RUMFORD — There is a snag with Rumford’s new winter parking ban and the Select Board is working to amend it.

Lack of parking on The Island business district and late bar hours at Hotel Rumford have contributed to some pushback against the new policy, passed in June, which prohibits parking on any public street or right of way from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Nov. 1 to April 15, regardless of snow.

The ban is separate from any specific storm parking bans that might be called. Vehicles in violation may be ticketed and towed at the owner’s expense.

The Select Board was told Dec. 4 that on Friday and Saturday nights the bar at Hotel Rumford on Canal Street operates two hours beyond the 11 p.m. ban. Limited parking on The Island forces patrons to park on the street.

“We do last call at 12:45 (a.m.) and by 1:15 (a.m.) people have to be out of our establishment,” Hotel Rumford owner David Pilgrim said. “And generally, we try to be out of there by 1:30 unless it’s a busy night, like Thanksgiving, when it goes a bit later. But it’s just employees’ cars.”

During snowstorms they make sure there’s no vehicles parked on the street, he said.

Pilgrim added that within the next few weeks, he will be opening the hotel’s eight rooms for overnight stays. Where those customers will park will also become an issue.

“We have no problem utilizing a public parking lot when there is a snowstorm. I’m trying to generate as much revenue for those rooms as possible,” he said

Board Chairman Chris Brennick said the Hotel Rumford parking issue is “an unintended consequence” of the new winter parking policy.

“We have a couple of public lots that people can utilize during the winter,” he said, adding it may require customers walking a bit. “I don’t know necessarily that there’s a lot we can do, particularly on storm days.”

Town Manager George O’Keefe said the parking situation now is just the latest among several changes that have complicated the matter.

“The thing that has changed is that we brought this parking ban back into play after a whole series of changes have occurred with parking spaces that in the past were more available,” he said.

O’Keefe suggested a parking change on Canal Street and nearby Hartford Street to give Hotel Rumford clientele and “everybody else a whole lot of freedom to maneuver here that you don’t currently have because Canal Street is under the universal winter parking ban.”

Road Superintendent Dale Roberts suggested allowing parking from Hartford Street to Exchange Street, if they make that change, but added that if there’s a snowstorm, they have to get off the street.

Brennick said they would act to provide clear guidance to Pilgrim and Roberts on the parking on Canal Street at the Dec. 17 select board meeting.

Roberts said that in the past, when the hotel was operated by another owner, “we couldn’t touch those cars until after they closed.”

Police Chief Tony Milligan said the previous ordinance had language in it that made it a violation two hours after 11 p.m. to account for businesses like the Hotel Rumford or other places.

“There was a two-hour window before we could start tagging people and towing cars,” he said. “Today’s language, in the books, on the ordinance, says nothing. It’s says after 11 o’clock, it’s a violation to park on the streets in Rumford.

“From the police department’s perspective, I have a problem, in the interest of fairness and being lawful, I can’t charge people with parking violation of a ban on one street at 11:01 and ignore what’s going on another street just because we feel badly about it. You talk about opening up a can of worms, that will do it,” he added.

Milligan suggested the board come up with a solution that doesn’t create unintended backlash because they are not equally enforcing the law.

“We were handed this hot potato mess and now we’re being asked to enforce it,” he said. “And like it or not, we have to do our jobs. And the ordinance says what it says, and it was voted on by the people. Not the board but by the people.”