How early is too early to claim a spot along the Bristol Fourth of July parade route? Some on the town council are fearing that, after this year’s celebration, the answer knows no bounds.

While there is a law technically in place, forbidding anyone from reserving a spot before 5 a.m. on July 4, enforcement of the policy is known to be virtually nonexistent — a fact that Bristol Town Councilors Tony Teixeira and Mary Parella have noticed more and more people are taking advantage of.

Chairs are typically dragged onto High Street early that morning, long before 5 a.m. Tents pop up on Hope Street the night before. This year, Mr. Teixeira even noticed that some spaces were reserved at 7:30 am … on July 3. As a result, some of his neighbors living along the parade route missed out on claiming their territory in order to watch the festivities.

“This is becoming an issue,” Mr. Teixeira said.

Ms. Parella echoed his concerns, hearing that people have become increasingly fed up with the issue. By bringing it up at the end of the council meeting on July 17, Mr. Teixeira hoped to at least shine a light on the problem and hoped they could explore a solution for it in the future.

“It’s something that we need to address very seriously,” he said.