State regulators have resolved a long-simmering dispute about ferry costs to and from Bald Head Island, a small resort community across from Southport on the Cape Fear River and accessible only by ferry.

Though the tiny island has just 1,200 individual property owners, the move by Bald Head Island Transportation to nearly double its ferry rates resonated beyond the borders of this state.

The N.C. Utilities Commission was inundated with complaints from part-time residents, including those who live in the Triangle as well as in Virginia, Ohio and New Jersey. Retirees who live full-time on Bald Head Island feared that higher ferry rates would trap them on their island paradise, from which they have to leave occasionally for shopping and doctors appointments.