Cape Elizabeth Town Council Chair Tim Reiniger talks about the parking issue while stopping for a cup of coffee at the Cookie Jar on Friday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

The Cape Elizabeth Town Council on Monday night delayed a decision to allow the Cookie Jar to formalize its use of four parking spaces directly in front of the storefront amid growing scrutiny about the proposal.

After an hourlong public hearing and 90 minutes of council discussion, councilors decided 5-2 to table the decision until its next meeting in two weeks because they wanted more information, including details about the bakery’s original site plan approval decades ago. The council discussion centered largely on whether the parking spots are even legal.

The spaces have been in use for decades but were only brought into a public discussion when they were included in a new site plan for the bakery submitted late last month. At Monday night’s meeting, councilors noted that they had not seen the original site plan and could not say whether the spaces had been included years earlier.

“I will tell you there are not four dedicated and existing parking spaces in front of the Cookie Jar today. There is an area used by people to pull up and frequent the business,” Town Manager Patrick Fox said. He and the town attorney advised the council to let the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board, which is also reviewing the proposal, proceed first.

Though the planning board has not formally requested the parking spaces’ removal, board members raised safety concerns and claimed at a meeting earlier this month that the spaces, which encourage drivers to back directly into the public road, violate the local zoning ordinance.

The planning board comments, in part, sparked concerns among locals that the storied pastry shop could be in danger of losing parking. Donna Piscopo, who has co-owned the Cookie Jar with her husband for decades, has argued that losing those four spaces could jeopardize the entire business.

The Cookie Jar’s owners are requesting permission to cut a new exit to their rear parking lot. For years, bakery patrons cut through the adjacent Cape Elizabeth Service Center’s lot and used a throughway behind that building to exit the bakery’s lot. But the service center’s owners recently blocked that path, prompting the Pispocos’ request.

After the Oct. 15 planning board meeting meeting, a pair of Town Council candidates – David Andrews and David Hughes – organized an online petition and began distributing signs urging residents to “Save the Cookie Jar.” The petition now has about 4,000 signatures.

Council Chair Timothy Reiniger had called Monday’s special meeting and drafted the license contract after watching a meeting of the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board earlier this month. During that meeting, planning board members noted that the council could offer its own license.

Two versions of the license were up for discussion Monday evening: Reiniger’s original draft, which would go into effect immediately if the bakery owners agree, and an alternative draft that requires approval by the planning board before the license takes effect. Reiniger said the town’s attorney, Mary Costigan, suggested the second version.

“I think it’s crazy. That’s why we’re here: Planning board folks are telling us they can’t do any more,” Reiniger said standing outside the bakery last week.

The license would give the Cookie Jar permission to establish parking spaces that encroach on 2 ½ feet of the public right of way. In exchange, the bakery would be required to purchase at least $1 million in liability insurance for injuries and property damage and accept all responsibility for incidents that occur within the parking area. It would automatically renew every three years unless either party gives at least 90-days notice or the contract terms are broken.

Neither draft addresses the back-out issue. Town Planner Maureen O’Meara argued at the planning board’s last meeting that the four spaces encourage drivers to exit spaces directly onto Shore Road, creating potentially hazardous conditions for drivers.

The town’s zoning ordinance mandates that “Parking areas for uses other than single and two-family dwellings shall be designed so that vehicles will not back out into a street.”

Councilors Reiniger and Timothy Thompson, who both support Reiniger’s license agreement, opposed tabling the issue.

Concern about parking at the Cookie Jar also surfaced in 2022 when the town was discussing an overhaul of Shore Road, which has become increasingly busy in the past decade. Earlier this year, the council also talked about parking along Shore Road earlier this year when it considered limiting where visitors could park to access a popular beach.