Maine Locals Sand Their Ground In Battle Over Beach Access

By Ted Cohen/The Maine Wire

The third rail of life in summertime Maine - competition for limited beach parking - is heating up in one of the state's southernmost coastal towns.

Wells town officials are actually considering reducing the numbers of beach permits taxpayers can get to park in the eight oceanfront municipal lots.

The officials are even thinking about telling veterans that if they don't have a veteran plate on their cars, no more reserved beach spaces for them.

If you think these tourist-driven plans won't send the restless natives in Maine’s third-oldest town to the streets, hold on to your flip-flops:

The town of 11,000 - where the summer population increases exponentially - may also do away with reserved beach spaces for local taxpayers.

Under the current policy, 10% of the spaces in each metered lot along the beach are reserved for them.

Meanwhile, the town’s non-resident taxpayers - aka “summer complaints” in Maine’s tourism lexicon - are breathing sighs of relief. A plan to prohibit them from buying beach passes is all but dead.

The board of selectmen is actually planning to allow part-time beachfront property owners to enjoy the parking privileges they already have.

But reducing the number of parking permits the full-time residents are allowed is pouring gasoline on the grill in Maine's native-versus-tourist culture.

The firestorm created by weaning taxpayers of their coveted beach passes will get a full airing March 18th at a public hearing set to review the controversial new parking policies.

“No one on the board or staff wants to pit year-round residents against non-resident taxpayers,” John MacLeod III, selectmen chairman, said. “Both groups are valued in the community, and we don’t want to create division.”

No need to create it - it's already simmering before the summer sizzle even begins.

The town's full-time residents have always been allowed to buy as many beach permits as they wanted.

Under last summer's policy, there was no limit to the number of beach stickers for local taxpayers. The name and address on a resident’s car registration simply needed to match the name and mailing address on the tax bill.

But the current proposal would reduce that to two per house.

The crackdown on where locals can park will extend to boaters with harbor moorings. They'll be allowed fewer reserved spaces than they now enjoy.

The working-class locals are also feuding with the part-time summer residents - the ones who think they own the beach - over access.

Wealthy beachfront property owners - many of whom live out of state and only use their pricey domains part-time - want to post the sand in front of their cottages “no trespassing.”

The latest chapter of the ongoing 40-year legal battle over what constitutes tidal boundaries is now pending before the Maine Supreme Court.