The Town Council Ordinance Committee met in the council chambers June 27, 2024 to discuss Cliff House Beach generated parking issues.  In response to numerous resident emails citing dangerous conditions and public safety concerns on Shore Road and side streets near Cliff House Beach, the Town Council acted on Councilor Stephanie Anderson's request to refer a review of the Traffic Ordinance to the Ordinance Committee last May.  On June 6, the Ordinance Committee met to discuss and hear directly from residents.

At the June 6 meeting the Ordinance Committee meeting, which was “standing room only,” the committee heard directly from concerned residents.  The meeting lead to a proposal to restrict public parking to one side and residential parking on the other side, and no parking on Shore Road from Stonybrook to Charles.  The June 27 meeting was added to discuss language and specifics.  Again, the meeting drew many residents who were largely interested in enforcing parking restrictions – particularly by prohibiting parking on Shore Road.

Ordinance Committee Chair Anderson summarized that the Town had previously identified the need to address traffic issues in both the 2019 Comprehensive Plan and more recently on August 14, 2023, when the council voted unanimously to refer on-street parking regulations to the Ordinance Committee. The Comprehensive Plan made three recommendations related to traffic and safety that were all deemed “high” priority items. “Now here we are almost a year later and I am hoping that we can get something going,” Anderson said.

As requested at the June 6 meeting, Chief of Police Paul Fenton explained that he had taken some time to visit the streets identified in the proposal to better gauge which sides of the streets would be ideal for restricted parking.  However, in his assessment, “It became clear to me quite quickly that this might be something that you need a traffic engineer to look at.”  Restricting vehicular access in both directions on narrow side streets, will cause other unforeseen challenges and varying setbacks on different roads will cause more confusion.  In addition, restricting parking on Shore Road will just lead to more parking issues on the side roads.  “I definitely think it needs some surveys of the neighborhood to get everyone’s opinions; make sure that we’re collectively getting the will of the neighborhood, and also definitely a traffic study to see what type of traffic patterns we’re looking at and what kind of problems we could unintentionally cause by doing this,” Fenton said.

A question was raised on whether or not the lanes on Shore Road marked as bicycle lanes are indeed designated bicycle lanes.  Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said that through her work on the Shore Road Rehabilitation Project, the road’s outdated design became apparent.  “Shore Road is a dated road that harks back to the 70’s. The Rehabilitation Project was going to modernize the road to meet today’s needs.  The shoulder is used for stormwater collection, it’s used for parking, people, and biking.  I don’t think it was ever designated as an official bike lane, for what it’s worth.”

Comments from the public, in person and via Zoom, lasted approximately 1.5 hours of the meeting.  Many who spoke asked for parking restrictions near or along Shore Road; stating that an increase in parked cars block visibility for pedestrians and drivers trying to pull onto Shore Road.  Other comments pointed out the need for facilities and garbage bins given the recent popularity of the beach.  Enforcing a maximum capacity was also mentioned. 

Following public comment, Councilor Anderson motioned to ban parking on Shore Road which was met by applause from the audience.  However, Councilor Caitlin Harriman countered that closing parking on Shore Road could only be part of the solution once all variables are considered.   “Right now, we have really unsafe conditions on Shore Road neighborhoods. If you ban parking on Shore Road now, you create danger right outside these little kids houses; you’re going to make it not safe outside their house, so we need to take a step back,” Harriman said.  Harriman apologized that more had not already been done, but that the next best step would be to follow Chief Fenton’s recommendation to consult with a traffic engineer.  “Let’s get somebody to look at what needs to happen on each street individually. Once we have an idea of what that’s going to look like, then we can move forward with true options.”

Chief Fenton said, “We all can agree this is a huge challenge but, I’m big on the on small steps quickly.”  For more immediate support, Fenton said that he would work with the Director of Public Works Jay Reynolds to see about upgrading existing crosswalks and where the use of “Emergency, No Parking” signs might be utilized in locations where the site lines on the side roads are compromised.

In conclusion, despite the wish to take immediate action, the Ordinance Committee voted 3-0 in favor of Harriman’s motion to request that Chief Fenton work with Director Reynolds to install emergency parking signs on the site lines of side streets and improve existing crosswalks; and to recommend that the Town Council engage a traffic engineer to review the area and report back options to the council.  Councilor Tim Thompson, participating remotely, seconded the motion.