Parking meters are coming to Higgins Beach, but just what shape the new program will take has yet to be decided.
At a meeting last week the Scarborough Town Council voted 4-2 with councilors Peter Hayes and Kate St. Clair opposed, to add the words “metered parking” to the ordinance that lays out the parking rules for the Higgins Beach community.
Councilor Shawn Babine is the one who introduced the amendment, saying the loudest message coming from the beachside residents is that time limits on the public parking spots on Bayview Avenue should be strictly enforced.
Babine said that putting up meters would be the best way to monitor the parking situation and better ensure compliance with the 1-hour rule.
Going into the Oct. 7 meeting, the council was set to vote on a proposal to limit parking on Bayview to 30 minutes in the summer. However, councilors said that after listening to public comment leaving the parking at an hour was the right step.
In introducing the metered parking amendment, Babine said there are lots of different ways the town can handle the meters, including still allowing free parking, but using the meters to monitor just how long any particular vehicle is parked.
In other action last week the council also approved a resolution giving Town Manager Tom Hall until Oct. 21 to report back on his recommendations for how to best implement a metered parking program at the beach.
There was also some discussion among councilors about expanding metered parking to the other beach parking lots in town, but no consensus was reached on that issue.
In summing up the divisive debate regarding how problem behaviors at the beach should be handled, which has roiled the town for months, Hayes “encouraged people to come together and find a way to work toward the middle ground.”
– Kate Irish Collins
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