Nahant selectmen oppose beach parking lot expansion

NAHANT – Selectmen last Thursday rejected a call from a group of residents to expand the paved parking lot at Canoe Beach, while those for and against the proposal agreed that out-of-towners are not welcome to park in the lot.Bass Point resident Stacey O?Brien said she and others were for expanding the parking area at Canoe Beach because nonresidents fill up the lot and then damage residents? cars when trying to turn their cars around to leave. O?Brien and about a dozen others at the Board of Selectmen meeting last week said they just wanted “a few extra feet” of paved parking lot.But opponents of the plan, including a resident who wrote the email that Chairman Rich Lombard read aloud at the meeting, said an expansion of the lot would only encourage out-of-towners to keep returning to Canoe Beach, where parking is restricted to residents.The letter read that expanded parking would create “a greater problem in policing and littering” that would result in “the general loss of beauty and peace which makes our town unique.”Lombard said he wouldn?t allow parking or paving on the grassy area at the because it is part of Davis Park?s “hallowed ground” for Vietnam veteran Richard Davis.Resident Jim O?Brien said not having room to turn around at Canoe Beach posed a bigger threat than a few dented car doors. “It would be a travesty if there was a problem and somebody needed assistance from the fire or police department, because they?re not going to be able to get in,” he said.O?Brien then offered a possible solution: Could the town ask Northeastern to open the gates at the Marine Science Center so drivers could use that parking lot to turn their cars around??That?s a good idea,” Lombard said.The board ended up denying the request for the parking lot expansion, but Lombard agreed he would propose the idea to university officials in their next meeting. He also said he would be speaking to Nahant Police Chief Robert Dwyer about enforcing parking violations.