A plan to charge out-of-towners for a parking pass for Jaffrey’s town beaches was rendered essentially moot after a public hearing Tuesday, when it was discovered the land deed already limits the parking lot for Jaffrey resident’s use.
The hearing was to receive feedback from residents on a plan to charge $150 for seasonal parking passes which could be used by out-of-town residents to park at the town’s two beaches, Contoocook Beach and Shattuck Park. Jaffrey Recreation Director Renee Sangermano said each summer, the town receives complaints from residents about out-of-state cars glutting the parking lot specifically at Contoocook Beach.
“Each summer we have residents complain about the number of non-resident visitors,” Sangermano said. She said sometimes, as many as a quarter of the cars in the lot have out-of-state plates.
Sangermano had originally proposed selling a limited number of seasonal passes for non-Jaffrey residents, and using the town’s dump sticker to identify residents, and hiring a total of four new beach attendants – two for each beach – to monitor the parking lots and alert police to potential offenders for enforcement. The total cost of the new employees was projected to be about $18,000, which Sangermano said could be covered by selling up to 125 out-of-town passes, which would be good at either beach.
Several residents said they were in favor of the plan. Resident Jared Vitello of Dustin Lane said there have been times when his family hasn’t been able to access the beach because of overflowing parking.
“I’m tired of packing up my family, driving down to the local beach, which my taxes go to, and having to turn around and tell the kids, ‘Sorry, we can’t go to the beach today,’” Vitello said.
Resident Peter Chamberlain agreed, saying it was “not a new concept” and that Norway Pond in Hancock and Cunningham Pond in Peterborough have similar parking passes.
But that plan isn’t possible under the deed restrictions that are already on the parking lot, Town Manager Jon Frederick said Wednesday.
A resident provided the town with a copy of the deed for the parking lot, from when the town acquired it from former owner Gardner Stratton in 1958. One of the requirements is that the land be held and maintained for the use of Jaffrey residents only for a parking lot. Frederick said the town had not had a copy of the deed in the office previously, and the current administration hadn’t been aware of the restriction until Tuesday.
It does solve one issue, Frederick said, and the town intends to post the parking lot with signs indicating it is only for town residents. But that does not solve the issue of how it will be enforced.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Sangermano said barring non-Jaffrey residents from the parking lot doesn’t bar them from the beach, and that when the parking lot is full, people can and do park at the public parking at Humiston Park, and make the short hike up from the park to the beach, and that option is still open to them. However, because of the deed restrictions, Sangermano’s plan to sell parking passes to pay for extra beach attendants is no longer viable.
“We’re going to have to find a way to work that out,” Frederick said on Wednesday. “That’s something we’re evaluating now.”
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.