Council authorizes curfew for city parking lots

To curtail gatherings of loud, unruly people in municipal parking lots, the Bangor City Council passed an ordinance Monday night giving the city manager and police chief the power to close the parking lots after hours.

The problems started last summer when the council asked the police to step up downtown patrols to curb the growing number of rowdy people hanging out and alarming merchants and shoppers. The gatherings soon moved to the Gasworks Parking Lot, off lower Main Street.

The change upset neighbors in the area of the parking lot. Come 10 p.m.– the curfew for city parks — people would move from the Second Street Park down to the parking lot and keep on partying.

Troubles came to a head the last half of August when residents in the neighborhood began calling the Police Department several times a night. At one point, the police barricaded the lot, drawing the support of neighbors.

“The decision showed initiative, it was appropriate, and it achieved the desired result,” said the writer of a letter with 16 signatures. “We ask that you commend the officers who were involved. Further, we hope that the city administration will continue to support employees that are willing to initiate problem-solving actions for which no policy guidelines exist.”

The council’s action Monday establishes those guidelines.

Chief Richard Stockford and City Manager Edward A. Barrett now have the authority to close a parking lot with signs and barricades. The ordinance states, “Such directive may be issued upon a determination that the persons using said parking lot or parking area are participating in acts of vandalism, disorderly conduct or otherwise conducting themselves in violation of the law.”

Council support for the ordinance was not unanimous. A few councilors wanted the ordinance referred back to committee.

And Councilor William England after the meeting said that he saw the matter from a more Libertarian point of view. Laws already on the books give the police the to break up gatherings of people for vandalism, disorderly conduct, or breaking the law, and he asked, why add another?

A motion by Councilor Mary Sullivan would have meant that the ordinance passed as emergency legislation and would have taken effect immediately.

“We ought to enact it under emergency legislation,” Sullivan said. “It’s our obligation to give the neighbors some relief. There’s still a lot of hot weather left this year.”

Making something emergency legislation requires a two-thirds vote of the council. Sullivan’s motion received only five of the nine votes.