FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen amended the town’s traffic ordinance Tuesday to include parking times for the new Church Street parking lot.

Following a public hearing, the board voted 3-2 to accept the amendment. Selectmen Joshua Bell, Stephan Bunker and Andrew Buckland voted for it while Selectmen Michael Fogg and Matthew Smith voted against it.

Members of the town Parking Committee spoke in favor of use of the lot by everyone — shoppers, downtown apartment tenants, employees — and for the use of 13 of the 27 spaces for overnight parking.

Fogg and Smith felt that was not part of the initial idea when they voted to purchase the property and create more parking for downtown shoppers.

The amendments, based on the Parking Committee’s recommendation, include overnight and long-term parking along with winter hours. The amendments state that parking is prohibited from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday from Nov. 15 to April 15 to allow for snow removal.

The amendment allows for overnight or long-term parking, except from midnight to 6 a.m. from Nov. 15 to April 15 in 14 spaces on the west side of the lot along Cony Street. The terms would not apply to 13 spaces on the east side of the Church Street lot.

The owner of any vehicle violating the rule could be fined $20 and/or towing costs.

Committee member Paul Mills took a census of use since the lot opened earlier this month, he said.

“It is getting a lot of use, but it is not tapped out,” he said. “It belongs to all of us and is for all of us to use.”

Downtown tenants and employees who use the lot free up spaces on Main and Broadway for shoppers, members voiced.

Fogg thought creation of the lot and use of Tax Increment Financing funds might not have been as successful if the idea of overnight and long-term parking was understood from the start.

It is not set in stone; it can be changed, Board Chairman Joshua Bell said. It is a good thing for the downtown, he said.

Board members agreed to wait and see and revisit if needed.

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