At least one homeowner in downtown Oak Bluffs has figured out a way to solve the summer parking crunch. Rather than rack up more parking tickets, Ralph Nelson and his family are sacrificing yard space in order to park cars.

"We have 12 people in the house and no place to park," Mr. Nelson told Oak Bluffs selectmen last week.

He won't say how many parking tickets the Nelson family has amassed this year, but the headache of homeowners trying to find a home for their vehicles is hardly an anomaly.

It's even worse along much of Ocean avenue, where many of the houses have no driveways and no room to add one.

The maximum time allowed for leaving a car along Ocean Park is four hours, forcing some homeowners at the height of summer to shuffle their cars a few times a day or pay the price - a $10 ticket.

"The hardship is worst on people on the lower end of Ocean Park," selectman Kerry Scott told the Gazette yesterday. "I was there last spring and saw four people come out and move their cars."

The parking plight prompted some town officials last week to renew the call for a solution: resident parking stickers.

"Like the rest of Oak Bluffs, this neighborhood is inundated with cars," David Wilson, chairman of the Cottage City Historic District Commission, told selectmen.

He said resident parking stickers were a fair response.

"Many of these residents pay taxes, upkeep their homes and don't use many services," he added. "We could designate some areas for resident parking."

Mr. Wilson, who listened to Mr. Nelson make his case with selectmen, also argued that the trend of homeowners covering up yards for parking relief could end up scarring a neighborhood that voters just placed under the protection of a new historic district.

"People are taking four feet of their front yards and putting down gravel because they're desperate for parking," said Mr. Wilson.

It's unclear whether such statements will spur selectmen to deal with the parking crisis affecting residents and property owners in their congested town center.

Their reaction to Mr. Nelson's initial request made one thing clear: Selectmen are seriously reluctant to reallocate roadside pavement if it means diminishing stock for the public at large.

Mr. Nelson had come looking for permission for a curb cut on Samoset avenue to install a new driveway into his backyard.

But selectmen along with highway superintendent Richard Combra Jr. argued against the curb cut, based largely on one reason.

"We would lose two parking spaces in that area," said Mr. Combra.

The highway superintendent's father, selectman Richard Combra, said that a new driveway could pose more dangers, allowing cars to back into Samoset avenue.

Mr. Nelson said his family was prepared to uproot a bush to improve sight lines from the backyard, but Richard Combra Jr. suggested another idea - widening out an already existing driveway to accommodate two more vehicles.

Ultimately, that's the plan of action the Nelsons will now take, but the question of special parking stickers for property owners is still up for discussion.

The Oak Bluffs highway superintendent who also serves on the now-dormant parking and traffic committee is skeptical.

"I'm more than willing to look at it again," he told the Gazette yesterday, "but one of my fears is that if we do it for one neighborhood, we'll open up a big can of worms. I can see it happening all over town."

Ms. Scott said yesterday that she wants to see selectmen reconvene the town parking committee and charge them with making recommendations about the resident sticker solution.

"It's tough for two or two-and-a-half months a year," she said. "We need to find a solution that fits the problem, find a way to accommodate people without compromising public parking."

Clearly, town leaders don't want to cut into public parking spaces since it could hurt downtown businesses - restaurants and retail stores - that rely on the customers who need a place to park their cars.

But Ms. Scott said the parking is also vital for beachgoers who use the side streets along Seaview avenue to park cars and walk to the waterfront along Nantucket Sound.

The problem won't be solved simply by focusing attention on the bottleneck downtown. Ms. Scott argued that selectmen need to examine the possibility of satellite parking lots that already exist and are underutilized in the summer months, at the Oak Bluffs School and the regional high school.