The next round of the Higgins Beach parking debate opens Wednesday as the Scarborough Town Council holds a public hearing on recommendations that include measures to govern on-street parking along the ocean side of Bayview Avenue.

The jumping-off point will be an amended set of proposals that won preliminary approval last month. The proposals now include:

• A 100-foot-long, five-minute drop-off zone by the intersection of Pearl Street.

• About 10 spaces where a one-hour limit would be in place from April 1 to Oct. 1 and no time limit would apply during the off-season.

• About 13 spaces where unlimited parking would be allowed year-round.

Chairwoman Judith Roy said she put forward the proposals to move the discussion ahead.

Much of the public comment had centered on the possibility of imposing a 30-minute off-season parking limit on Bayview Avenue, where there is currently no time limit. The time limit was one of the recommendations from an ad hoc advisory committee.

Supporters of the time limit contend it would help turn over more spaces that they say are virtually monopolized by surfers. They also complain that some beach-goers act inappropriately, including changing out of their wetsuits in public and urinating in public.

Opponents argue that the complaints are exaggerated and that any problems should be addressed through enforcement. They criticize the time limit as an erosion of beach access.

“It’s a starting point,” Roy said of her amendments. “I offered it as a compromise. I expect to have some counterproposals.”

Roy said the one-hour limit could be enforced by a police officer who patrols the area on bicycle during the summer.

“I think it’s a good compromise,” said Maureen Burns, a Higgins Beach resident. “I don’t think all sides are going to be happy. It’s so polarizing. To try to come to some middle ground is important.”

The Town Council would consider the parking proposals for final approval in mid-January. Additional amendments could be offered at that time.

Higgins Beach resident Drew Gwyer disagreed that the current proposals represent a compromise, calling them a “cave-in.”

“The folks here at Higgins Beach are being portrayed as we don’t want anyone to park here,” he said. “We want more people to be able to come and enjoy it. On a beautiful day when the surf is high, it’s wall-to-wall surfers all day.”

Ben Keller, a member of the local Surfrider Foundation chapter, also found fault with Roy’s proposals. Keller, a town resident, took issue with the year-round drop-off area because it would result in the loss of a number of off-season, on-street parking spots.

“They should just divvy that up into whatever — five spots — and make them unlimited time like the other 23 spots will be in the off-season,” he said, noting that there is no police officer on duty during the winter to enforce the five-minute limit.

Keller said he was encouraged by Roy’s willingness to find a compromise and was pleasantly surprised that she introduced on-street summer parking on Bayview Avenue. On-street parking is now prohibited from April 1 to Oct. 1 .

Councilors Richard Sullivan and Michael Wood opposed Roy’s proposals. Each cited the introduction of allowing summer on-street parking as a problem and emphasized the importance of a parking lot at Pearl Street and Ocean Avenue that the town bought last year.

“I continually hear we’re denying access to the beach,” Sullivan said. “If we didn’t take the lead on that parking lot, there would have been two new houses there.”

Wood said he does not want to create an on-street parking situation that is counterproductive to encouraging use of the lot. He said he also recognizes that a 30-minute limit in the off-season may be too restrictive and said a one- to two-hour limit would be reasonable.

Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:

akim@pressherald.com