SCARBOROUGH — As Bill Dwyer toted sand shovels and pails Monday onto Higgins Beach — with his 5-year-old daughter, Ruby — he was disappointed to hear that town parking fees at his favorite beach might double this summer.

The increase proposed as part of the town budget process this spring — from $5 to $10 at Higgins — seemed like a lot to Dwyer, a teacher who said he comes to the beach often in the summer. Though he doesn’t relish the idea of paying double, he said the increase wouldn’t keep him from the beach.

Additional Photos

Bill Dwyer of Portland and his daughter Ruby, 5, head for some fun in the sun Monday at Higgins Beach. Dwyer, a frequent beach visitor, said that if the parking fee at Higgins doubled to $10, he would consider paying $65 for a townwide beach parking pass for non-residents. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

South Portland High School students, from left, Trevor Fenwick, Nick Fagone, Sacre Bahati and Josh McDuffy, said Monday they were unaware of the proposed parking fee increase at Higgins Beach. They said they would now think twice about paying for a parking spot there. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Bicycles may become a more popular method of getting to the beaches if parking prices rise in Scarborough. Town councilors are scheduled to vote May 2 on the budget with the higher fees. John Ewing/Staff Photographer

It would, however, make him consider buying a Scarborough townwide beach parking pass, good at Higgins Beach, Ferry Beach and Hurd Park at Pine Point. That pass is proposed to go up from $30 to $35 for town residents and from $60 to $65 for non-residents.

Dwyer, who lives in Portland, quickly reasoned that $65 a summer would be better than $10 a day, given how often he hits the beach.

“I’d still get my money’s worth,” said Dwyer, who teaches in Auburn. “That pass is definitely something I will do this year.”

The beach parking changes in the proposed town budget include adding Higgins Beach to the parking lots covered by a season pass. In the past, the season pass included only Ferry Beach and Hurd Park.

The proposed increase for one-day parking at Higgins Beach, to $10, would bring it in line with the other two lots, which are already $10 a day. Town councilors are scheduled to vote on the budget May 2 at 7 p.m.

Other folks taking advantage of Patriots Day at Higgins Beach had varying takes on the proposed parking fees.

A group of high school students from South Portland said the increase would make them think twice about paying for a parking spot at Higgins, their favorite beach. They already try to avoid the current $5 fee as much as possible, either by coming on off-season days — like Patriots Day, when no fee is charged — or by cruising around the beachfront looking for one of the free on-street spots to open up.

“I’ve paid a couple of times each summer, but for $10 I wouldn’t do it,” said Sacre Bahati, 18, of South Portland. “That’s a lot for one day at the beach.”

Jonathan Beal, 26, who lives in Scarborough and is a University of Southern Maine student, said he, too, tries for free spots at the beach. But since he lives in Scarborough, he said he’ll consider getting the $35 pass to allow him to park at all three town-run beach lots.

“It might just be worth it to me this year,” he said.

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at: rrouthier@pressherald.com

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