Committee votes not to recommend SB 345 after parks official warns residency checks could bottleneck access

A legislative committee on Friday voted 14–1 to not recommend Senate Bill 345, which would alter how state parks treat resident versus nonresident visitors for fees or access. The committee heard from Sean Hamilton, deputy supervisor of park operations, who described operational constraints and the limits of current reservation systems.

Hamilton told the committee that the division has undertaken a systematic review of fees over the last two years and has expanded reservation and online systems to manage capacity. "The complaint I hear most often is in regard to some sort of preferential ... window for New Hampshire residents vs. out‑of‑state residents," he said, adding that the larger technical challenge is verifying residency in a way that does not create long lines or require integration with motor‑vehicle databases. "Proving residency online would require integration with the DMV database, which I don't think would be allowed at this current time," he said.

Members discussed possible alternatives raised in the hearing record, including giving residents an earlier reservation window rather than altering fee structures. Hamilton cautioned that relying only on license plates could introduce errors — for example, out‑of‑state plates used for residents or New Hampshire plates used for out‑of‑state guests — and that per‑person parks create verification burdens at gate staff levels.

On that basis, and citing ongoing fee reviews and capital and wage pressures inside the parks division, the committee voted in executive session to not recommend SB 345 by a 14–1 margin. Several members said the parks department should continue to develop options, including reservation‑window ideas and coordination with other agencies to explore verification methods.