A new parking plan for Bolinas that restricts oversized vehicles and permits resident parking on Brighton Avenue and Wharf Road was approved by the county’s deputy zoning administrator this month. The rules will go into effect in the spring, once the Board of Supervisors and California Coastal Commission approve them. The plan will replace Measure X, a two-year-long parking program that did little to help parking turnover. The enforceability of that program was challenged by a Ninth Circuit Court ruling that prohibited ticketing and towing vehicles that double as homes. The county’s objectives are to maintain access for beachgoers and address a growing number of large vehicles that park for extended periods on both ends of Bolinas Beach. The rules have been in the works for years and must walk a legislative tightrope between the coastal commission’s mission of public access and homeless protections. How the new rules will be enforced is still undetermined, said Sherry Hirsch, a member of a parking subcommittee of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District. BCPUD recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office whereby the former will distribute resident parking permits and the latter will enforce them. Two permits will be issued per household on Brighton Avenue and Wharf Road. Permits are non-transferable and there are no guest permits, but special consideration will be given to residents on a case-by-case basis. Permit holders must still move their vehicle every 72 hours, in accordance with county code. A permit will be required to park on the residential side of Brighton Avenue from 2 to 5 a.m. Vehicles longer than 22 feet will be prohibited from parking on the other side of Brighton from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and on Wharf Road from the Bolinas Museum south to the beach. The parking committee contacted each Brighton household in 2022. Of the 21 households that responded to the poll, 95 percent agreed with the plan. Lagoon-side parking spaces on Wharf Road from the museum to the beach will be subject to the same permit and time restrictions as the residential side of Brighton. The parking committee is still talking with residents and the Department of Public Works about any new rules for the other side of the street. When the county presented the plan in January, restrictions on Wharf were not included. Bruce Bowser, a member of the parking subcommittee, said the committee was surprised but satisfied that the county included Wharf in the coastal permit. “On weekends, Brighton becomes like a boardwalk, and Wharf is far more constrained,” he said. “The closer you get to the entrance to the beach on Wharf, the tighter it gets. There are several campers spending the night and it makes navigating it very difficult. We want to make the beach available to everyone, not just people that want to come for long durations.”