Town officials have told the Swampscott Center for Performing Arts that it cannot charge residents to park in its lot.

Last December, Town Meeting approved an RFP allowing for a lease of up to 30 months from the date of the vote, extending through June 2028. The Athanas family announced the restaurant’s closure in November. The short-term lease is intended to prevent the building from sitting vacant as long-range plans take shape. The Swampscott Center for Performing Arts’ entertainment, common victualler and liquor licenses were recently approved by the Select Board.

Leading up to the town’s Fourth of July events on July 3, the Swampscott Center for Performing Arts posted a parking sign indicating that people could use the lot for $5 on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., $10 on weekends and $40 for the July 3 event. The sign stated that “parking dollars go to fund entertainment and community outreach for the Swampscott Center for the Performing Arts.”

“It’s something that by both our agreement and by zoning is not an acceptable use of the property,” Town Administrator Nick Connors said during a Select Board meeting Monday. “I walked through where in our agreement and in zoning that commercial parking use is not an acceptable use right now.”

The Swampscott Tides reached out to the Swampscott Center for Performing Arts for comment but did not hear back immediately.

It is not clear how much money the Swampscott Center for Performing Arts raised through the pay-for-parking model before Connors’ conversations with the organization.

Parking at the former Hawthorne-by-the-Sea restaurant became free for residents to use in December.

“I had several conversations with the tenant. He understood where we were coming from. He’s looking for every opportunity that he can to figure out a way to both support circulation uses of the property that supports other businesses in ways that can support their efforts,” Connors said. 

Lilly Tapper, the owner of Three Hundred Fifty bakery, said at a Select Board meeting in March she had talked with other Humphrey Street business owners, who had concerns about the RFPs, particularly the site’s limited parking capacity.

“We rely on a very small number of parking spots on Humphrey Street, so bringing in more businesses in the Hawthorne-by-the-Sea space would further be detrimental to that,” Tapper had said. “Without any infrastructure improvements, adding to the supply does not grow with the demand in the area. It would just redistribute it and negatively affect the existing businesses there.”

As of June 27, however, the Swampscott Center for Performing Arts had posted a sign stating “this parking lot will become private parking again.”

“We’ll continue the conversation to look for creative ways to support their efforts,” Connors said.

The performing arts proposal envisions multiple uses for the space, including live music in the dining room, a kitchen, Mariah’s Cafe and Grab the Bagel in the former fish market area, and an exhibit on Swampscott’s history.

Johnny Ray, on behalf of the Center for Performing Arts, had previously said the space would have a grand opening during the July 3 events, but it did not appear to be open when the Swampscott Tides visited.

The Swampscott Tides did see moving trucks at the space a few days prior to July 3.