Old Lyme Lowers Parking Fees at Sound View Beach

With just a few weeks left in the season, the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen last night voted to lower the fees for on-street parking by Sound View Beach. The move came after that the newly instituted policy of charging for street parking was driving away customers.

The new fees were recommended by Sound View Beach Commission, which held a special meeting on the issue on August 10. The new prices lower the street parking fees from $25, $15, and $10 on weekends to $15 for the full day and $10 after 1 p.m.

Weekday prices have also been lowered from $20, $10, and $5 to $10 for the full day and $5 after 1 p.m. As it had been previously, street parking is free after 5 p.m.

"I think this is a reasonable request," said Old Lyme Selectman Skip Sibley.

The board went a step further by adding that they would give Old Lyme State Trooper Officer Tom Heinssen, who oversees street parking, the flexibility to lower prices if the parking spaces are unusually empty. Attendants at the town-owned parking lot already have the power to adjust prices on slow days.  

The move did little to mollify local business owners, some of whom felt the price decrease was too little, too late. First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder said she'd met with the owners of the Carousel Shop and they were holding out hope for a flat fee of $5.

Although the previous Board of Selectmen meeting had been packed with business owners and Sound View residents, most of whom had opposing views on the town's decision to impose a street parking fee this year, only Deb Corto and her daughter Melissa, who coown Lenny's on the Beach, showed up to speak last night.

"I'm disappointed in the decision this evening," said Deb Corto, who has put her life savings into this family-owned seasonal restaurant. Corto said she would rather see street parking be free of charge, as it has been in previous years. Corto said she felt the Sound View Commission had not been open to input from local businesses when it voted on the new parking fees.

"We couldn't talk. We weren't allowed to," Corto said. She described the commission as acting as "judge, jury, and executioner" with "no respect and no regard" for the local business owners who attended the commission's August 10 meeting.

In the commission's defense, Old Lyme Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal said that because it was a special meeting, the agenda did not include an opportunity for public comment. Even so, she said the meeting was well attended and she felt the commission had done a good job considering the options. 

The Board of Selectmen said they felt it was important to follow the process and accept the commission's recommendation. They also noted that many of the private parking lots had dropped their prices to $5 and they didn't want to undercut those businesses, which also depend on the summer season to make their living.   

The town's biggest challenge with Sound View Beach has always been trying to balance the needs of the businesses with the needs of the residents in this mixed commercial and residential zone, Sibley noted. But, he added, the biggest concern for the Board of Selectmen has been public safety first and foremost and on that score, he said, "this has been a fairly good year."  

"I've been down there on days when it's been absolutely chaos," he said. "My sense is we have been making improvement."