SCARBOROUGH – The town of Scarborough is taking a closer look at a practice of overnight camping in the parking lots of Wal-Mart and Cabela’s.

People in recreational vehicles and campers stay not only overnight but for more than a week at a time, according to a resident, Jonathan Carr, who lives near Wal-Mart. Carr said that raises safety concerns because, unlike at a registered campground, no one knows who the campers are.

Carr recently brought his concerns to the Town Council’s Ordinance Committee. As a result, Town Manager Tom Hall said the town is in the process of talking to officials at both stores.

Hall said the town wants to learn about the stores’ official policies on overnight stays. If the activity is totally unregulated, he said, he may suggest that the stores take on more responsibility for the campers, perhaps by having an employee register the people staying in the lot.

“We’re hoping to get a better handle on who’s there and how long they’re staying,” Hall said.

Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton said people traveling around the country in RVs or campers know that the national chains have safe, well-lit parking lots where they can pull of the road and rest. At times, he said, a person parked in there at 2 a.m. may be just taking a nap instead of spending the night.

Police in April arrested a man sleeping early one morning the parking lot of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter on Gallery Boulevard. Moulton said police thought the vehicle looked suspicious and ran a check on his license plate and found out he was wanted in Virginia on a rape charge.

But the man was in a van, not a recreational vehicle or camper, Moulton noted.

As in that case, police do monitor the lots for suspicious activity, he said. Regarding the recreational campers, Moulton said, “I haven’t really seen it as a safety issue.”

A Wal-Mart manager referred questions about the store’s policy to corporate headquarters, which did not return a call for comment.

At Cabela’s, located on Cabela’s Boulevard, Jim Allen, receiving and inventory manager, said Cabela’s leases its parking lot from Feldco Development, which controls it. A spokeswoman there did not return a call for comment.

However, Allen said Cabela’s is happy to support the town in enforcement efforts in the parking lot. He said some store customers do like to travel around visiting all the Cabela’s sites in the country.

Councilor Carol Rancourt, chairwoman of the Ordinance Committee, said the committee hopes the town and the stores can find a way to resolve the issue without the town having to impose a ban on the practice.