ROCKLAND —As Sally Levi continues her plans to site an ice cream stand at Sandy Beach in the South end of Rockland, neighbors opposed to the proposed business have focused on parking regulations while questions arise regarding parking inequality, as well as potential misuse by other businesses in the area.

For parking, High Tide and Dry Dock customers use Harbor Park. A hot dog stand has used Snow Marine Park. Food trucks use Middle Pier parking lot. The restaurant patrons at Archer’s, on the other side of Sandy Beach parking lot from Levi, use the beach parking when the restaurant’s designated spaces are filled.

Yet, the hot dog vendor at Snow Marine Park is operating under a license issued by the City, said Rockland Community Planner Rhett Lamb in a Planning Board meeting, April 16. That hot dog stand is in the park. It’s part of the park, he said. High Tide, Dry Dock, and the food trucks are in the downtown parking district. No specialty parking is required in the Downtown District for any business and the presumption is that the City provides parking.

“Because, otherwise, none of these businesses could operate,” said Lamb. “They can’t put parking on their lots because they’ve developed them 100% – and we hope they do, we hope they build more.”

A few visitors to the El Faro Salute memorial on Atlantic Street have parked on that road and/or grass and pathway, both of which are illegal. However, for this neighborhood where many streets have documented parking prohibitions, only one sign actually exists within the vicinity of Levi’s proposal.

Lamb confirmed with the Police Department regarding enforcement in this location: “If it’s not signed, they are not going to enforce it, because people don’t know,” said Lamb. “That’s only fair.”

In fact, having just returned from a site visit to the proposed property, one Planning Board member, Patricia Burke, repeatedly asked Lamb if she’d parked illegally in front of that property.

Her question was answered within the context of Chapter 17.405: No person should stop, stand, park or leave his vehicle on any street in such a manner, or under conditions so as to obstruct the free passage of other vehicles in either direction unless specifically permitted by a police officer, or so as to leave available less than 10 feet of the width of the roadway for free movement of vehicular traffic.

Lamb reminded the Board that its authority to approve or deny applications comes with a responsibility to interpret ordinances in a reasonable manner based on the circumstances. Planning Board authority may include reductions in the restaurant’s parking space requirement from the minimum requirements set forth from the table when the main entrance to the building is within a thousand foot walking distance of a public parking lot or private parking lot that the applicant has a legal right to use. The ordinance goes on to say transit route, ferry terminal, or bicycle pathway.

Lamb said exceptions depend on interpretation of the code. So, in the case of Sandy Beach parking area, Lamb suggested that Levi would need a legal right to use it. But what is the “legal right to use” attached to? Just the use of a private parking lot? Or, the use of a private lot that she has title to? Or for all public or private spaces?

The Board will need to determine what that legal right is, and whether it exists in Levi’s case.

As an alternative parking option to the narrow roads surrounding the proposed stand, the suggestion of Mechanic Street’s Snow Marine Park has been voiced.

But, are people willing to walk the distance? And, why should they?

So far, without the snack stand, few vehicles park in the prohibited areas and those tend to be guests to private residences, according to Levi.

Which brings public parking back to the beach.

Among the voices of opposition are other voices that ask whether customers parking in the beach spaces is really that big of a deal.

Planning Board member Kirk Folk said during the April 16 meeting that he didn’t see a problem with people parking in the beach lot and enjoying any or all aspects that go with the area, which may or may not include buying a snack, sitting at one of the five public picnic benches, walking the Harbor Trail, or searching for seashells. Levi said the same, and expanded on it.

“Will a small percentage of people just grab an ice cream and take off and not use the park?” she said. “Maybe. Definitely maybe. But will they then leave the space for someone else to use, which might be a beachgoer? Will a beachgoer decide that, even though they weren’t planning to have ice cream, to go and have ice cream? Yeah, possibly. It’s one and the same because it’s an area that they are using. They might use the walking trail, the beach, the ice cream shop and the park. They go hand in hand.”

She also mentioned a different scenario that she knew wasn’t in anyone’s best interest:

“This is the way I think of it,” said Levi. “If Sandy Beach parking lot is full, they can’t park there. So, they have an option. They can either go park in that other lot or go to Dairy Queen. Or, we can create a parking lot in our back yard big enough for everybody to park, and then that would be giving us more business, more revenue, and it would be worse for the community.”

Because a Planning Board member was absent from the April 16 meeting, and because another member had recused himself from commenting or voting on the proposal, Planning Board members postponed voting on the application.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com