Parking Woes At East Haven Beach Surface Again As Weather Warms

EAST HAVEN, CT - Now that the weather is warming up an old issue is back - the problem of non residents taking parking spaces in front of residents’ homes near the East Haven Town Beach.

The town beach is located on Cosey Beach Avenue but parking is limited and often spills into nearby streets, especially on hot, summer weekends.

At the most recent Town Council meeting, Councilman Joseph Deko said he has been getting inundated with complaints from constituents "complaining about people parking in front of their houses and blocking driveways."

In past years town officials have tried to enforce no parking restrictions by non residents by having police patrol the area, but some council members said the rules aren't always enforced.

There is a parking lot - for East Haven residents only - by the Town Beach. The problem is on hot weekend days that lot quickly fills up leaving everyone else scrambling for places to park, much to the frustration of those who live in the area.

Deko said part of the problem is that it's not just the non residents clogging up the streets but people leave a lot of trash blocks up from the beach and it makes the already narrow streets difficult to navigate.

Deko said he feels a solution would be to have resident only parking in certain areas and asked what the legal aspect of such a rule might be.

Town Attorney Al Zullo said it is an area he would research.