The Barnet Select Board voted Monday to adopt a winter parking ordinance for Anderson Street and Gadley Hill Road, after complaints that vehicles left parked along the roads were interfering with snow removal and creating safety hazards.
Under the new ordinance, in effect from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 1 through April 1, it will be unlawful to leave a vehicle parked for more than 12 hours without written consent from the town or to park within 50 feet of an intersection. Fines escalate from $50 for a first offense to $250 for subsequent offenses within six months. The town constable can issue tickets; towing would require a law enforcement officer.
Co-chairman Ben Gates said the town had no previous parking ordinance, so vehicles that jutted into the road could not be forced to move. “Because the town does not have a parking ordinance, they cannot legally force them to move or ticket them,” Gates said.
Co-chair Dylan Ford said photos he received last winter showed cars that “make the plowing all messed up.” The board voted 3-0 to adopt the ordinance, which will be posted. A public hearing may be held for input.
The board also discussed a complaint from 2025 about speeding on Harvey Mountain Road, with a suggestion to reduce the speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph from the beach upward. Ford said a speed study is needed before changing the sign. “We’ll get the constable to sit up there for a couple of days, probably the weekend or afternoon, to see how fast people are going,” he said. Road foreman Mark Chase said he can install the town's digital speed sign for the summer.
Photo: Sonny Sixteen via Pexels. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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