Madison Beach Hotel Discussing Parking Options With Town

Madison Beach Hotel management is talking with the town about the possibility of using a Surf Club parking lot as an overflow lot once it is open and has hotel guests, event guests, and restaurant guests on the same night.

Discussions are underway with the Madison Beach & Recreation Commission, which has oversight for the Surf Club and other town recreation facilities.

Madison Beach Hotel officials could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

First Selectman Fillmore McPherson said discussions are underway, exploring the possibility of whether the Madison Beach Hotel might be able to rend land at the Surf Club when events are underway.

"It is under discussion with the Beach & Recreation Commission," McPherson said. "Obviously, the commission would not allow it if there were other major events underway, such as football or on busy summer weekends. But, otherwise, if Madison Beach Hotel is having a wedding or a banquet and they need extra parking, this might be an option."

McPherson said it was his understanding that the Madison Beach Hotel was exploring other options as well, including the possibility of renting the Madison Country Club lot when that is not full. "Again, I'm assuming they would be using it when people are not playing golf," McPherson said.

Madison Beach & Recreation Chairman Tom Banisch said discussions have been underway since March or April of this year. He said Madison Beach Hotel is not using the Surf Club lot at this time.

"No, they haven't needed it," he said. "But when they're full, if they have an event, there could be a crunch with parking and they will need an alternate place."

Banisch said the Beach & Recreation Commissions is trying to accommodate Madison Beach Hotel and not only because the town stands to bring in income from the deal, amounting to between $150 a day to $350 a day for each day it is used, depending on how many cars are parked there.

"It's a combination of things," he said. "They are one of our biggest taxpayers, if not our biggest taxpayer. And we do do facilities rental at the Surf Club. The parking we are providing them is out of the way. We derive revenue from it and it's solving a problem for them."

Banisch said the parking would be done by a professional valet service "so it won't be kids zooming up and down the street." Access to the lot is through the heart of the Surf Club, with Strong Field where the high school teams play football and soccer on one side, and the beach on the other.

The road to the lot is regularly transversed by people moving from one part of the facility to the other. It also has several speed bumps and other traffic calming features built in, including a small island that helps create several lanes during peak traffic times. The lot under consideration is often empty and is only occasionally in use, sometimes for  cheer-leading squad practice and sometimes as an overflow field for football practice.

Banisch said it has been rented out in the past for events such as concerts.

"We've rented it out to other groups, so why not this? It's not the parking area that people use to go to the beach. I've been keeping an eye on it," he said. "If we can do it, why not?"

Banisch noted that there have been concerns about whether the hotel guests might be tempted to use lots at the adjacent West Wharf Beach parking area. "We don't want to have to worry about that."

Banisch said the town's police officials have asked to review the plan to make sure it will not create any traffic problems.