Stonington ― The Board of Police Commissioners has proposed an update to a traffic ordinance that would increase fines, gives police more authority to issue fines, and allows the town to install parking meters.

The ordinance, scheduled for a town meeting vote on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at the high school, was last amended 29 years ago.

The proposed amendment would increase fines for parking violations from $25 to $50 which Deputy Chief Todd Olson said is in line with fines in neighboring Westerly.

It would also help police address an parking issue often found along North Stonington Road near Clyde’s Cider Mill. Olson explained that along the road, people will park their cars so that all four wheels are off the paved road.

Even though the vehicles are not on the road, Olson said they still can interfere with fire and emergency vehicles trying to access the area. There are no parking signs along the road, but there was a lack of clarity regarding whether officers could issue tickets to those vehicles, Olson explained.

The update to the ordinance would allow officers to ticket individuals who are parked off the road but in the town’s right-of-way.

The ordinance would also allow the Board of Police Commissioners, as the town’s traffic authority, to authorize parking meters in town, set the cost and time limits for meters, and control the hours during in which drivers would need to use the meters.

Though the proposed amendment does not specify any locations for meters in town, it comes as the town and Groton are seeking solutions to the parking issues in congested downtown Mystic.

The two towns commissioned a traffic study and created a task force of representatives from both towns to address the traffic issues. Robert O’Shaughnessy, chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners, is a member of the taskforce.

The study found the area’s 125 two-hour on-street parking spaces represent relatively fewer spaces than in similar downtown areas in coastal New England. Additionally, nearly one in four vehicles parked in the two-hour zone stay longer than the two-hour limit, turnover is poor, and many employees appear to use the spaces.

One of the study’s recommendations is to install meters to increase turnover of available parking and generate revenue to pay for the creation of additional off-street parking and lots, transit expansion or sidewalks and light improvements.

Olson said he was unaware of any current plans to install parking meters in town.

First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough said there are no concrete plans to install meters, but that the town would approach the Board of Finance in the coming weeks to determine if funding would be available for meters in light of the study’s recommendations for the downtown area.

In Groton, a recent parking study is suggesting the town consider implementing various ways to address parking shortages such as installing meters, issuing parking permits, running shuttle buses, expanding off-street public parking. and making parking enforcement year round instead of seasonal.