KITTERY, Maine — It was inevitable that a small island sandwiched between two tourist destinations would experience a parking conundrum, as residents, businesses and visitors wrestle for the little available parking.
Following a resident’s request, the town of Kittery will assemble an informal task force to examine issues of parking on Badger’s Island, which is connected to Portsmouth by the pedestrian-friendly Memorial Bridge. The island is being used as an “overflow lot” for downtown Portsmouth, town officials say. In addition, those who work at Badger’s Island businesses are hard pressed to find spots, and often park on both sides of the street on Badger’s Island West, causing congestion for residents.
Town Manager Kendra Amaral said she will put together a team of staff from police, fire, Public Works and the Planning Department to seek possible remedies. The matter arose when Badger’s Island resident Margaret Desfosses emailed the Town Council to alert it of the issue, and Councilor Jeffrey Thomson brought it forward at a later meeting this summer. The island features single-family homes, condominiums, restaurants and marinas.
“This is one of those challenges where you have a limited amount of space that is located in between two thriving downtowns, with its own thriving commercial businesses,” Amaral said. “I don’t know what the solutions are right now but we’ll be taking a look.”
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Desfosses told town councilors she’s been a property owner on the island since 1985, and it’s gotten to the point where her neighborhood has “become extensions of the Portsmouth parking crisis.” She noted the irony that 25 years ago Badger’s Island residents fought the construction of a parking garage, believing it would bring more traffic onto the island, yet “we have de facto become an alternative parking lot for Portsmouth and the restaurants who call us home.”
“Somehow I have to believe that there is a solution,” she wrote. “Perhaps a maximum parking limit? Resident parking only, parking on only one side of the roadway? Something that allows the residents to enjoy their homes and enjoy company.”
She cited safety concerns, including obstruction of driveways and difficulty passing pedestrians.
Amaral said anecdotally Badger’s Island is a “known” for people dining at Portsmouth restaurants, for example, when it comes to finding a free place to park.
Thomson said Badger’s Island also falls victim to being an accessible parking option for Prescott Park in the summer. “It’s very easy to park there and walk across the bridge with your lawn chair,” he said, adding it began as a “six-week phenomenon in the summer a few years ago and now it’s nonstop.”
Badger’s Island West, which turns into a cul-de-sac, becomes increasingly difficult to navigate for residents when cars are parked on both sides of the street. Parking on Island Avenue can often result in a one-lane road.
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“Success and popularity as a tourist destination, as a weekend getaway destination, comes with some downside that needs to be handled, hopefully in a productive manner,” Thomson said. “I noticed over the years there have been issues with Prescott Park parking. People have come back to Badger’s Island and found notes on their windshield asking them not to park here again. It’s not a new issue, but I think it’s kind of really mushroomed over the last couple of years.”
Thomson noted the GreenPages Technology Solutions property at the end of the island could be a potential player; a place for workers to park after 5 p.m. and on weekends. He said employees of Ore Nell’s Barbecue and Kate’s Bakery often resort to street parking.
“There aren’t a lot of options in the immediate vicinity other than the GreenPages property,” Thomson said. He said while Portsmouth’s new Foundry Place parking garage, which is scheduled to open next month, may remedy some of the overflow issues to Kittery, other actions the city is taking, like pilot neighborhood parking programs and upping the hourly costs of certain downtown spaces, will only exacerbate the problem.
Badger’s Island Pizza General Manager Kellie Huddleston called the parking issues “a frustrating situation.”
“The street parking on Island Avenue across from Badger’s Island Pizza is often full with cars that park all the way to the corner, creating a dangerous one-lane road,” she said. “A lot of people park there to walk to other places, leaving Island Avenue residents and businesses with no additional parking.”
Huddleston said the pizza place lost two parking spaces due to the new sidewalk curbing, a town project that began in August with the goal of delineating sidewalks. And in the wintertime, snow reduces the parking lot even more.
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“We are fortunate enough to have wonderful neighbors allowing the staff to use their driveway, but that is only a temporary relief,” she said. “On busy nights, we’ve had to tell customers to call us if they can’t find parking so we can run their food out to them and are forever grateful for their patience and understanding. We are trying to make the best of a complicated situation.”
Darren LaPierre, owner of Badger’s Island Marina, East and West, said while unauthorized people often use his assigned marina parking spots, that’s part of running a seasonal business, and those complaining shouldn’t have chosen to live on the island.
“We need the tourists, we need seasonal businesses, and with all that, how can you not have congestion?” he said. “This is what we all sign up for. It goes without saying people park in my spots. But in order to have a seasonal business, you have to bite your tongue.”
LaPierre said those complaining about the parking “want the Seacoast view, but they don’t want to be bothered with what comes with it.”
He estimated he has 28 designated spots at Badger’s Island East. “A lot of people use my spots, but I accept it and police my own spots at my discretion,” he said.
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