BIDDEFORD — The cost of beach parking permits will go up this summer. Biddeford City Council approved increases to all categories of permits for residents and nonresidents alike at a recent meeting.

Those parking at the beach need a permit to do so between June 15 and Labor Day each year.

Residents will pay $35 for a season permit for their first vehicle, up from $28; and $20 for each additional vehicle registered at the same address, up from $15. The fee for resident seniors 65 and older is $20, up from $15. Non-residents will pay $245 for a season permit, up from $153; a seven-day permit will cost $140, up from $79; a three-day permit $75, up from $46; and a one-day permit, $35, up from $22. The fees apply at Fortune’s Rocks Beach, Middle Beach, and Gilbert R. Boucher Park at Biddeford Pool.

That’s a 28 percent increase in beach parking permits for residents and a 62 percent hike on permit fees for non-residents, Councilor Liam LaFountain said.

He calculated that in 2021, 54 percent of the fees were paid by residents and 46 percent by nonresidents.

With a one-day permit for nonresidents is $35, up from $22, a 60 percent increase, there is a chance that those people may not go to the beach as frequently, LaFountain said.

“It’s a balancing act,” he said.

The fees pay for lifeguards and maintenance.

Total revenue was $132,995 in 2021, expenses were $154,200.

Councilor Marc Lessard, who has been a vocal opponent of the proposed increase, suggested not charging residents for beach parking, but that motion was defeated.

“I feel extremely strong about it,” he said, adding he looks at resident access to the beach as a right, not a privilege. “This is the reason years ago the boathouse property was bought by the city of Biddeford.”

Lessard equated use of the beach to using May Field to play tennis or enjoying Clifford Park — neither of which have an associated fee. By eliminating the resident parking permit fee, he said, someone who lives in Biddeford’s inner city “who have access to a 25-year-old car” can take their kids to the beach without cost.

Council President Norman Belanger said the beach parking fee is different from the examples Lessard used because the city is paying for lifeguards, and maintenance for changing rooms and bathrooms, and other associated costs. “If we do this, we either eliminate lifeguards, maintenance or take the money from the general fund,” said Belanger.

Lessard noted there are costs for park maintenance and that people can walk there, unlike the beaches.

Councilor Scott Whiting said he agreed residents have the right to access the beach, and suggested a possible solution is extending the bus system to Middle Beach.

“That would be an affordable way to get people access” from downtown, Whiting said.

A proposal to hold the resident senior citizen permit at $15, rather than raise it to $20, was proposed by Councilor Martin Grohman, but that too was defeated.

In the end, the original permit fee proposal was approved, with Councilors Lessard and Bob Mills opposing.

Permits are expected to be available online starting around March 1.