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Wednesday, January 15 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Bike paths to golf carts

Some residents arrived at the forum in golf carts -- one of the topics of the night's discussion. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)
Golf carts are a popular choice in neighboring Carolina Beach, but they are not permitted on the roads in Kure Beach (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)

The Town of Carolina Beach opened its much anticipated Island Greenway in 2019 (after a costly change in plans for a black fence instead of an aluminum one, and other setbacks). Despite being the only two towns on Pleasure Island, the greenway stops at Carolina Beach’s town limits.

Kure Beach has been resistant to suggestions of extending the Island Greenway and leaders have claimed there has been little interest in doing so.

“Just the cost of it [expanding the greenway]. And the fact that the residents are not really that interested in, leads me to think it’s not a big issue for us. If a number of Kure Beach citizens — Kure Beach citizens — and residents came to Council, with that being a big issue for us to address, Council would definitely address it. But that hasn’t happened. A lot of outsiders have told us we should do it but not Kure Beach citizens,” Councilman David Heglar said during a council debate in late 2019.

But now, Bloszinsky is suggesting the creation of an ad hoc pedestrian committee “to address our future in pedestrian safety, alternative bicycle paths, use of golf carts and anything else that would add to the beauty and mobility of our community.”

It is worth noting that Bloszinsky does explicitly state that all of this would take place on property belonging to the town, not the U.S. military — which happens to own a large portion of the property on the island.

This is in contrast to Carolina Beach’s Island Greenway, which does go through the Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point’s (MOTSU) property. In fact, that is part of what made the construction of the greenway so cumbersome.

“In my mind this is an important time for Kure Beach, we are totally bounded on all sides, Ocean to the East, Sunny Point to the West, the State to the South and Carolina Beach to the North. We have approximately 200 available lots being built on at 25 to 35 per year. Our decisions must be driven by a vision shared by the community as to what we have been, what we are and what we will be. I believe we all want to be the premier beach community focused on family, a strong centralized business area, a beautiful beach with recreational opportunities, and fair and controlled ordinances,” Bloszinsky said.

Golf carts have been another noticeable difference between the two small beach towns. Carolina Beach has welcomed the low-speed vehicles to the town and has created its own set of ‘rules of the road’ for golf carts — Kure Beach, on the other hand, has outright banned them unless they are DOT certified (in which case they can not prohibit them).

The inability for golf carts to go from Carolina Beach to Kure Beach has been a topic of discussion in the two towns for years with Kure holding fast on the ban. But Bloszinsky does say it should be a topic of discussion for the committee.

Other priorities

Bloszinsky lists additional topics he would like the town residents and leadership to focus on this year including:

  1. Complete the work on the drainage studies for the town to make the right investments with the most return on improving drainage.
  2.  Planning and Zoning on-going work on our downtown area, how to protect and preserve the nature of what we have and use and need. A clear view on the remaining lots available for construction in the town and the proper zoning to keep our character.
  3. Safety by the Police Department and Fire Department with additional force enabling devices financed primarily through available grants for which we will apply.   Inclusive of new fitness and training programs instituted by the Chiefs.
  4. Public Works continued plan on roadway replacement and other infrastructure maintenance and improvements as per the financial plan.
  5. Beautification or our Beach areas, public access improvements and enhancements.
  6. Fiscal responsibility to our budget and 5 Year Capital Plan.
  7. Continued Public Work focus on cleanliness, Recreation Department on family activities, variety of activities.
  8. Review of our Codes and Land Use Plan to enforce or remove what guides actions in the Town.

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