‘Secret beach’ is overrun by visitors who will stop at nothing | Letter

I have two areas of concern: safety and preserving the beach ecosystem.

Some years ago, the Press Herald published an article about “secret beaches.” Since then, Cliff House Beach attendance has soared. Cliff House Beach is a small beach with sand only at low tide. People have to cross a field of rocks and boulders to access any sand.

The article identified it as a public beach. That may be, but it is in a neighborhood that traffic has absolutely flooded into. Beachgoers use driveways to turn around where kids are playing in their own yards. They have openly changed clothing by their cars, and have picked the vegetables and flowers of area homeowners. There no public facilities at this beach; often, the sheen of sunscreen can be seen in the water. We in Maine are blessed with plenty of beaches that have both parking and bathroom facilities.

The Shore Road parking ban is a safety issue. Summer traffic of cars, buses and trolleys run all day to Fort Williams. Cars trying to make a left turn onto Shore Road have markedly reduced lines of sight. Cars with license plates from all over the country are parked on Shore Road to get down to Cliff House. Wobbling along between parked cars, trolleys and buses are the bike rental families.

Lastly, it seems like the entitlement by those who, by their overpopulation, create safety issues and contribute to the demise of a little beach just because it is a “find.”

Brenda Daly-Weiss
Cape Elizabeth

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