Waterford Beach Park's new policy restricts non-resident access on weekends

Waterford ― Resident Tammy Taylor thought Sunday that driving up to the Waterford Beach Park’s entry booth with cash in hand and her license, would be enough to get her onto the beach.

But as Taylor’s bare feet pitter-pattered back from the shoreline toward a parking lot that still had room for more cars, she recalled how she was initially denied entry, and told she needed a beach sticker.

That’s because the beach’s new policy, enacted July 4, requires residents and non-residents to have a beach sticker to get into the park on weekends and holidays. That’s different than weekdays when people can buy a daily pass.

The policy also limits the lot to 300 cars, according to a release on the town website.

The requirement was approved at a June 25 Recreation and Parks Commission meeting. According to meeting minutes, the policy is temporary, and was implemented as a way to make the beach safer and more manageable because people were overflowing from Ocean Beach park when its large lot was full.

“It’s ridiculous,” Taylor said. “I’m a Waterford resident. Let me in. I’m a taxpayer here.”

Taylor said she’d ended up pulling her car over and completing the online process to purchase the sticker. The fee for residents under 65 is $25, while for those over 65 years old it’s $11, and for non-residents, $125.

Meanwhile, people on the beach Sunday who supported the new policy, argued the ones most affected by it policy are non-residents, who would crowd the beach after being turned away by other shoreline beaches.

“It’s good for people who live in town that have the passes,” said resident Charles Burns, who sat on the beach with his family and read a book. “― and bad for tourists that are visiting from out of state.”

Burns and wife Shelly said for them, the pass is worth it, and praised the beach for its sand, and a good job done by staff to maintain it. They said it’s a night and day difference compared to nearby Ocean Beach.

“If I lived in Waterford, I would purchase a pass,” said Jen Hickman, a Norwich resident who sat on the beach with her partner ― a Waterford resident who did not want to be named.

They got to the beach around noontime, easily finding parking in the overflow lot. She was surprised the beach wasn’t so crowded, compared to the last time they came a few weeks ago, Hickman said.

She added that paying for parking in general goes against her feelings on paying for parking at any beach.

“As a pedestrian, I don’t think you should have to pay to get access to the beach,” she said.

Waterford resident Susan Todd, who said she been going to the beach for 67 years and doesn’t need to pay to get in because she’s a senior, said she doesn’t think the beach prices are outrageous, and supports the new policy.

She said the beach had a feeling of unity it had lost in the last few years as a result of overcrowding, and the stickers are bringing that back. She said there were also problems managing crowds.

“It had started to get to a point where it wasn’t a family beach anymore. It was a more out-of-state beach,” she said. “You’d come in and had to park way, way over. And I think Waterford used to charge the least (amount of) fees for public beaches as far as out-of-towners.”

Todd said she didn’t think that meant the beach was excluding people.

“You can buy a pass if you come down a lot,” she said, adding they could also come during the week.

“It’s just the weekends they’re trying to manage the crowds.”

Taylor said Waterford Beach Park should just do what other beaches like Rocky Neck State Park do when they’re full, and put out a sign. That option would still allow residents and non-residents to get a one-day pass, but parking would be first come, first serve.

On Sunday around 2 p.m., people were still snagging spots in the paved parking lot that had about 120 spaces. Meanwhile there were at least 100 cars in the overflow lot but there were still spaces.

Virginia and Victor Vesnever circled around and found a spot within a few seconds.

“We’re pretty lucky,” Victor said. “Usually we end up in the field.”

“I think the reason they implemented it was because of the traffic when the other beaches closed,” he said, adding that meant that people like them who had purchased the stickers would have to fight for a spot.

The traffic from the other beaches they said resulted in too many people on the beach for the lifeguards to handle. There were at least five lifeguards at the beach Sunday.

“It think it was a solution to those two problems,” Virgina Vesnever said.

d.drainville@theday.com