By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

Kennebunkport Police Chief Joseph Bruni wants to cut beach traffic by making it more expensive to park with a proposed doubling the daily parking permit fees for Goose Rocks Beach as well as parking fines.

At the Oct. 23 Kennebunkport Selectmen meeting, Bruni said this past summer, 1,979 residential permits were sold, and non-residents purchased 3,220 daily, 437 weekly and 243 seasonal permits. Currently, the town ordinance states Kennebunkport residents will be charged an annual fee of $4 per vehicle for a parking sticker. Non-residents are charged $6 for a one-day permit, $25 for a week-long permit or $50 for the season.

“We want to cut down on the amount of traffic,” Bruni said. 

He said Kennebunk and Wells charge $15 per day for non-residents, while Ogunquit charges $4 per hour for beach parking. Bruni recommended  selectmen increase the daily permit to $12, and said the weekly permit fee should also be increased but left the amount to be determined by selectmen. 

His recommendation came after several meetings with eight residents, with the goal of controlling traffic and parking in the Goose Rocks Beach community, but Bruni said it is not his intention to restrict access to the beach. 

“We just want to keep the beach area status quo,” Bruni said. “Five to 10 years from now we don’t want it to be a circus down there.”

Along with increasing parking permit fees, Bruni said residents thought increasing fines for illegal parking from $25 to $50 would also help control the amount of cars parked without permits or in no parking zones. He said this summer police officers wrote 376 tickets for vehicles parked without permits at Goose Rocks Beach. A lot of people would rather pay a $25 fine than deal with the “hassle” of buying a permit, but a fine increase may deter the infraction, Bruni said. 

“It’s a fairness issue at play too,” Bruni said. “People who take the time to play by the rules, get their sticker then get to the beach often times can’t find a place to park.”

Another suggestion Bruni made was to have a traffic control officer patrolling the beach and a policy in place to stop selling parking permits when all legal parking spots are filled. He said permits are sold throughout the day, and when people get to the beach and realize all spots are full they start parking illegally. 

Selectman Kristi Bryant said she is concerned about enacting a policy for tourists who travel two to three hours to Goose Rocks Beach.

She said to stop selling permits would lead to frustrated tourists, but Bruni said places that sell permits could offer maps of other area beaches to refer visitors to when Goose Rocks Beach parking is at capacity. 

Goose Rocks Beach is not a high volume beach like some in surrounding towns, Town Manager Larry Mead said.

“Residents will still have seasonal passes, and weekly passes will be available to vacationers. We want to keep the beach open for residents and long-term visitors, but keep the volume low,” Mead said.

Kennebunkport Selectmen scheduled a public hearing on the issue for 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Village Fire Station on North Street.