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Guilford Considers Parking Lot Ordinance to Combat Crowding, Misuse at Parks

After a season in which visitors to Lake Quonnipaug’s increasingly crowded parking lot have been setting up tents, grilling, and engaging in other recreation in the lot itself, Parks & Recreation Director Rick Maynard came before the Board of Selectmen on Nov. 18, asking for a new ordinance to govern the use of town parking lots.

Maynard said the parking situation at the lake is creating a potential safety issue along with littering.

“And the concern is, there are kids there,” Maynard told the Courier. “It’s a parking lot. Sometimes kids are running around, and we’re just concerned about the safety of the kids in the parking lot. And on top of that, charcoal ends up on the ground...so it kind of becomes a little bit of a mess.”

Maynard said that while these people for the most part are attempting to be careful and clean up after themselves, that there is no way for the public to safely use the parking lot for recreation.

First Selectman Matt Hoey said the Board of Selectmen was “in agreement that we need to do something about it.” He said a potential ordinance would probably include both areas where certain activities are prohibited, as well as defining places where people can do things like set up tents or grill.

Hoey said the board would look for recommendations from Maynard and the Parks & Recreation Commission as to the specifics of the potential ordinance as the process movies forward.

Maynard said that there are sometimes as many as 20 cars parked around the edge of that parking lot, with the problem most pronounced around holiday weekends like July 4.

“And then they end up staying pretty much almost all day,” Maynard said. “And because we have an issue with people not being able to get in as it is, because of parking...when you’re setting up your tent, it’s pretty much all day, and now there’s not the changeover, where someone leaves, and someone else comes in.”

A town picnic pavilion not far from the problematic parking lot is for use by reservation only, Maynard said. There is some additional space close to the entrance of the park where Maynard said tents and grills are fine, but there’s only room for a handful of people to set up there, resulting in the problematic overflow.

Maynard said that he had discussed the issue over the last few months with the Parks & Recreation Commission. He said that the commission had a rule that disallowed parking in the manner this manner, but it was difficult for their staff to enforce.

“They’re collecting money and checking the passes for people to come in [to Quonnipaug], they can’t walk a hundred yards down to the...parking lot and say, ‘Oh, you can’t put that tent up.’ They can’t do it, they’ll miss someone coming in [to the park].”

Though Maynard said there had not been other issues with this type of parking at other parks or beaches, he said that an ordinance would cover any potential misuses of parking lots there as well, including Jacobs Beach.