Willard Beach Paid Parking Working Group

Willard Beach Paid Parking Working Group Agenda Tuesday May 5, 2026 at 12:00 PM City Council Chambers A. CALL TO ORDER B. ROLL CALL C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - APRIL 7, 2026Willard Beach Paid Parking Minutes 04-07- 2 26.pdf D. PUBLIC COMMENT E. RANGER POSITION AND BUDGET UPDATE F. REVIEW DRAFT SURVEY QUESTIONS G. REVIEW THE ORDER AND DISCUSS NEXT STEPS H. PUBLIC COMMENT I. ADJOURNMENT Page 1 of 7  Willard Beach Paid Parking Working Group Meeting Minutes April 7, 2026 Called to order at by Adrienne at 12pm Members Present: Adrienne Jalbert (Conservation Commission), Peter Wilson (Conservation Commission), Karl Coughlin (Parks & Rec Director), & Officer Rocco Navarro (Traffic Safety Officer) Members Absent: Ellen Sanborn (Finance Director) and Melissa Hutchins (Public Works Director) Approval of minutes – Motion to approve made by Peter Wilson. Seconded by Officer Navarro. Approved unanimously. Public Comment No public comment Update from Director Coughlin and Peter Wilson regarding meeting with SMCC Director Coughlin and Peter Wilson met with Tiffanie Bentley, the Vice President of Operations at SMCC, to discuss paid parking and the potential impacts it could have on their operations. Below is a recap of the meeting. • SMCC is fine with people parking on its campus to access the beach. • Although enrollment is up, the number of students on campus is down due to hybrid learning. • Because the school has many parking spots, parking on campus during the summer doesn't cause issues, except when school starts in mid-to-late Page 2 of 7  August, when more students are on campus. Even then, ample parking is available in Lot A (which is farther from the beach). • People can currently park in almost any parking spot on campus, unless it is signed for a specific person, group, etc. This is because the parking gate for the lots closest to the beach is inoperable, and fixing it is too expensive. If the school decides to fix the gate, campus parking will be more restrictive, although this is not currently in their plans. • If the City decides to move forward with paid parking, the school may dedicate a parking lot for beach parking and may sell an annual pass. They currently lack the infrastructure to implement this, but may explore it as a revenue-generating option. Parking count Officer Navarro performed a parking count in the Willow St parking lot over the course of two weeks (March 9 – 12 and March 16 – 19) and shared his findings with the group. March 9 – 12 March 9 – (9am) – 7 cars parked. 0 registered to a South Portland address March 10 – (time not provided) – 5 cars parked. 1 registered to a South Portland address March 11 – (time not provided) – 11 cars parked. 2 registered to a South Portland address March 12 – (time not provided) – 8 cars parked. 1 registered to a South Portland address March 16 – 19 March 16 – (noon) – 10 cars parked. 1 registered to a South Portland address March 17 – (noon) – 4 cars parked. 0 registered to a South Portland address March 18 – (noon) – 7 cars parked. 1 registered to a South Portland address March 19 – (noon) – 10 cars parked. 3 registered to a South Portland address Page 3 of 7 Discuss survey questions and process Director Coughlin researched parking surveys and found one from the City of Garden Grove that seemed like a good starting point for the working group to discuss. The group analyzed all of the questions in that survey and created a draft survey relevant to the Willard Beach neighborhood. This will be discussed and tweaked over the course of the next few meetings. Draft questions #1 – Which of the following best describes you as a user of the Willow St parking lot or on-street parking? Visiting Willard Beach Visiting someone in the neighborhood Supporting local businesses #2 – What is your mailing zip code? #3 – How often do you frequent the Willard beach neighborhood? 1-2 times per month 3-4 times per month 2-3 times per week 4-6 times per week Everyday #4 – What months do you visit the Willard beach neighborhood? List every month #5 – Which day(s) and period of time(s) do you typically visit the Willard Beach neighborhood? Weekday morning Page 4 of 7 Weekday afternoon Weekday evening Weekend morning Weekend afternoon Weekend evening #6 – Are you satisfied with the number of parking spots available in the willow st parking lot? Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very dissatisfied #7 – How can we improve parking in the Willard beach neighborhood? Space availability Price ADA accessible parking Accommodating alternative transportation modes #8 – Rank the following parking factors from most important (1) to least important (7) Distance to destination Price Total number of parking spaces Having time restricted Parking enforcement #9 – How far are you willing to walk from your parking spot to destination? From the Willard beach parking lot Page 5 of 7 From Willard square From the fire department From Preble St From SMCC’s campus #10 – How much would you be willing to pay to park Leave open ended Discuss next steps • Director Coughlin will fine tune the questions and the committee will discuss at their next meeting • Director Coughlin will report to the committee about how the budget presentation went and whether or not the ranger position was funded • Continue to make progress on the order Public comment Michael Cahill • Stated that he’s not a fan of paid parking and doesn’t see how the City will make any money from this. • Stated that he would like people to park in the designated lot and not on the street. • Suggested we reconsider the survey question regarding how much money someone would pay to park • Stated that he tends to see more beach goers on the weekend • Would like to see a question asking whether or not someone is a South Portland resident Carter Scott Page 6 of 7  • Suggested the working group has conversations with local businesses, similar to the one we had with SMCC • Suggested that we pare down the survey and stay focused just on paid parking • Suggested that one of the questions is “Does it make sense to have a paid parking program in the Willard beach neighborhood?” • Suggested that the group makes sure to keep the scope clear with our survey questions Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 1255pm. Motion made by Director Coughlin. Seconded by Officer Navarro. Page 7 of 7