STANDISH – At a Standish Town Council workshop on Tuesday, Harmon’s Beach Road residents offered their reactions to a proposed design for a new road and parking lot that would provide public access to the Sandbar Beach along the southwestern shore of Sebago Lake – and, if approved, likely increase automotive activity on their street.

In 1992, voters rejected a referendum that would have created a public access route to the beach in the same area, known as the Cargill lot, which is owned by the Portland Water District. Town Manager Gordon Billington said that the referendum had been voted down amid abutters’ concerns that it would increase traffic.

The proposed parking lot would hold 100 cars and three buses, Billington said. At the Tuesday workshop, Harmon’s Beach residents expressed concerns about a heavy increase in traffic.

“I can’t imagine busloads and a hundred cars a day going up and down that road in the condition it’s in now, particularly in the wintertime,” said Scott Fitzgerald.

Richard Turner, who noted that he had voted against the 1992 proposal, said that he was concerned that the public beach would draw large crowds not only to the Sandbar Beach, but also to Harmon’s Beach, as well.

“I’m afraid that this is going to just bring more people down there,” he said. “I’m still not sold on it.”

Billington has been negotiating with four property owners in order to secure easements for a 150-foot-wide swath of land that would provide access from Harmon’s Beach Road to the Cargill lot. Three of the property owners have committed to signing an agreement, Billington said.

The Beach Committee in charge of managing the proposed project is negotiating a lease agreement on 6.15 acres of forest and beach with the Portland Water District, as well, Billington said.

The Harmon’s Beach residents peppered councilors and town officials with a variety of questions at the workshop.

Would the beach be limited to Standish residents only? Yes, the council answered. Would the town ever purchase the property from the water district? No. Has the town’s engineer, Gorham-based BH2M, conducted a traffic study? No. Would the town widen Harmon’s Beach Road? No. What would be the beach operating hours? Twenty-four-hours-a-day in the winter, and dawn-to-dusk in the summer, Billington said.

Paul Thiebault said that Littlefield Road was closer to the Sandbar Beach, and therefore a better point of entry for beach visitors.

“Why can’t we use the Littlefield Road, bring traffic in one way, and go out Harmon’s Beach (Road) the other way?” Thiebault said.

According to several feasibility studies, Billington said, Thiebault’s suggestion is too costly.

“I think it’s a matter of dollars and cents,” Bilington said. “I think we would have had to improve Littlefield Road.”

Thiebault said that, despite his concerns about heavy traffic, he supported the new parking lot, which would alleviate congestion on Harmon’s Beach Road.

“It’s going to relieve all the people that we’re putting up with down there in the summer, and I mean it’s wall-to-wall people that come down there during the summer,” Thiebault said. “They’re parked up and down the street. And a lot of them aren’t even Standish residents.”

Paul Hurley said he was concerned that a new influx of visitors could pollute the area.

“There will be slobs on the beach, unfortunately, like there is anywhere else. I’d hate to see it turn into what Raymond Beach did a few years ago. We can’t have that. That just wouldn’t work,” Hurley said, referring to high bacteria counts that temporarily closed Raymond’s public beach on Sebago Lake in 2010.

Billington said that he expects the proposed public beach project would be put to referendum in June 2015.