Hot temperatures and a long, holiday weekend will bring thousands of people to Connecticut beaches, including Rocky Neck State Park in Niantic.
Rocky Neck's parking lots often reach capacity on busy days and that leaves some beachgoers looking for parking wherever they can, which aggravates neighbors and nearby business. Some residents said they’re seeing trash and increased traffic as a result.
"Over the years I’ve found dirty diapers in the mailbox, all kind of pizza boxes, soda cans, beer bottles all over the yard," Joe Giacalone said. He lives in one of the closest neighborhoods to Rocky Neck, Chadwick Place.
While Giacalone said he’s called the first selectman and police every summer over the last 50 years or so, he’s still a victim of overspill parking when the park reaches capacity.
"People coming (to my lawn) wanting to picnic because they can’t get in," Giacalone said.
Other neighbors, like Eleanor Ashburn, don’t mind people parking near their home.
"I feel people come down that far and they can’t get in. So as long as there’s parking available at my house, I’m willing to allow them to park there," Ashburn said.
Local
From her house, those visitors still have about a mile and a half walk to the beach, according to Ashburn.
On big beach days, traffic back up for miles on the state roads and I-95 starting at the crack of dawn.
"It’s a nightmare, frankly," East Lyme First Selectman Mark Nickerson said.
Nickerson said with a new, independent police department as of July 1, he’s looking to crack down on rogue parkers when it comes to Rocky Neck and local beaches.
"We put our police on notice to enforce the parking regulations, not only in our nice, little downtown where there’s only two-hour parking, but also in private lots, where parking is not allowed," Nickerson said.
Advantage Personal Training Manager Paul Palazzo can almost see the entrance to Rocky Neck State Park from his business.
"People will come and park wherever they please," Palazzo said about beachgoers.
But his parking lot is private and clearly marked for no trespassing.
"Some of our customers and some of the Jazzercise customers haven’t been able to get into the lot or have had to park on the road on busy days," Palazzo said. But having the lot completely full is rare, since it’s large, he added.
NBC Connecticut found a few of those rogue parkers who used the lot to consolidate into one car on Wednesday.
Fourth of July weekend traffic also has parks and recreation director David Putnam on edge. He’s hosting hundreds for a baseball tournament at Peretz Park, that’s also prone to overflow parking and he plans on posting signs this weekend.
"We are concerned about that. That first and foremost that our people get parking here in the park that are using the park," Putnam said.
