KENNEBUNK – Residents are accustomed to receiving a beach parking permit for free, with a second costing $5 and a third, $10. That may change this year.

The select board is considering a $5 fee for all resident beach parking stickers – people could buy as many as they have cars that are registered, Finance Director Joel Downs explained to the board at a recent meeting. License plate numbers would be written on the passes.

“In the past, we’ve just handed them out and it would be affixed to your windshield; now they’ll show the cars you’ll be permitting – it’s very much of a change,” said Downs.

The board is to hold a first reading on the proposed change on March 23. Then, a public hearing would be held, and at some point, a second reading.

Kennebunk currently dispenses 10,000 to 11,000 passes annually, said Downs. He said the town hopes to automate the beach parking pass system within a couple of years, and changing to the proposed method is a step in that direction. He said automation would reduce traffic at town hall.

“Associating a (license) plate with a sticker would lend itself to our using an online system,” he said.

“So, if I have a parking permit on a car not registered, I’ll be cited?” said board member Frank Paul.

“Yes,” said Downs, who explained tying a license plate to the permit was “just like every other town on the Maine coast.”

“Get ready for the pushback,” said board member Ed Karytko.

“Why are you narrowing it to a particular vehicle,” asked resident John Costin, a candidate for the board in the June 8 election. Citing when family came to visit, he’d use whichever vehicle could accommodate  the most people to drive down and spend time at the beach.

Downs said under the new plan, residents would be able to purchase beach parking passes for the number of cars they have. He pointed out that the current stickers are supposed to be attached to a windshield.

Board Chair Blake Baldwin said by changing to the system as outlined, Kennebunk would be following the custom and process of every municipality in the state.

“At $5 we’re on the continuum of costs,” he said. “We’re trying to make life easy for folks on the second floor of town hall and better administer a process.”

Board member Wayne Berry said the proposal is revenue neutral.

Costin asked if there was a “black market” for resident beach parking stickers.

“Clearly there was some cheating going on,” said Baldwin of the current beach parking permit process.

In nearby Kennebunkport, residents paid $5 for a parking permit the last time they were issued, according to the town website. In Wells, the fee was $40 for a resident beach parking permit in 2020. In Ogunquit, the first pass was free, the second was $100. Scarborough has set its fees for 2021 at $40 for a resident pass, with $5 for each additional residential permit, according to its website. Scarborough residents who are senior citizens receive a free beach parking permit.

Currently, hotels purchase beach parking permits for their guests to use. In an email, Downs said eliminating those passes has been discussed with the Ordinance Subcommittee, but discussions are on hold and staff is conducting more research. He said he wasn’t sure when the subcommittee would take up that topic again.

No changes are proposed for costs of non-resident parking permits this season.

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