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Selectboard bans town parking lots as park-and-ride, citing safety and liability
Summary
The selectboard voted 3–0 to prohibit use of town-owned parking lots for park-and-ride after members raised liability, sight-line and public-safety concerns; the decision follows a state notice about park-and-ride designations tied to a 1991 agreement.
The Selectboard voted 3–0 to prohibit use of town-owned parking lots as park-and-ride, saying the arrangement poses safety and liability risks.
At a meeting that examined a state notice about town-owned park-and-ride lots, staff told the board the Maine Department of Transportation had reached out to confirm two lots the town owns had been designated as park-and-ride under a 1991 agreement. The staff member said the agreement requires the town to plow and sand the lots.
“Because of what it is, it’s a public safety building’s parking lot,” a committee member said, arguing the lots are used for fire-and-rescue staging and noting blind corners and limited sight lines. Another committee member warned the lots could become places where people linger, which he said would be a liability for the town. A staff speaker agreed and said the lots are plowed already but that the town should not be tied to continuing that obligation if it is not being used as intended.
A committee member moved that the town not allow its parking lots to be used for park-and-ride; the motion was seconded and the chair announced the result as a 3–0 vote in favor of the prohibition. The motion was recorded in the meeting as “Motion by Mike, 2nd by Tom,” with the vote tally 3–0.
Why it matters: board members said the lots serve public-safety functions — for station parking, staging and equipment access — and expressed concern about visibility and liability if the parcels were formally promoted as park-and-ride locations. The staff note that a prior agreement could obligate the town to plow and sand the lots was a factor in the board’s decision.
The board did not rescind ownership or the designation in state files at the meeting; staff discussion focused on the town’s local policy toward allowing the lots to be used for park-and-ride. The DOT notice was part of the public record and staff said the town could respond following the agency’s instructions if it wished to comment.
What’s next: the board recorded the 3–0 vote to ban park-and-ride use and did not take additional actions at the meeting to change the state designation. If residents or users have concerns about access or parking, staff suggested they raise them through the town office or in the DOT comment process.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 135 evidence excerpt: "the main DOT about, Chapley's Park And Ride lots,"; topfinish SEG 247 evidence excerpt: "Motion by Mike, 2nd by Tom, to not allow parking lots to be parked and ride, and the vote is 3 0."
