Every year as the weather warms, people craving creemees flock to Palmer Lane Maple at the corner of Route 15 and Old Pump Road in Jericho.
The ever-increasing popularity of the soft-serve stand brings a cascade of traffic each spring as pedestrians, cyclists and cars jockey for position. The business has only a few designated parking spots, leading patrons to pull over wherever they can along Old Pump Road. Residents have nicknamed the area “Coneville” — not for the sweet treats served there but for the orange traffic cones meant to deter would-be parkers from using their driveways or lawns.
The throngs on the gravel road can be a nuisance, and some neighbors see it as something worse: a legitimate safety concern.
“None of us wants to be the person who hits some little child who runs out into the road or hits somebody who’s crossing to get to the creemee stand,” said Beth Demas, who lives down the way from the Palmer Lane stand.
Neighbors have gotten more aggressive in their tactics to keep the peace on their street. They’ve proposed a permitting system to limit parking on Old Pump, something the Jericho Selectboard will consider at its meeting this week. One household, with the support of neighbors, has gone as far as to take legal action by calling into question whether Palmer Lane has the proper zoning approval to operate the creemee window at all. They’re also attempting to block the business from building a 54-spot parking lot nearby, even though that would, in theory, eliminate the helter-skelter parking along the street.
Palmer Lane’s owners, Dan and Jessica Phelan, bought the popular stand last summer. They say they are dedicated to being good neighbors. An entire section on their website instructs people on where — and where not — to park. And they’re open to a compromise that would temper the impact of traffic on the neighborhood. But without a solution that both sides can agree on, the Phelans worry that a combination of restrictive parking rules and litigious neighbors could prevent them from keeping the stand in Jericho.
“We need parking to have a business,” Dan said. He added: “I’m trying to stay as positive as possible with what’s looming. It’s my family’s livelihood.”
The previous owners, Paul and Colleen Palmer, opened the store in 2012 in a historic former Congregational church. They initially sold syrup and homemade maple candy, using sap from their Jeffersonville sugar bush. Though creemees weren’t part of the original plan, the Palmers quickly discovered that their soft serve was a hit. They built two porches on the side of the building that allowed customers to order at one window and receive their sweet swirl at the other.
Neighbors say the traffic snarls started soon after. But the problems accelerated after the pandemic as Palmer Lane creemees became widely recognized as some of the region’s best. The stand has been voted Chittenden County’s best creemee in the Seven Daysies every year since 2022. And in “A Hater’s Guide to the Burlington Creemee Scene” article, Seven Days writer Chelsea Edgar admitted that Palmer Lane’s sweet treats were “unassailably good.” Once sampled, she averred, “other maple creemees will turn to ash in your mouth.”
But Palmer Lane’s sugar high has been a definite low for many Old Pump Road homeowners.
Once the business’ four official parking spots have been occupied, cars wedge into places across the street. On the busiest summer days, customers park well down Old Pump Road, which is lined with homes. The traffic sometimes backs up onto Route 15 as drivers double-park so their passengers can secure a place in line.
Old Pump is often mistaken for a dead end, and visitors to Palmer Lane frequently treat it that way, neighbors say. At one Jericho Selectboard meeting last July, Demas described seeing a group of teenagers, cones in hand, set up lawn chairs in the middle of the road as cars tried to maneuver around them.
“The overall problem is that people who are getting creemees don’t really think that they’re on a public road where traffic goes down,” Demas said in an interview. “They assume it’s a parking lot.”
None of us wants to be the person who hits some little child who runs out into the road.
beth demas
The selectboard first discussed the concerns at meetings in 2023. Last June, Old Pump residents Leslie Dunn and Coddy Marx led a petition drive, signed by 35 of their neighbors, that called on the town to commission a traffic study of the area. The Palmers had conducted their own traffic study that found traffic and parking arrangements were “reasonable,” but the neighbors questioned its accuracy.
The selectboard has rejected repeated requests for an official study and instead pursued other strategies. It proposed paving some of Old Pump Road as a safety measure that would improve the parking situation. But neighbors came out in force against the idea last July, saying it would only exacerbate the traffic woes. The proposal was later scrapped.
The Palmers tried to come up with an answer of their own last year, before selling the business to the current owners. They proposed building a 54-spot gravel parking lot behind the post office across the street from the stand.
Neighbors don’t consider the parking lot a solution. Its entrance, as proposed, would be off Old Pump Road instead of Route 15, meaning cars would still need to use their road. Dunn and Marx immediately appealed the decision to environmental court and are now in active litigation with the town of Jericho to prevent the lot from being built. They believe that people will continue to prefer to park closer to Palmer Lane rather than use the designated lot.
The Palmers, who still own the building that houses the maple business, could not be reached for comment. The Phelans declined to discuss the parking lot proposal, citing the current legal dispute.
In a separate appeal to environmental court, Dunn and Marx allege that Palmer Lane does not have the proper permits to operate its creemee window in the first place. They argue in court filings that the business is licensed as a retail establishment when it should have a restaurant permit.
Dunn and Marx also argue that Palmer Lane’s parking spots are illegal because they require vehicles to back out “onto a public way” — forbidden under town code.
The appellants “do not want to discourage Palmer Lane Maple’s success,” they say in court filings, but town zoning administrator Chris Flinn sees it differently. Though he declined to comment on the pending litigation, Flinn said in an interview that certain people want to put Palmer Lane out of business.
Along with their lawsuit, Dunn and Marx also crafted a proposed ordinance that would effectively limit all public parking on the portion of Old Pump Road up to the bridge over the Browns River only to homeowners and guests with permits.
At a meeting in January, the selectboard tabled the discussion without a vote and called for mediation among Old Pump Road residents, the Phelans and the town. That mediation never got off the ground, and the draft ordinance will be considered again by the selectboard at its meeting on Thursday, May 7. One board member, Laura Crain, lives on Old Pump and has had to consistently recuse herself from the discussions. Selectboard chair Erik Johnson did not return a request for comment.
Dunn and Marx, who have lived on Old Pump Road for more than three decades, said they’re simply the avatars of a broader effort and that their neighbors are helping fund the legal battle. But some on the street want a more amicable solution. Courtney Newman, who moved next door to Palmer Lane two years ago, said she supports those “who have lived here for years and years.” But she is also supportive of the Phelans “having a business that makes people happy.” Carolyn Subin, who lives at the end of the road, said she thought Palmer Lane had outgrown its current space but was tired of “the war” over traffic and parking.
Nearly everyone, including Old Pump Road residents and the Phelans, would prefer that Palmer Lane customers park across Route 15 in the Jericho Elementary School parking lot, which is mostly empty during peak creemee season. On Palmer Lane’s website and social media, it encourages people to park there, but there are no signs directing drivers to the lot.
The Phelans have some measures planned for the summer to ease the congestion, such as putting up a short snow fence to keep lines from spilling into the road. Jessica said the couple are close to an official agreement with the school to use its parking lot. Demas, meanwhile, wants the Phelans to hire a traffic coordinator to manage the flow of vehicles and people.
Even on an overcast and cool spring afternoon last Sunday, Palmer Lane Maple had a steady flow of customers. People lined up at the order window, and children ran along the edge of the road. The four official parking spots next to the business filled up quickly, and some people parked down Old Pump Road. Orange traffic cones sat ready next to driveways and in flowerpots outside several homes, in anticipation of the summer’s creemee crush. ➆
The original print version of this article was headlined “Trouble in ‘Coneville’ | The increasing popularity of Palmer Lane Maple’s creemee stand is creating traffic problems on a Jericho street”
This article appears in May 6 • 2026.
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