FARMINGTON — A petition to preserve public parking in a Front Street lot began circulating last week.

Signature gatherers seek to schedule a special town meeting to ask voters to direct selectmen to amend the Front Street parking lease by increasing payments to the lot owner and making changes to keep the 99-year lease intact, explained attorney Paul Mills, a petition organizer.

The town, the University of Maine at Farmington and Farmington Construction entered into an agreement in 1993 for use of the lot as free public parking. The terms included a 99-year lease at a cost of $1 per year.

Last year, owner Greg Roux went to Selectmen seeking to terminate the lease. He was then willing to consider a better rental arrangement or potential purchase of the property by the town and university.

In December, selectmen changed their view, opting to relinquish the town’s interest in the lot if voters agreed during annual meeting. They acknowledged concerns about the purchase price and a court case to settle the validity of the lease.

“It may be very difficult for the town to get out of it,” Mills said.

The other two, Farmington Construction and UMF, would have to agree according to what Town Manager Richard Davis has already stated, Mills said. Davis was unavailable Tuesday for comment.

The petition, in part, states, “It was assumed that both of the other two parties would accept the Town’s withdrawal. It is now evident that there is a substantial possibility that at least one of the parties will not accept the withdrawal. If that happens the Town will not thus be able to withdraw from the lease.”

As for the University, it contends it does have “a valid 99-year lease until someone tells us differently or it’s re-negotiated,” Ryan Low, vice-president for administration, said Tuesday. “At the end of the day, we still have a lease signed in 1993.”

University officials are concerned about parking for students living in the downtown area as well as having an interest in any future sale or development of the lot.

“It could pinch UMF’s access to our athletic fields,” Low said, voicing concern for access by emergency vehicles to the field.

The intent for the property if the lease is terminated is an unknown, Mills said. It could be for development or become paid parking spots.

During a discussion with Margo Joly, Roux’s attorney who was speaking on Roux’s behalf, Mills said Roux wasn’t opposed to the option of amending the lease. Joly was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Along with preserving parking, the petition’s intent is also to reconcile the different interests in the lot, Mills said. The public is responding with more than 100 signatures collected in just a few days, he said.

Abutting business owners to the lot expressed concerns about parking and what they consider the town fathers’ lack of vision and leadership on Tuesday.

Nina Gianquinto of Up Front and Pleasant Gourmet acknowledged Roux’s right to do what’s best for himself but added that developing or changing parking in the lot could jeopardize the town’s public parking, said .

The town sees the lot as mostly residential parking but Gianquinto said there is a rotation as overnight parkers leave for the day opening the spaces for day parkers. A change could also jeopardize the Farmer’s Market, which assembles in the lot during the summer, she said.

“There’s a Front Street parking crisis,” she said. “Giving up any public parking is not encouraging to business.”

Narrow Gauge Theater owner John Moore is considering ways to keep theater parking available for movie-goers including potentially putting up a fence. The opening of a new restaurant with office space on the main floor abuts the lot adding to parking concerns.

“We’re exploring options,” he said.

A bailout on the lease will not make the situation go away, Moore said.

“The only towns where parking is not an issue are the towns that are dead,” Moore said.

The petition will circulate till the end of January and be submitted in time for inclusion on the town warrant, Mills said.

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