The Jaffrey and Rindge Select Boards came together this week to float several ideas to allow Rindge residents access to parking at Contoocook Beach.
Last year, the Jaffrey Select Board and Recreation Department began to explore a parking pass for out-of-town residents, after the beach was inundated with out-of-state visitors. In the process, the deed for the parking lot was reviewed, and the board discovered the restrictions on the gift of the land required the parking remain free and for Jaffrey residents only.
The board expects to start enforcing that restriction this year.
Town Administrator Jon Frederick told the Rindge Select Board it is the intent to start enforcement after Memorial Day weekend, and to have a period of public education and issuing warnings before implementing tickets and fines, and towing for repeat offenders. Jaffrey dump stickers will be used to identify Jaffrey residents. Stickers are provided free of charge from the town to all residents, including those that use a private dumpster service.
Frederick made it clear to the Rindge Select Board: The beach itself is not restricted to Jaffrey residents, and Rindge or members of any other town can still use the beach – just not the parking lot.
“We do welcome visitors,” said Jaffrey Select Board Chair Frank Sterling. “It’s a great lake and a great pond. As much as we would like to accommodate our neighbors, unfortunately we are bound by the restrictions to the deed.”
Rindge Select Board Chair Karl Pruter pointed out the towns are intertwined “in several ways,” with the most obvious being the integrated school system.
“We would like to see a solution to this,” Pruter said. “If there is a workaround that can be found, that would be appreciated.”
The boards discussed several options, though did not land on a firm solution at Monday’s joint meeting.
The first, suggested by Pruter, was that Jaffrey open a few spots on the road leading to the beach for Rindge use. “I doubt there are more than a few cars from Rindge at one time,” Pruter said.
Frederick said that was a possible solution, but cautioned that because the spots would be on a public roadway, legally, they could not be restricted to only Rindge residents.
“It could be arranged, because the barricades are there,” Frederick said. “We would not be able to restrict it, because it is a public road. You can only imagine what happens there. It’s going to be red-letter plates we’re looking at.”
The boards also discussed the possibility of making the parking at Humiston Field, which is about a 10-minute walk from the Contoocook Beach, more accessible to visitors by providing a regular shuttle from the Recreation Department. That solution would likely require the use of a fee for the service, Frederick said.
The boards also discussed reaching out to the Stratton family, and the descendants of the original owner of the property, to see if it would be possible to amend the deed. That may be difficult depending on locating all possible heirs, Frederick said.
The boards agreed to explore these possibilities this summer, to see if a viable solution could be found, but left the meeting with no firm solution.