Council sends revised dock-parking ordinance language to public hearing

The Little Compton Town Council reviewed proposed amendments to Chapter 9, Section 9-4.3 of the town code regarding parking at the town dock lot and voted to send the revised language to a public hearing.

The principal amendment replaces the phrase “hang tag” with “lot permit issued by the town clerk” and adds language that the clerk will issue permits based on a list of eligible commercial fishermen provided by the harbor commission or harbor master. The harbor chair said the change will give the police chief an enforceable method to reserve spaces for commercial fishermen while also marking visitor parking spaces; he noted the administrative burden on fishermen to display permits and the need for clear signage.

Councilors debated whether the phrase “in accordance with posted signs” should be part of subsection (a) or (b); the harbor commission and police chief recommended keeping signage in subsection (b) so enforcement would rest with the posted signs. The solicitor suggested drafting a short clarifying clause to indicate permits are issued by the clerk from a harbor-provided list, avoiding a long run-on sentence in the ordinance text.

The council moved that the amended language, including the clerk-issued permit language and harbor-commission list reference, go to a public hearing at the next meeting (the president said that would be October 24). The motion passed with unanimous aye votes.

Next steps: staff will clean up the ordinance text and place the item on the agenda for a public hearing at the next council meeting.