By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
After over an hour of discussion and debate the Assembly on Tuesday passed an ordinance aimed at improving harbor parking in Sealing Cove and Crescent Harbors.
The vote on the main motion was 5-2, with Dave Miller, Thor Christianson, Kevin Mosher, Kevin Knox and Rebecca Himschoot in favor. Crystal Duncan and Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz voted against it.
“It’s not perfect but it’s a solution we can start working toward,” Knox said. “The community has a tool, and this as written gives our harbor department a better tool to better manage these parking areas.”
“Let’s give this a go and then get in touch with us if it’s not working,” Himschoot said. “I think we need to give it a season.”
Rules are already in place setting time limits, and designating areas for parking boats on trailers, unattached trailers, and vehicles without trailers. The main discussion focused on the areas near the Sealing Cove ramp.
Harbor officials have explained that the harbor parking rules need to be revised, and also that an ordinance is needed for enforcement.
Speaking to the Sentinel, deputy harbor master Jeremiah Johnson said, “We just feel that adding an ordinance to not allow boats on trailers and detached trailers would increase the functionality of the parking lots.”
The vote on the main motion followed a “no” vote on an amendment that would have taken out a section that prohibits “boat trailers detached from motor vehicles” in the main Sealing Cove parking lot.
“I just don’t see it as a problem,” Christianson said in proposing the amendment. He was joined by Eisenbeisz and Duncan in supporting the amendment, which failed.
Parking of detached trailers will be allowed in the nearby RV parking lot, and trailers with vehicles will be allowed in the designated ramp parking area. The center of the Sealing Cove parking lot is for vehicles without trailers.
Harbor officials said they are open to granting special parking permission in some circumstances.
The ordinance has been in the works since June, with both Police and Fire, and Port and Harbors commissions weighing in.
Police chief Robert Baty advocated for passing the ordinance without changes.
“I’d like the Assembly to know that this has gone through two commissions, at least four departments, and been vetted and worded this way, to be the biggest benefit to the community,” he said. “In crafting this we understood it would be an inconvenience for some people – but it’s currently an inconvenience for people.”
Baty backed up harbor officials who said the new ordinance would be easier to enforce, with clear areas for what should be parked where. He said abandoned trailers in harbor parking lots is a common problem in many coastal communities.
“In every community I’ve been in, when you start allowing the trailers to be parked individually they seem to multiply,” Baty said. “They just keep bringing them in and bringing them in, and that’s not the intended use for that.”
Some who voted in favor of the ordinance said it was worth trying out the new parking plan to see how it works. They also said signage was important in being clear with the public.
The new ordinance states:
At Sealing Cove:
– short-term parking of boat trailers attached to a vehicle is allowed for up to three days in some areas and up to 10 days in others. No vehicles without trailers or detached boat trailers are allowed in these spaces.
– vehicles without trailers must use the main parking lot, not spaces designated for boat trailers.
– moving to another parking space does not restart the three- or 10-day limit unless the trailer is removed from the harbor area for 48 hours.
– detached boat trailers can be parked in designated spaces in the RV parking lot adjacent to the harbors parking lot.
– no parking is allowed of detached trailers with boats on them, “except with the permission of the harbor department.”
At Crescent Harbor:
– no overnight parking is allowed for boat trailers, whether attached or detached from vehicles.
– daytime parking of trailers is allowed in designated spaces, and no parking of trailers for commercial use is allowed “except as otherwise permitted under code.”
