NORWAY — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Thursday night to keep the two-hour parking limit on Main Street and to enforce it by doing random checks.

The decision is a reversal an earlier 4-1 vote in December to remove the parking limit section from the eight-page parking ordinance. Selectman Russ Newcomb had voted against the repeal in December.

The ban will be randomly enforced with the first-time offenders getting a warning. Violations carry a $25 fine.

About seven Main Street business owners appeared at the hearing to request that the rule — limiting Main Street parking to two hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — be retained.

Ed Murphy, who owns Lively Accents on Main Street with his wife, Cathy Murphy, told the board that removing the ban would inhibit merchants’ attempt to make Main Street a business destination because of the challenge of customer parking.

Murphy said that he canvassed the business owners on Main Street and the large majority agreed that the limit should be kept. He presented the board with a statement bearing 24 signatures from Main Street business owners who asked that the ban be kept in place.

“I definitely feel as a business owner it would hurt our business,” said Murphy, who admitted to occasionally violating the limit himself.

The ordinance, which covers parking issues townwide, was enacted in 1978 by voters and amended over the years.

Although the two-hour parking limit has generally not been enforced in recent years, other parts of the parking ordinance are strictly enforced, including handicap parking and overnight parking bans for snow removal, police Chief Rob Federico stated.

Federico said Thursday night that he does believe the limit should be used as a tool, but because there has been no chronic problem, he said, it doesn’t need to be aggressively enforced at this time.

The public hearing in December was held to allow the board to hear from the community after an editorial in the Advertiser Democrat called for the board to take action on the parking ban, one way or the other. It has been a longtime practice of some motorists, including business owners and residents, to park on Main Street for more than two hours, but generally they are not ticketed, nor have there been many complaints. The opening up of municipal lots on Main Street has also aided parking for customers, business owners and tenants.

Parking is prohibited on any street or road in Norway between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. from Nov. 15 through April 15.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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