CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Even free parking lots have some rules. • Parking is at a premium in Atlantic Beach. 

 Some worry that the purchase of the "Circle "will increase parking pressure on nearby public lots. • Small, gravel parking 

 lots are typical of neighborhood access sites, like this one in Caswell Beach. • Beach traffic crawls through Surf City during 

 Memorial Day weekend. • Local access sites are typically dune crossovers with little or no parking. • Regional facilities, 

 like this one in Nags Head, have the most parking and often include amenities like showers and restrooms. 



"There are public access walkways 

 scattered along the island, but no parking spaces 

 because the island is so narrow," Rogers says. 



Bigger communities usually have more 

 parking, but often you'll have to pay. 



"Wrightsville Beach has parking sites 

 where you have to pump quarters into meters," 

 says Lopazanski. Or you can pay via cell phone 

 with the town's new "Park-by-Phone" program 

 — which also requires an annual membership 

 fee and a 10 percent convenience fee. 



And then there are communities that seem 

 to have ample parking. Caswell Beach and Oak 

 Island in Brunswick County were originally 

 plotted with beach access in mind, according to 

 Harry Simmons, the mayor of Caswell Beach. 



In his three-mile long town, there are 1 2 

 access points and a parking lot that holds 80 

 cars. On Oak Island, the end of every street 

 that crosses the island is a beach access point 

 with available parking, he adds. 



"In Brunswick County, you can find a 

 parking space during the Fourth of July. 

 You can't do that at other places," Simmons 

 says proudly. 



A 2006 survey by the North Carolina 

 Beach, Inlet and Waterway Association 

 (NCBIWA) found more than 600 access 

 points and 6,500 parking spaces in North 

 Carolina, earning the state an "A" for public 

 beach access. 



But that grade is slightly inflated, 



admits Simmons, who is also the 

 executive director for the NCBIWA. 



"We gave it an A' primarily for 

 the positive trend in increased access 

 and parking," he says. 



Much of the increase is a result 

 of towns participating in federally 

 funded beach nourishment programs, 

 adds Simmons. Federal law requires 

 public beach access points within 

 a quarter-mile of any place on the 

 beach that received sand. 



'Take Pine Knoll Shores 

 — five years ago, there was no 

 public access," says Simmons. Now, 

 after a beach nourishment project 

 completed in 2002, the town has five 

 access points. 



To create those areas, officials 

 from Pine Knoll Shores received 

 several grants from the Public Beach 

 and Coastal Waterfront Access 

 Program, a 1981 amendment to 

 the Coastal Area Management 

 Act (CAMA). The program, 

 administered by DCM, awards 

 about $1 million a year in matching 

 grants to local governments to 

 improve pedestrian access to the 

 state's beaches. Parking facilities are 

 identified as one of the approved access facilities, 

 along with restrooms, dune walkovers, piers and 

 picnic shelters. 



Pine Knoll Shores' five free parking lots 

 offer a combined total of about 1 50 parking 

 spaces, according to Chris Jones, the town's 

 director of inspections and public property. 

 But that's not nearly enough to keep up with 

 public demand, and the trend toward private 

 developments is already straining new public 

 access sites, he says. 



The Triple S Pier in Atlantic Beach used to 

 accomodate 100 cars, according to Jones. The 

 former owner charged a fee for parking, but the 

 public was invited to access the beach. The pier 

 was torn down in March, and the area is being 

 converted to private duplexes. 



"There are 100 vehicles that now have to 

 find somewhere else to go," Jones says. 



The recent acquisition of the famed "Circle" 

 in Atlantic Beach for private development 

 will increase parking pressure there and in 



22 Coastwatch I High Season 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



