KURE BEACH — In the midst of Kure Beach’s shoulder season, the town council is preparing to vote on extending the paid parking season next month.
READ MORE: Kure Beach also to make parking rate changes, due to beach renourishment mandate
Currently, the season lasts from March 15 to Sept. 30, but the council wants to extend it by six weeks, from March 1 to Oct. 31 in order to increase the town’s revenue. The council has said the expanded dates is a way to avoid raising parking rates.
“Since we raised the parking rate last year, we’re not going to generate any more revenue from hourly parking rates,” said Commissioner Dennis Panicali.
He added Kure Beach did not want to charge more than other beach towns. Because the council had increased the hourly parking rate to $6 last season, up from $5, it decided to address seasonal dates instead.
“As our costs increase over time, where can we generate more revenue?” Panicali asked.
According to Kure Beach’s 2024-2025 budget ordinance, the town spent $220,000 on its paid parking program and made $820,000, thus netting a $600,000 profit.
Panicali also noted Kure Beach wanted to be on par with Carolina and Wrightsville beaches, whose paid parking dates are from March 1 to Oct. 31.
Two Kure Beach residents, Joe Barlowe and Joshua Herring, spoke in opposition to the new proposal. Barlowe didn’t think the town should base its decisions on other beach towns. More so, he thought businesses benefited from the offseason’s free parking in Kure Beach. Herring owns Ocean View Restaurant on 101 K Ave. in Kure Beach.
“The shoulder season is incredibly important to all the businesses in town here,” he said at the meeting, expanding that October revenue at the restaurant was on par with September, still considered in tourist season. “I honestly believe that the reason for this is people are bypassing Carolina Beach because they don’t wanna pay to park; and they come to Kure Beach because they know parking is free.”
Three commissioners agreed small businesses would be affected — including Mayor Pro Tem David Heglar, John Ellen, and Connie Mearkle.
Panicali said the town had a limited number of parking spaces, at 443 public spots, less than Carolina Beach, which has a minimum of 550, and Wrightsville Beach, which has 1,882 parking spaces. As of 2024, there were 2,154 people living in Kure Beach, and during the tourist season, there can be more than 14,000 in Kure Beach at a time.
The parking spaces, then, are a commodity in high demand. But residents can purchase parking passes for $30 annually, which would make the hourly rates obsolete for them and the parking spaces more accessible.
Heglar said the amount of spaces was not an issue during the shoulder season — and implored their residents could find parking without having to pay.
“But it’s also about helping our businesses be strong,” Heglar said. “The way that happens is we help them in the shoulder season. From my perspective, I don’t know that the revenue helps more than the other things that we get out of supporting the businesses in the shoulder season.”
Ellen and Mearkle agreed.
“I say we leave the season alone,” Mearkle said.
Still, the board will bring in a proposal to vote on at the next town council meeting on Nov. 17.
“So you can pretty much read between the lines, and you can kinda see what direction the council was going in,” Major Allen Oliver told PCD Tuesday. “A majority of the council — the ones that spoke out and talked — are not in favor of [extending the season].”
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