Wrightsville bans the cancer sticks

Election Nights are always full of ups and downs. Without getting TOO political, this year's EN was a little more down than up for yours truly. But  I am encouraged by what happened in Wrightsville Beach. Hooray, local politics!

Let's let WBTV tell the story:

 The two-year battle has finally come to an end with Wrightsville Beach residents voting to ban smoking on the beach. 

Of 1,675 residents, 966 voted in favor of the smoking ban at Wrightsville Beach.
Town officials will now have to prepare the beach as a non-smoking zone, putting up signs and violation fines.

Law enforcement will also have to train officers and lifeguards on being vigilant and when to start handing out citations.

...

Wrightsville Beach is the first beach in North Carolina to ban smoking on its shores. The town was able to put this issue on this year's ballot because the beach is town owned.

Other North Carolina beaches have tried to ban smoking but were unsuccessful because of ownership rights. The Town Council of Carolina Beach passed a smoking ban but in order for it to take effect, the state would have to make it a law.

Towns pitching in for CB Inlet

Like many inlets along the N.C. coast, Carolina Beach Inlet is filling in with sand and is in need of some serious dredging.

Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers has no money to dredge, so the towns of S.E. N.C. are being asked to pony up, according to reports.

Carolina Beach on Tuesday agreed to pay as much as $55,000 for the $450,000 project. Other communities in New Hanover County will consider money for the dredging at meetings in the coming week. The state has already said it will pay half the cost of the project.

Pleasure Island known for the water sports

(From a press release)

Visitors to Carolina, Kure and Wrightsville beaches find ample opportunities to dive into water sport activities. Whether it is taming the area's world class surf, trying something new like stand-up paddle boarding or simply grabbing the boogie boards with the entire family, the three communities offer a variety of options for all ages and skill levels entering the last weeks of summer fun. Area residents and visitors alike are expected to flock to this year's 15th Annual East Coast Wahine Surfing Tournament, held at Wrightsville Beach Saturday, Aug. 20 and Sunday, Aug. 21. The nationally-recognized tournament draws almost 200 women surfers and even more surfing fans each year to the renowned Columbia Street surf break. The area is also known for the annual Southeast SUP Championship, drawing stand-up paddle surfers from around the region since 2009 for the nationally-recognized competition. Those considering a trip to one of the beaches might want to check out the rich local surfing culture. At Carolina and Wrightsville Beaches, families can take advantage of a number of surf school and camp options that make life easy for adults and children alike. Both private and group lessons are available for novice as well as advanced surfers. At Kure Beach, the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher hosts summer surf camps for children ages 10 and up. ...

Carolina Beach, part of North Carolina's coast, remains a uniquely "original" beach. With a classic boardwalk, fascinating festivals and colorful characters, the beach remains an enjoyable destination for the entire family all year. For more information, visit http://www.carolinabeachgetaway.com or call (800) 641-7082. ...

No more 'Cape Fear Coast?'

There's a move afoot from Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach to move away from the branding of "Cape Fear Coast." But it has received some push back.

Tourists want to plan a vacation using easily accessible information, and those who loyally choose to vacation on Pleasure Island want things to stay familiar, said Judy Randall, owner of Randall Travel Marketing, told the Star-News.

She suggested the town spend less time focusing on re-branding the area – despite the ongoing mission by the county's three beach towns to phase out the "Cape Fear Coast" logo to better identify each town.

Town boards in Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach each adopted a joint resolution this month that addresses desired changes to the way the Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau markets and promotes each town.

The resolution, which came out of a meeting Nov. 18 of the three towns' mayors and other representatives, states the towns' leaders believe the CVB's marketing and public relations efforts "may not effectively represent the respective beach communities in their best possible light and could hamper their full potential for their growth and development in tourism."

The resolution recommends phasing out the term "Cape Fear Coast" as the official brand name for the three beaches and placing each beach name along with Wilmington in official logos and marketing materials.

But Randall, who works out of Charlotte, said research showed most people vacationing in the area refer to the area collectively as "Wilmington."

Someone sitting on the beach, she said, won't necessarily say they are in Kure Beach or Carolina Beach but will say they're in the Wilmington area if asked.

Councilman Dan Wilcox argued that the issue to bring the names of the beach towns to the forefront of advertising campaigns was not about creating a slogan but about recognizing the beaches' identities.

"When we talk about branding we're talking about our name as the beach and being advertised as Carolina Beach, not a subsidiary of Wilmington," Wilcox said.

The joint resolution is awaiting signatures of all three beach towns' mayors and will be submitted to the CVB and other agencies for consideration.

Well, darn

Wrightsville Beach has apparently decided against banning smoking on the beach. I was really hoping this would go through, and that WB would set a precedent for other beach communities. Oh, well.

Instead, the WB Board of Alderman have decided "to raise the fine for littering, including those who drop cigarette butts.

"The fine is going from $100 to $250."

The board heard from about a dozen supporters and opponents and Mayor David Cignotti then asked for a show of hands. More than 30 people favored the ban, and about 10 people opposed it.

But Alderwoman Susan Collins said she wanted to tighten the litter ordinance by handing out more tickets instead of banning smoking.

Wrightsville's board wants to kick butts on the beach

How would this fly in CB? Personally, I'd LOVE to see it.

"Butts will have no place at the beach if some Wrightsville Beach officials can get their way," says the Star-News. "Mayor David Cignotti has raised the possibility of banning smoking on the strand, and most of his colleagues supported the concept at an aldermen's retreat Saturday.

A state law went into effect on Jan. 2 that banned smoking in bars and restaurants. It also allows municipalities to enact their own stricter bans.

Alderman Bill Sisson said he has been on numerous beach sweeps picking up litter, and it's impossible to pick up all the cigarette butts in just a one-block area. "The turtle people would love (a smoking ban)," he added, referring to the harm that cigarette toxins left in the sand can do to wildlife, in addition to the litter problem. ...

Alderwoman Lisa Weeks said a smoking ban would discourage smokers. "If we can deter half the people from smoking," she said, the effort would be worthwhile.

Cignotti said that a public hearing should be set on the topic.

If family-friendly Wrightsville Beach passed a smoking ban for the strand, it would be the first beach town in North Carolina with such a policy, although Sally Malek, a tobacco coordinator with the N.C. Division of Public Health, said that Buncombe County has banned smoking on all county-owned property, including parks.

Surfside City in South Carolina has a beach smoking ban, according to Erin Morrissette, the tobacco prevention coordinator for New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties. ...

Raleigh was looking into a smoking ban in parks at one point as well.