First day of parking permits sales in Oak Island leaves some people empty handed

OAK ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — For the first day of parking permits in Oak Island being available, things got a little chaotic for those in line.

Permits went on sale at 9AM for those in line, but things seem to start a bit earlier than that.

“We got here about 7:30AM and the lobby was completely full, and people were continuing to come in. There was confusion, I’ll put it that way. Some numbers were handed out and which seemed to make things orderly, but then we were told the numbers weren’t good and that kind of got people upset and things like that,” said Ed Skurka, one of the non-residents who waited in line.

Someone in line suddenly started giving out numbers in line, but that was not initially approved by the Town of Oak Island, and some folks didn’t make the cut unfortunately.

“We were at the end in like the 180’s (place in line), they came around then they gave us official tickets. Then they came up and said they sold more than one per person and so, even though we’ve been here several hours now, we were going to have to leave to go home,” said Gale Klotsko, another non-resident who waited for hours in line.

In regard to paid parking, some non-local residents were able to give their perspective on the matter.

“It appears to be the way that Carolina communities make up the difference for the needs that they have regarding living near the ocean,” said Stewart Gleich, a long-time visitor of Oak Island.

“Well not that I like to be paying for parking when I never had to before, but I think it’s a good system so far, so we’ll see how it looks when summer comes along,” explained Skurka.

According to Town of Oak Island officials, they did not start selling permits prior to 9AM, and they did not originally plan for the numbered tickets to be handed out. They settled on that after much confusion for the people in line.

Town of Oak Island police and fire rescue were able to help deescalate the situation as well, much to the appreciation of the many residents that were there.