On any given day, there are usually a handful of people enjoying the outdoors at Silverdale Waterfront Park.

But on a nice day when the sun is shining, the park is teeming with people. Time and time again drivers are continuing to park in the restricted area near the boat launch, reserved for vehicles with boat trailers. More often than not, these reserved spaces are occupied by single vehicles that have no place being parked in those stalls. Where is the enforcement? The area is filled with Chico Towing signs, but it is up to the Port of Silverdale, the owner of the property, to make the call and enforce this rule.

The Port of Silverdale may not be keen on the idea of towing cars from the boat trailer parking area, especially if it’s not full, but regardless if its full, there is a reason single vehicles need to stay out of that area.

Besides the fact that a vehicle towing a 20-foot trailer needs the larger parking space, boaters are the ones who helped pay for that new parking area through the boater gas tax program. The rules should be enforced for boaters because without them, the Port of Silverdale would have had a pretty difficult time getting the funding for the remodel that was completed a couple years ago. Where’s the support for the boaters who support the Port through their tax dollars?

It’s ridiculous — not to mention potentially hazardous — that boaters are forced to search the side streets of Old Town Silverdale to find a parking space because the reserved area is full of single vehicles. Maneuvering a boat trailer through Old Town’s narrow streets is not an easy feat — hence the reason for reserved boat trailer parking.

If the Port of Silverdale doesn’t start making an example out of drivers who are parking in the reserved area, this problem is going to continue. What is the point of putting up towing signs if the rule isn’t going to be enforced? The Port may as well just put up free-for-all parking signs, because that’s exactly what it’s become.