SURF CITY — As beach towns prepare for a new parking season, there could be rate adjustments coming to some lots in Pender County.
During a work session last week, Surf City Town Manager Kyle Breuer asked for council’s consensus on flexibility pricing for its B lots — areas that are on the periphery of the city’s main parking spaces and tend to draw in less beachgoers.
The most popular spaces — A lots — are $5 an hour, while the B lots are priced at $3.
“We still find people congregating in the middle of town because that’s the first place you see [when people enter Surf City],” he told Port City Daily Wednesday.
However, upon further studying the parking analytics from Pivot, the town’s provider, and its parking capacity study from a few years ago, Breuer began thinking about ways to effectively distribute vehicles across the whole system. To compel people to go to other areas, he toyed with potentially decreasing rates on certain days, a suggestion he clarified didn’t come from Pivot: “It’s my brainchild.”
Breuer gave the example that rates could decrease per hour during certain weekends and told council it would help drive revenue to areas underserved as the city continues to “refine the business side of the parking program.”
Last year, the city set up various codes through Pivot for onstreet parking, lot parking, etc., in order to gauge analytics on how spaces are tracking with beachgoers. Breuer didn’t have specific numbers on the B lot spaces that were vacant last year, he said, as data didn’t get that granular. But he was able to see in general where revenue lacked.
“Some areas were underperforming so this [flexibility pricing] is going to make a better option for the consumer to park at a cheaper rate and also a better financial outcome to the town,” he said.
In Surf City, lots account for roughly 900 parking spaces in the almost 1,400-space parking program, according to Breuer; 289 of those are located in B lots. While they aren’t necessarily beach front, they still provide “quality” beach access, he said: “They might have to walk a block or across the street, but it’s still a very short walk to the beach.”
Breuer’s goal is to entice people there, rather than deal with them presuming there isn’t other parking available and leaving. Breuer pointed to the south side of the town and on South Shore Drive as an example.
“People may not know where those spaces are, even though we try to advertise and market those,” he said. “The worst thing that could happen is they get discouraged and go back home.”
Breuer suggested to council the rates could fluctuate anywhere from $1 to $5 an hour for B lots, which means while decreasing parking rates is an option, so is the inverse. The $3 rate has the flexibility to increase; however, the town manager said that isn’t the goal of proposing the program.
“If that were to happen, it would be based on observations that would show that when both a $3 and $5 parking space is available, the consumer would choose the higher rate parking space simply due to convenience,” Breuer said. “Again, any potential price increase would be communicated. I will note that a ‘B’ lot can become an ‘A’ lot; however, that is not our intention either — simply providing flexibility within the parking network.”
Changing the rates of the B lots throughout the season could also present more work: getting its messaging out. Breuer is still sussing out that plan but will utilize the city’s website, social media and build on partnerships with real estate companies that oversee summer rentals to help spread the word.
The goal is to present to council in mid-March a more fleshed out flexibility pricing program for the B lots. Together, they will set the days it could go into effect.
Parking season starts in Surf City on March 1 and runs through Oct. 31 , yet Breuer noted the goal is to have something solidified with the flexibility pricing by the height of tourist season when traffic picks up — normally when school lets out around June.
Last year, Surf City’s parking program brought in $1.5 million gross revenue, which nets around $1 million. Breuer said it was a bit down from previous years, which he attributes to less-than-stellar weather patterns. By comparison in 2023, the city banked around $1.2 million.
Out of 2024’s parking revenue breakdown, Breuer said 71.5% comes from text to park, 11% from citations, 13% from season passes, with 3% coming from resident registration, and 1% from business or commercial parking passes purchased for employees.
Out of the 5,100 citations written, a little more than 3,000 are paid, which Breuer said Pivot continues working toward collecting with the use of DMV data.
“It’s 78%, which in the parking world is good,” he told council.
He said anyone who has an outstanding citation but attempts to purchase a pass will be flagged and won’t be able to make the purchase until it’s cleared.
Parking revenue helps maintain the program but also funds Surf City’s beach renourishment projects. The United States Army Corps of Engineers is planning the next cycle for Surf City in December. Unlike other beach towns — Carolina Beach and Kure Beach, in particular — that had to adjust their parking program to make rates passes more equitable among all visitors, Surf City isn’t affected by USACE’s requirements, Breuer said.
“I reached out to our project manager and they indicated back to us that they didn’t see any issues,” he said.
Parking rates and passes for Surf City 2025 season are below:
Hourly — $5 a day for A lots; $1-$5 a day for B lots
Daily — $25 a day in A lots
Weekly — $80 for any parking
Seasonally — $300 for any parking
Contractor Parking Pass — $10
Additional resident passes — $100 (limit 2 per dwelling)
ITC business owners — 4 free passes, costs are $50 to $100 each for additional depending on amount purchased.
Parking violations — $50, with increases going to $60 after 7 days unpaid and $75 after 14 days unpaid.
Immobilization fee — $50
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