Hi All,

Thank you so much for your continued support in our efforts. The Board will approve their budget at the next meeting in June, which will not include this issue. The exact date has not been listed yet. 

While we previously requested that parking be waived after 5 PM, Monday through Thursday, we understand that the Town has yet to meet with us on this issue. We were hoping to reach a compromise, anything better than the current situation would be a step forward.

As we move forward, we want to engage with the Town earlier on as they work on the 2026-2027 budget, keeping this issue alive despite starting our efforts late in the year.

Here is the most recent email we sent to the Town:

"What we’re hearing isn’t that the Town can’t consider our proposal for limited free parking, it's that the Town won’t. That distinction matters.
Notably, the Town continues to project only $6.6 million in parking revenue, despite consistently exceeding that figure in FY 2021, FY 2022, and FY 2023 with FY 2024 surpassing $8 million, per the Town’s own ACFR. These conservative projections continually underestimate actual performance, while major expenses like beach renourishment and bridge repairs are funded externally through state and federal support.
We’re not asking for a sweeping change. Our request is a modest, community-focused adjustment: free parking after 5 PM. And to be clear, we’d gladly accept a scaled-back version just non-premium lots, Monday through Thursday, after 5 PM. This would represent a minimal revenue reduction, especially when compared to the Town’s current financial strength.
What’s disheartening is the Town’s seeming unwillingness even to meet halfway. We’ve heard from countless community members who say that even a return to free parking after 6 PM would be beneficial. These evening hours provide meaningful relief for residents, workers, students, seniors, and families without threatening the Town’s fiscal health.
This continued resistance to compromise is also a reflection of how the Town has historically excluded marginalized groups. What was once exclusion based on race has shifted toward exclusion based on class. Rising parking fees and lack of evening access disproportionately impact working-class families, young people, and retirees many of whom have long considered Wrightsville Beach their home beach, even if they don’t live on the island.
At this point, anything is better than what exists now. Our hope in asking for Monday through Thursday after 5 PM was that it might open the door to a counteroffer even if that meant fewer days, fewer lots, or a narrower timeframe. Instead, we’ve seen no willingness to meet in the middle.
There are still many possible paths forward. We ask that the Board weigh not only the financial data but also the community impact and the opportunity to make Wrightsville Beach more inclusive, accessible, and connected as you begin drafting future year’s budgets."