NORWAY — The Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing next month to decide whether they should remove the two-hour parking ban on Main Street.

The town’s eight-page parking ordinance, in part, calls for a $25 fine for those who violate the two-hour limit from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ordinance was enacted in 1978 and amended over the years.

Although there are other parts of the ordinance that are strictly enforced, including handicap parking and overnight parking bans for snow removal, the two-hour limit has generally not been an issue, Town Manager David Holt said.

Selectmen held a public hearing Thursday night to get input after an editorial in the Advertiser Democrat called for the enforcement or repeal of the parking ban.

“We said let’s hear what people have to say,” Holt said.

But no one seemed to initially have an opinion.

Although a dozen or so people showed up for the hearing, no one initially spoke out for or against the ban until business owner Lesley Gouin Dean recalled the history of the ban.

Selectman Bruce Cook said the ban should either be enforced or repealed because the town has municipal parking lots.

“I like two-hour parking in certain areas but it will take a lot to enforce,” said business owner Jason Cyr said. “They have other places to park, they just have to walk downtown.”

Cyr said one of the problems in some parking areas is the downtown apartment dwellers who park their cars on Main Street overnight.

Many agreed that some of the worst offenders are the business owners themselves who park in front of their stores all day.

“It’s confusing if it’s not being enforced,” Selectman Russ Newcomb said.

The board will take more input at the public hearing Jan. 15 during the selectmen meeting starting at 7 p.m. in the Town Office on Danforth Street.

ldixon@sunjournal.com