Lebanon — Listen Community Services and Sacred Heart Parish have reached an agreement on parking after the church had temporarily banned non-parishioners from using its lot.

The two groups’ new arrangement allows Listen employees and volunteers to park in Sacred Heart’s parking lot, opening up spots on the streets around the thrift store and community services building for its clients and customers, said Kyle Fisher, Listen’s executive director.

“With 44 years of history in sharing the lot, I’m sure this will be but a brief paragraph in the long novel of collaboration between the two organizations,” Fisher said in an email last week.

The approximately 40-space church lot was closed for about a week to non-parishioners after church staffers found someone urinating in the parking lot, Fisher said in an email. He also was told that litter had been found in the lot and a group of churchgoers were growing frustrated with having to share the lot.

The church put up signs reading “church event parking only” in an effort to save spaces for church functions, funerals and Mass, the Rev. Charles Pawlowski said last week. At the time, he was optimistic that the two groups could work out a solution, and said those visiting Listen weren’t the only ones taking up needed spaces.

“There have been a number of incidents that kind of led up to the decision that something needs to be done,” Pawlowski said in a phone interview.

While the lot was closed, Fisher said, the lack of parking put a strain on people coming to seek aid, and sales were down in the thrift store. The Hanover Street location is considered the epicenter of Listen, where crisis and program counselors see people in need of assistance or access to a food pantry.

“Many of the clients that come for this have disabilities, so we are stressed trying to find them places to park that work for them,” Fisher said in an email.

Listen posted to Facebook about the lot closing shortly after, and Fisher credits the response with helping the groups reach a conclusion. He said a capital campaign eventually will be launched to help Listen find a new home for its headquarters, one that has enough parking to match the growth the organization has seen.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com.