SCARBOROUGH – A policy designed to keep roadside memorials made for people killed in vehicle accidents from becoming a distraction to other motorists will not go forward in Scarborough.

The new policy was scheduled for a vote at Wednesday’s Town Council meeting, but has been pulled from the agenda.

“I frankly don’t expect it will ever appear in front of the council,” said Town Manager Tom Hall on Monday.

At a June 19 meeting of the Town Council Rules and Policy Committee, Police Chief Robert Moulton said he had reached out to three area families who have roadside crosses erected in their memory alongside Scarborough roads. All were supportive of the proposed policy, he said.

“It’s become more and more common for families and friends to identify a spot where a loved one may have died in a motor vehicle accident,” Moulton said at the time. “Previously, without any policy, it’s been all over the board in terms of the nature and size of these types of memorials. There was a concern that, in some cases, these could provide a distraction that could even lead to another accident.”

The policy was unanimously approved by the three-member committee and scheduled for a vote at the July 17 meeting of the full council. However, subsequent news coverage created a small explosion of negative opinion on social media.

“It’s too emotional right now,” said Council Chairman Ron Ahlquist, of his decision to pull the matter from Wednesday’s agenda. “I didn’t mean to get this group of people wound up, nor the families. Really, it was just a good-faith attempt. It was more about offering input and suggestions.

“It was never the council’s intent to have regulations, just guidelines. But somehow, it got turned around in the media as regulations,” said Ahlquist.

The Current was among the many news outlets that mistakenly referred to the policy proposal as an ordinance. The primary difference between the two is that a policy does not carry the same weight of law as an ordinance, and the town would have been powerless to bring legal action against anyone who chose to ignore the policy guidelines.

According to Councilor Judy Roy, the town would not have attempted to hinder spontaneous expressions of grief in the immediate aftermath of a fatal accident. However, at some “reasonable” time after any police investigation or court case stemming from a crash was complete, the town would have tried to work with the victim’s family if they wished to erect a permanent marker.

Such markers would have consisted of 4-inch-by-4-inch granite markers kept in stock at public works for delineating property boundaries. The stones, which cost the town $27, would have been provided by the town free to families. The town also would have covered the cost of memorial plates carrying from one to four lines of text, at a cost of up to $40.95, depending on the number of characters used.

“Given that we do not have that many of these situations I feel it may beneficial in getting families’ cooperation in meeting our goal of limiting the distraction that these can have,” said Policy Committee Chairman James Benedict, of the expense.

The 3-foot-tall markers would have been placed at the site of an accident, or as close to the site as possible if on private property, with 1 foot above ground and the rest buried. The policy also would have allowed families to decorate the stones with flowers and other small items on holidays and anniversaries.

However, using wording Benedict said was lifted from the town’s cemetery ordinances, the policy would have banned glass jars and “unsightly metal receptacles,” while allowing the town to remove any flower or plant deemed to have become “unsightly, dangerous, detrimental or diseased.”

According to Ahlquist, “unsightly” vegetation was at the root of the issue.

Although there are said to be at least half a dozen roadside memorials in Scarborough, the most well known may be the large, orange cross erected near the intersection of Payne and Holmes roads. That’s the spot where, on May 8, 2010, Steven Delano was killed when the vehicle he was driving was struck by a tanker. Delano, an 18-year-old high school senior at the time, was on his way to a prom with three friends when the accident occurred.

Delano’s memorial has been built up in the intervening years with landscaping pavers and a host of flowers. Then, this past winter, a large Christmas tree appeared at the site. Some town residents, said Ahlquist, were troubled when the tree remained in place for several months after the holiday season

“We understand families are upset when they go through this kind of thing,” said Ahlquist. “But I also think people understand that a Christmas tree in April is inappropriate.”

Kevin Grondin was in the accident with Delano, at which the tanker driver was eventually found at fault, and was hospitalized in a coma as a result. He could not be reached for comment Monday, but did claim in a June 26 post to the Scarborough Police Department’s Facebook page that he was unable to retrieve the tree in a timely fashion because of heavy snows.

“I redid everything this year [with] bark mulch, flowers and the cross because I didn’t want it looking crappy down there,” Grondin wrote. “My best friend was taken from me down there three years ago and I don’t remember a thing. I didn’t get to go to his funeral, the wake, nothing, because I was in a coma. That’s the last place we were together and I will take care of it down there until the day I’m gone.”

Grondin was also surprised with the distaste for the Christmas tree, writing, “[It looks] better then when it had car seats, six crosses and everything else. No one complained then.”

Although Hall said he expects the policy to be a dead issue, Ahlquist said he could foresee the council taking another look at it “in six to eight months” if there continues to be a public safety concern.

Hall said he felt “the goal of bringing this issue to the forefront was largely accomplished.” Although he said he regretted causing any additional pain to the family and friends of those killed on Scarborough roads, the question of how memorials affect motorists was a concern even before the Christmas tree issue. By addressing the issue, rather than letting it fester, Hall said, families might in the future consider how their memorials affect traffic, while motorists will be cognizant to use extra care when passing a marker.

“Beyond that, it’s just not worth creating unnecessary controversy,” said Ahlquist.

A cross marks the spot on Payne Road near the entrance to Scarborough Downs where Steve Delano, a high school senior at the time, was killed in a car crash on May 8, 2010. A Christmas tree erected at the site, which stayed up into April, prompted an attempt to bring conformity to such roadside shrines throughout town.

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