HAMPTON BEACH — Dave Lavoie has been towing cars at Hampton Beach for many years. By this time each year, he has usually towed about eight to 10 cars for parking in spots that are leased by a private owner.

This year, he has been called to tow more than 50 illegally parked cars, he said on Friday.

The 127 leased spots in question are scattered in the state parking lots along Ocean Boulevard and are leased to lodging establishments for between $885 and $1,250 per space for the summer season, about May 1 to Oct. 1.

A narrow white sign with red and black lettering, usually attached to a guardrail or fence about 3 feet off the ground, warns of a tow zone. The signs have been pretty much the same for about 30 years now, Lavoie said.

What has changed is the state's metering system. Until a few years ago, individual meters marked every public spot. The private spots had signs but no meters.

The state then moved to a park-and-pay system that required drivers to enter a parking space number to get their ticket. Tickets would not print if a driver entered the number of a privately owned parking spot.

But the new pay-and-display meters don't require a space number, and so some people have been paying to park without realizing they have parked in a private space.

“We always towed cars, but not the volume,” Lavoie said.

Lavoie said he has picked up many cars this year that have their pay-and-display ticket in the window.

And he is the one who has to deal with the angry customers who come to pick up their towed vehicles, he said.

“Especially the people who paid the fee to park,” Lavoie said.

One of those vehicles belonged to the daughter of Linda Brown of Sandown, who has filed a small-claims suit against Dave's Garage for alleged unfair business practices, towing without authorization and refusing to accept credit card payments.

Lavoie said he is not to blame, he is just doing his job.

Both he and Kentville Hotel owner Norman Bouley contacted the state ahead of the busy season and warned that they thought there could be a problem with the parking this year, Lavoie said.

“I think the state should make it clearer,” he said.

Amy Bassett, spokesman for the New Hampshire Division of State Parks and Recreation, said it was brought to the agency's attention this year that the signs marking the leased spots may not be big enough.

“It kind of baffled me because they are talking about these leased spaces and it has been this way for years,” Bassett said.

Regardless, state parks staff has been out putting up taller and more visible “no parking” signs and are working on a more permanent alternate solution.

At the same time, she said, the parks division is not the one calling the tow companies.

“We are not the enforcers,” Bassett said. “That comes from the people that lease the spaces.”

As of Friday, Bassett said, no one had asked the parks division for reimbursement of towing fees, and she said it is not really for state parks to deal with.

“Basically, we didn't call the tow companies, and so at this point, people have to deal with the tow company and the leasing agent,” Bassett said. “We've put up the no-parking signs, and we will be looking at more permanent signage along those same lines so there would be something big, prominent and more visible than what people haven't seen this year.”

Lavoie said 90 percent of the people whose vehicles have been towed from the private spots realize they should not have parked there.

Greg Konopka, a maintenance man at the Breakers by the Sea, which leases 14 spaces from the state each season, said he has approached and warned people every year not to park in those spots.

He said most of those people park there anyway and are later angry to find their car has been towed.

“The funny thing is, you tell them it's a leased parking spot and they can't park there, and they stick their nose up and say, 'What are you going to do?' It says: 'Tow,'” Konopka said.

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