PARIS — Selectmen on Monday denied a request from a nonprofit group to hold a charity tollbooth in town, after police Chief Michael Madden expressed serious concerns with the practice.

A group called Relay for Life team: Friends 3 submitted a non-standard use of town roads and property request to the Town Office, asking to set up a toll booth near Moore Park on Route 26 on April 5.

In a March 6 memo to Town Clerk Elizabeth Knox, Madden said he did not approve of the request and recommended selectmen deny it.

“The practice of allowing untrained civilian pedestrians to stop traffic is dangerous and is not a safe or prudent form of traffic control,” Madden wrote. “The risk factors, safety concerns, and liability issues, outweigh the charitable intention in this case.”

Selectmen approved the toll booth request last year, Town Manager Amy Bernard said.

“With the letter from the police chief, I think it puts us in an awkward position to approve this,” board Chairman Bob Kirchherr said.

She told selectmen the town had received a number of complaints last year from drivers who said they felt uncomfortable and pressured when they were stopped and asked to donate.

In late January, the board approved a similar toll booth request from the Paris Fire Department.

Selectman Ryan Lorrain said it seemed as though toll booths and other fundraisers were often held in neighboring Norway, but he feared it might shed a “negative light” on Paris.

“Norway does it all the time, we seem to be a town that abides by the rules a little bit more than them I guess,” he said.

“I hope they (applicants) understand the situation,” he said.