CAROLINA BEACH — When the Town of Carolina Beach discussed raising the price of parking in town-operated parking lots by 100% from $2.50 to $5 an hour at a recent Town Council meeting, one important piece of information was left out of the discussion — why the increase?
Fortunately, Mayor of Carolina Beach LeAnn Pierce was willing to help explain the town’s reasoning for the proposed hike — and hopefully, help stop any rumors.
In order to understand the proposed changes, it’s important to know something about the way the town operates its parking lots. With 19 in total, the town does not own every single parking lot, instead, it operates some of the spots in a profit-sharing arrangement with lot owners.
In recent years there has been an expansion of privately-owned parking lots that have been charging $5 an hour and $20 a day, and according to Assistant Town Manager Ed Parvin, people have been willingly paying that. So the town has figured it too could raise its rates to remain competitive.
However, there’s some behind the scenes actions taking place with the lots that the town rents that the public haven’t seen, Pierce said. The private parking company has approached property owners and offered to manage their parking lots, potentially taking revenue from the town, instead steering parking revenue into a private corporation. In an effort to remain competitive and maintain these parking lot contracts, the town would have to offer the property owner similar deals when it comes to parking rates and profit-sharing — hence, the price hike.
Another point of clarification Pierce wanted to make was the fact that on-street parking would remain a 2-hour maximum, and the price is only suggested to be $3 (up from $2.50).
Residents and non-residents alike make their thoughts known on social media when news of the proposed hike broke, and emotions were high — but little factual information was actually provided in online debates.
For a town that relies on tourism, the move to change parking rates seems to be one directly taking aim at tourists and visitors. That’s because residents are able to pay $20 a year for a parking pass that gives them access to any town-owned parking space without a need to pay.
In the future, the town might need to decide on the possibility of a tiered parking system, where residents would have access to certain parking spaces with their parking decal while reserving the prime spots for paying customers. But Pierce said this is not something that has been explicitly discussed yet and is not on the table for proposed changes at this point.
For those who might visit Carolina Beach frequently but don’t live on the island, there is another way to park without paying the new rates — the visitors parking pass.
While the price is significantly more than the residents’ $20 pass, around $200, Pierce said, it would pay for itself after 10 full beach days. Pierce also acknowledged the fact that the town (as well as her own business) relies on tourism and said this is not an effort to become more exclusive or drive out tourists — but simply a way to continue providing services to residents while remaining competitive in the market.
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