Kennebunkport hikes parking fee to $5 an hour at Dock Square: Here's why

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Parking at the municipal lot in Dock Square is going to cost a dollar more an hour starting this spring.

The Kennebunkport Select Board on Feb. 8 voted 4-1 to increase the hourly parking fee at the lot from $4 to $5. Select Board member Sheila Matthews-Bull dissented.

The new amount goes into effect on May 1, according to Town Manager Laurie Smith.

As established by the town charter, the Select Board reviews and sets the parking fee for the public lot every year. For a few years, though, the board has kept the rate set at $4.

According to Yanina Nickless, Kennebunkport's support services director, the parking increase was needed to keep in step with rising costs for labor and materials that are associated with the town's "chaser ticket" program, which allows residents five free hours of parking. The one-dollar hike could generate an estimated $70,000 more for the town per year, Nickless said.

York recently increased its metered parking rate from $2 to $4 per hour, a move town officials said could increase revenue by nearly half a million dollars.

York Town Manager Peter Joseph and staff at town hall recently researched what other communities have for parking rates and found York was below the rest. A report compiled by staff and presented to the Selectboard shows Ogunquit charges $5 to $7 per hour during their summer season. Other communities listed include New Hampshire State Parks rates at beaches in Hampton, North Hampton and Rye at $3 per hour.

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Free parking for Kennebunkport residents to remain

The town’s allowance for five hours of free parking per Kennebunkport resident remains in place. However, Smith and Nickless told the board that the voucher system currently in place for processing the so-called “chaser tickets” is time-consuming and costly.

While Smith told the Select Board members that she was not asking them to discuss and decide concerns related to the program's labor and costs, she said the issue would be coming up again in the future.

“This is a seed I’m planting with you,” she said. “As we look for a new system, this is an obstacle that I’m going to bring up again.”

Under the program, residents fill out an application for the chaser tickets that they receive in the mail and return it to the town clerk. From there, town employees mail out five tickets to each household. These tickets allow five hours of free parking in the municipal lot, which is located behind Alisson’s Restaurant in Dock Square.

Nickless spoke of a disproportion between the town employees’ efforts and the number of tickets that taxpayers end up using.

“Last year, we sent out 7,675 chaser tickets and only 20% were used,” Nickless said.

Nickless asked the board to consider whether the current system “makes sense” or should be changed.

She added that the voucher system creates a challenge and a barrier for the town to explore the use of better technology at the parking lot. As residents leave the lot, the current technology there does not readily recognize the chaser ticket and, therefore, the motorist as a resident.

“It still becomes a manual labor,” she said.

While the Select Board did not take any action regarding the program, a few members gave their opinions on the matter.

Select Board member Sheila Matthews-Bull noted that the voucher system was established in response to residents stating that they should have free access to the parking lot because of the taxes they already pay.

“It’s a service to our customers, to our people, to our residents,” Matthews-Bull said. “I would not vote to get rid of it.”

Board Chair Michael Weston said he agreed with Matthews-Bull. He said that residents who go to restaurants in Dock Square are going to pay $10 to $15 to park while they enjoy their meals. And, he said, that parking expense will be in addition to the price of the meals they eat.

“Somehow, along the way, we’ve got to find some way to make it work, so that the 20% of people who use those tickets can continue to use them,” Weston said.

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Weston also suggested that a lot of chaser tickets probably do not get used because residents are not able to find free spaces in the lot during the summertime.

“It has happened to me, and it has happened to other people,” he said.

According to Nickless, the town has not come across any other communities in the area that use Kennebunkport’s system.

Smith said many other kinds of automated parking systems exist, and the town is looking at them to create more efficiency in the future. She said the challenge is that the town’s current voucher program is not something “systems are built for.”

Smith said she sees the value of the current program, but she also called it “an obstacle that creates the system that we have.”

“It’s like the tail wags the dog is the best way for me to say it,” Smith said.

Select Board member MaryBeth Gilbert asked Smith if residents instead could pick up their chaser tickets at the town hall, rather than have them mailed to them.

“It certainly wouldn’t work for some people’s schedules, but it would work for us,” Smith said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunkport hikes parking fee to $5 an hour at Dock Square