Paris formalizes public parking lot

PARIS —   A potential dispute over a Market Square parking lot has been averted by designating the town-owned lot public parking.

Paris selectmen, during their meeting Monday, voted to formalize the lot, next to the former Pine Street fire station, as public parking.

Earlier in the month, Terry and Sandy Swett, who have put in an offer to purchase the former fire station, requested to lease parking spaces in the lot from the town.

The Swetts intend to install their sign business in the first floor of the building and renovate the second floor as an event space.

At the January 14 selectman's meeting, they suggested parking would be essential to their business.

The news that the town could lease spots concerned some downtown Paris businesses, including the Market Square Restaurant, that have been using the space for parking for decades, Town Manager Amy Bernard told the board Monday.

"It's been something you've been doing for decades, so it would not be a change, per se, it would just be formal," Bernard told board members.

She recommended the board formalize the lot as public parking, that would be used on a first-come, first-serve basis. Overnight parking would be prohibited from November 1 though May 1.

Both the Swetts and Market Square Restaurant owner Scott Gilbert, who attended Monday's meeting, agreed Bernard's compromise was fair.

As an indication of their intention to build a solid relationship with the town, Terry Swett offered to donate lettering on one of the town's highway department trucks.