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Residents press Sunset Beach council on parking, gated easement to Tubbs Inlet and kayak access
Summary
Multiple residents raised concerns about parking designations and privately planted trees, urged the town to review a gated easement to Tubbs Inlet they said restricts public access, and asked the council to improve kayak/paddleboard launch points; the interim administrator said the path in question crosses private property and the town's easement grants emergency access.
Laurie Thomas Fass, a Sunset Beach resident, told the council she wants trees removed from a right-of-way on Main Street so residents can resume parking there and renewed a complaint about a gate and fence that block public access to Tubbs Inlet. "So my first issue today is, can the town please do something to remove those trees?" Fass asked, and she described the gate and fence as a long-standing issue she views as a public-trust and due-process concern.
Fass stated her view that the easement "since 1991 ... irrevocably reverts to the public trust" and urged the council to study the matter. The interim administrator responded that the area shown in the resident's photo is private property rather than a town roadway and that code enforcement will investigate obstructions in the right-of-way. He also said the town entered into an easement-assignment when the property changed hands that provides emergency-vehicle access to the beach ends; the administrator said the property owner had previously blocked a path across Lot 1.
"That is not a town roadway... that's private," the administrator said regarding the street shown in the photo, and added he would "check with our code enforcement and see if that obstruction in the right of way needs to be removed. If it does, then the proper steps would be made in order to remove that." The administrator further explained how the easement assignment limits the town's rights: the agreement grants emergency-vehicle access at the east end of the beach but does not necessarily restore unrestricted public access.
On recreational access, Mike Shannon (president, Sea Trail Fishing Club) urged the council to expand kayak and paddleboard launches and offered the club's assistance with installation and advisement. Shannon said some proposed access (Majestic Oak Park) is in the grant plans and that council members are already looking at kayak-launch designs used by other municipalities.
Another resident suggested that certain town-maintained streets could be designated for "taxpayers only" or priority parking for property owners to ease friction between island and mainland visitors.
The council did not take formal action on the easement or parking proposals at the forum; the interim administrator said he would follow up with code enforcement and that any change to ordinances or property designations would require separate council action.
The meeting ended after a motion to adjourn passed by voice vote.
