Oak Island - Well at least they have some public access!

Interesting article in the Wilmington Star News reporting on the
ruckus caused by Oak Island's decision to reserve some prime beach access parking spots for local residents only.

Norman Beach of St. James is irate over Oak Island’s new parking regulations that reserve some spaces near the beach for locals only.

“If this isn’t discrimination at its worst, I don’t know what it is,” he said of the restricted parking spaces at the beach access beside the St. James Beach Club.

The town recently implemented a trial period for the parking regulations at Southeast 72nd, Southeast 49th, Southeast 46th, Southeast 43rd and Southeast 40th streets.

Spaces there are reserved for cars that bear Oak Island parking decals originally issued to control access to the island after a hurricane evacuation."

Interesting strategy. The story continues to report that the town has already caught 13 violaters.

Since the town implemented the residents-only parking places Saturday, Oak Island police have cited 13 drivers, Police Chief Van Eddinger said. Ten of those violators had wheel locks called “boots” put on their cars. Three received tickets, because the department has only five boots, he added.

No clear reason for the move. Some say safety, some say misuse of the public access for private groups. Crowded accesse cause a lot of complaints. This is one way to show taxpayers (or at least residents) they are getting what they are paying for. We will watch to see what happens next.
Ciao