Barrington

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Barrington hearing on parking restrictions canceled

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, September 23, 2008

BARRINGTON — The Coastal Resources Management Council has canceled tomorrow night’s hearing on parking restrictions proposed for the Daunis Right of Way at the end of Nayatt Road, informing the town that it will be up to the Town Council to limit overnight parking in the area.

The Town Council, in a 4-to-1 vote, had endorsed banning vehicles from the two parking spaces after 9 p.m., but that action was not binding. A ban can be imposed only by passing an ordinance.

Street parking in the vicinity is already prohibited.

But there are indications that some council members may be ready to reconsider their support of a ban after fishermen, who fish from the beach at night, came to the last meeting to counter the assertions of neighbors that some people who are using the right of way pose a nuisance.

In a letter to Town Solicitor Michael A. Ursillo, Brian A. Goldman, CRMC’s legal counsel, said “no CRMC hearing regarding this proposal will be necessary provided the ordinance is limited merely to parking hour restrictions and imposes no restrictions on the use of the ROW [right of way].”

Goldman said the agency “recognizes municipalities have well established authority to preserve the public peace, safety, comfort and welfare for the residents provided its regulations are not inconsistent with the constitution, statutes or CRMC’s regulatory prerogatives.”

Cecil “Ceci” D. Sartor, who lives next to the right of way, has been trying to keep cars away and restrict access to the area — to the point of going to court — since the mid-1980s.

At least one of the fishermen has alleged that neighbors have been parking their cars in the two-space lot to keep outsiders away from the area.

The area has been a public right of way since 1915.

— C. EUGENE EMERY

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