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Council pauses changes to island employee parking to gather data
Summary
Councilors on May 4 agreed to table decisions about free employee parking passes after hearing business owners and residents raise concerns about fairness, large numbers of passes issued and system problems that prevented staff from paying to park when off duty.
The Town of Sunset Beach council on May 4 discussed employee and patron free parking passes issued to island businesses and agreed to table any changes until staff returns with precise data on how many passes were in circulation.
Island business representatives told the council they rely on employee parking for safety and staffing; at least one small business reported system errors that prevented an employee from paying to park while off duty. Council members and commenters expressed concern that some businesses requested dozens of passes (one submission reportedly tallied more than 60 across several businesses), and questioned whether that number exceeded initial expectations for the program.
Staff explained the present process: businesses provide lists of plate numbers to the town, which are entered by the vendor (Surfcast) into the parking system. Council asked staff to ask the vendor whether the system can prevent double allocation (for example, preventing a property owner's free parcel pass from being counted again as a business pass) and whether the system can limit free passes by zone. Several members asked staff to collect a definitive list of passes from last year and return with options for caps, verification and enforcement.
Council moved to table the item and directed staff to report back with the number of passes issued in prior years, options for verification and whether dedicated employee parking zones or transferable tags would be feasible alternatives.
No change was ordered to the existing policy pending that data; the council asked for staff‑led recommendations and vendor responses before any further action.
