SWAMPSCOTT — The Select Board met Wednesday evening to discuss potential parking and enforcement changes on Cedar Hill Terrace, a residential road that abuts Humphrey Street, where residents described worsening congestion, blocked sightlines, and ongoing safety concerns. 

The discussion follows a presentation by Police Chief Ruben Quesada at the last Select Board meeting, who proposed changes to the parking structure of the street based on residents’ concerns. Those changes include a no-parking zone at the bottom of the hill and on the upper left side of the street, with the rest of the terrace being one-hour parking or resident parking only zones. 

Several residents attended the meeting and spoke during public comment, largely agreeing that parking near the bottom of Cedar Hill Terrace has become dangerous, particularly close to the intersection with Humphrey Street, where cars are frequently parked on both sides of the road. 

Many residents also mentioned that the situation has steadily worsened due to overflow parking from nearby businesses and commercial properties. 

“Most of the times, on the upper left-hand side of the hill … it’s basically used as a junkyard for the garage on the corner,” said resident Albert Williams, who said he has been speaking with neighbors and town leaders about the issue for years. 

Williams said cars parked near the intersection make it difficult for drivers to safely turn onto Humphrey Street or see approaching traffic. As a part-time commercial fisher, those traffic concerns are increased when he’s trailing a boat down the street from his residence.

“You might not be able to see the traffic coming from the other way,” Williams said. “Just a really dangerous situation at the bottom of that hill that really needs to be addressed.” 

Jim Sweeney, another area resident, said that in the past year, a couple cars had been parked in the same spots for two or three months at a time. “They’re really just using it as a storage area,” he said. 

Alison Arnett, who said her family has lived on Cedar Hill Terrace for nearly 50 years, said in addition to parking frustrations, the street has become increasingly dangerous for children and pedestrians. 

“There are children going down the hill on bicycles … people with baby carriages. You can’t really see around the cars,” Arnett said. “You just don’t want something really terrible to happen.” 

Some residents from nearby streets, including Bay View Drive and Fuller Avenue, echoed those concerns, but also pushed the Select Board to approach the situation with careful thought, sharing concerns that restricted parking on the terrace would just lead to parking issues in front of their homes. 

Dr. Darryl Smith, whose dental office is located nearby on Puritan Road, said he understood and agreed with the visibility and safety concerns raised by residents, but urged the town to also consider the needs of local businesses, including his staff and patients. 

“I have elderly patients, patients in wheelchairs,” Smith said, noting that he often asks his staff to park at the top of Cedar Hill Terrace. “I need my parking in my office so that patients can access my office for essential service.” 

During the Select Board’s discussion, members largely agreed that the most immediate issue was parking too close to the intersection at the bottom of Cedar Hill Terrace. 

Members of the board discussed existing state parking laws that already prohibit parking within a certain distance of intersections, but noted that the area currently lacks clear roadway markings and consistent enforcement. 

Danielle Leonard, who was voted vice chair of the Select Board at the start of Wednesday’s meeting, said she wanted clearer answers about how a one-hour parking restriction would be enforced before supporting broader restrictions. 

On request from the Select Board, Town Administrator Nick Connors presented parking ticket information from the Police Department, which totaled about 8 tickets given on Humphrey Street from March through the beginning of May. 

“I’d like to know exactly how they plan to police one-hour parking,” Leonard said. “I want to know the actual plans, because I don’t have a lot of faith — from that the numbers you just gave me — that anyone’s going to do that.” 

Leonard also said that the town needed a broader conversation with the nearby businesses — particularly the Four Seasons Motor Group right at the intersection at the bottom of the hill. 

“We need to talk to them, because that is really … at the heart of this problem,” she said. 

Select Board member Wayne Spritz said that he had recently met with Williams on Cedar Hill, and while he agreed that the bottom of the street was an issue, he also mentioned that the town could potentially assuage some of the parking concerns by addressing vegetation overgrowth towards the top of the hill. 

“That area is so overgrown, there’s no defined sidewalk,” Spritz said. “There’s no defined kind of property line or perimeter so it looks like it’s an extension of the road, and so people just park there.” 

The board ultimately voted to allow the Department of Public Works to demarcate no-parking areas near the intersection in accordance with existing parking laws, including adding roadway markings near the corner of Cedar Hill Terrace and Humphrey Street. Under Massachusetts traffic regulations, vehicles are generally prohibited from parking within 20 feet of an intersection, though board members noted the restriction is not clearly marked or consistently enforced in the area.

“I think everyone’s in agreement with the danger at the bottom of the hill,” Spritz said during the discussion.

The board did stop short of approving the one-hour and resident-only parking changes, instead saying they would like to have further discussions with police, DPW officials, residents, and nearby businesses before bringing the issue back for additional discussion at a future meeting.