Higgins parking changed

Two spots at the beach will be eliminated, and the public lot expanded

SCARBOROUGH — With the summer season seemingly already at hand, based on recent weather at least, the Scarborough Town Council has taken several steps to address longstanding issues at Higgins Beach.

At its April 18 meeting, the council voted 5-1, with only Councilor Karen D’Andrea objecting, to post “No Stopping” signs on Bayview Avenue, to eliminate two parking spaces on the street, to build a sidewalk along its beach side, and to expand the public parking lot on Ocean Avenue.

In addition, a previously approved measure to bump the lot fee to $10 is being handled as part of the annual budget process, as is a $288,000 capital improvement project to build a bathhouse on the parking lot property.

The changes were culled from a list of 12 recommendations compiled separately and cross-commented on by members of the Higgins Beach Association and town traffic consultant Bill Bray.

Although three councilors – Judy Roy, Jessica Holbrook and James Benedict – said they had recently visited the beach and agree with safety concerns cited for the changes, D’Andrea said her visit yielded a different conclusion.

“I don’t see where there’s a problem,” she said. “I don’t see police reports of all kind of horrible accidents.”

D’Andrea also faulted the process behind the vote. Although Higgins Beach Association members met separately with each councilor during the winter to discuss ongoing issues, the solutions were brought forth for a vote with no public hearing.

“We had a process when we were dealing with all of this last year, but now, all of a sudden, it’s like, let’s shove this through without letting the other side have an opportunity to speak to this,” said D’Andrea. “It just stinks. I will not support it.”

“These changes do help residents of the Higgins Beach area,” said Roy, “but one must remember that they reside in this area. They deserve their property to be respected by the people who use it, and they deserve safety, as we all do.”

Of the 13 one-hour parking spots on Bayview – created last spring when the town simultaneously eliminated all side-street parking – the one closest to Morning Street was removed to improve sight lines for people entering the intersection. One of three handicapped spots across from Ashton Street also was removed to create more room for pedestrians using the crosswalk in that area. Previously, the walk went between two of the handicapped spots, making a nervous fit when all spaces were filled.

A sign on Bayview at the end of Pearl Street, near the beach drop-off area, will be added, to read, “No parking, stopping or idling.” The verbiage was amended at Roy’s suggestion from the original suggestion of, “No standing.”

“There was some concern by residents that people might get confused if they were pedestrians,” explained Roy.

Parking lot expansion (pegged at $40,000) and sidewalk construction ($24,750) will come from $102,391 in capital improvement funds left over from $300,000 bonded in 2010 to rebuilt the lot, which the town paid $1.27 million to buy from the Vasile family, using a Land for Maine’s Future grant.

The town received a Tier 1 permit from the Department of Environmental Protections last fall, giving it permission to backfill 4,925 square feet of freshwater wetland on property it owns next to its recently rebuilt lot. Once developed, that land could be used to park an additional 22 cards in the 60-space lot.

However, many at the April meeting noted that this only brings the lot back to the volume it held when the Vasiles owned it, and municipal spacing rules were not at play.

Once built out, the Ocean Avenue lot will surround on three sides the home of Richard and Kelly Valdmanis, which they bought in 2010.

“Our bias is obvious,” said Richard Valdmanis, last year, when the council was first mulling the addition. “But we feel the expansion would affect the community more broadly. There’s the basic question of whether the beach can sustain many more visitors. Adding parking capacity will worsen this problem.”

However, on the other side, former Councilor Sue Foley-Ferguson said the town continues to move in the wrong direction. From the podium at the April 18 meeting, Foley-Ferguson shoved forward with her foot a large box of data gathered on Higgins Beach during her six years on the council, ending in 2002.

“Since 2006, we’ve spent $3 million on Higgins Beach,” she said. “It’s a public beach and yet we are losing parking spots every year. The homeowners have a vested interest, but I have a vested interest, as well, because I’m a taxpayer.

“For the council to give credence and credit and weight to their studies in not doing a service to the rest of the community,” said Foley-Ferguson.

Last fall, the Higgins Beach Association, which says it represents more than 80 percent of the homeowners in its area, presented a 93-page compendium of observations collected during the summer, complete with photos of surfers on city streets in various stages of undress and a DVD of parking violations on Bayview Avenue.

Representatives of the association could be reached for comment by Current deadline Tuesday.