Some 365 employees of downtown New Canaan businesses are looking for parking on a daily basis and nearly one-fifth of them park on Main and Elm Streets, according to the results of a newly released survey.
About 20 percent of employees incur parking tickets on a weekly basis, and most of them are not reimbursed for parking expenses by business owners, according to the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce’s survey.
Presented to the Parking Commission at its special meeting on Thursday, the chamber’s findings are drawn from the on-the-ground work of an intern as well as a survey released in June that drew more than 150 responses, including a response rate of about 60 percent from employees of the “magic circle” downtown.
Though the data is not inclusive of the entire, it encompasses some 80 percent of merchants in the “magic circle” and “does show some directions,” the chamber’s Laura Budd told commissioners at the meeting, held at Town Hall.
“What we basically saw is that many businesses have multiple parking options where the owner may have a private spot and everybody else is on their own,” she said.
What results is that employees often end up on Main and Elm—spots designed to serve shopper and diners, according to Budd and the chamber’s executive director, Tucker Murphy.
That opens up the likelihood of ticketing by enforcement officers in the New Canaan Parking Bureau and creates negative feelings about parking in general among downtown workers, the survey found—about two-thirds of the 61 comments that came in from those who took it were hostile in nature the chamber found. They include:
- Tickets are issued frequently and the meters do not allow for enough time to be entered to cover a shift.
- My daily parking is a shot in the dark, or I’m moving my car every two hours. I’d park in a lot but I’ve been told the waitlists are pretty long.
- Hopefully some workable plan will be achieved and executed. Employee parking on the street is the greatest #1 handicap to doing business. Customers complain daily that they just can’t get a space.
With a full public vetting and backing from all the required town bodies, that “workable plan” could involve introducing a new type of parking permit for the Park Street and/or Playhouse Lots, Murphy said.
More than two dozen vehicles for Town Hall employees—including New Canaan-owned cars as well as the workers’ own—currently use the Park Street lot each day, she said. If those could be shifted somewhere such as Irwin Park, then a new permit issued to downtown workers would get them off of Main and Elm, Murphy said.
The situation is expected to improve with the decking of the Locust Avenue Parking Lot, commissioners said—a project that’s expected to increase the number of spaces there by about half again as many, including for municipal workers—though it’s still two years away.
During the meeting, Murphy and Budd talked to the commissioners about the chamber’s support for the Locust Avenue parking deck—a project that had to wait for the renovation and expansion of Town Hall—as well as the prospect of getting new parking machines, soon-to-be increased need for parking at Locust and Forest, the varied parking needs of different types of workers (retailers, waiters and Realtors, for example) and just how a permit for the Park Street lot could work (figures thrown around regarding its cost included $500 or $750).
Commissioner Rick Franco said he would favor assigning individual spots to permit-holders over a first-come, first-served approach for use of designated spaces in the lot.
Noting that license plate reader technology would facilitate enforcement, Budd responded that assigning spots “becomes an issue, because it’s ‘That is my spot, you are in my spot.’ ”
Franco also said that Locust Avenue Lot will become more congested once the mixed-use buildings on Forest Street are move-in ready.
Budd responded that “we would like those lots to be more congested because that means they are off of Elm Street which frees up spots for shoppers and people who are doing quick chores.”
Oh Mikey I’m so sorry I was misunderstood. My intention was to be in favor of a cordoned off section strictly for the suggested permit holders rather than having them intermingled with other cars in the suggested lot.
That said, after reading the resume of the new Parking Director Robin Pulsifer, I believe it would be a wise move drawing her in on this analysis. She might have a little bit on her fastball….she should come to the party.
Rick.
I’m constantly surprised how the conversation about parking never seems to include education.
Many employees in New Canaan are not familiar with the parking regulation or availability when they start working. Business owners need to take it upon themselves to find out where employees can legally (and conveniently) park and share that information.
There are permits available for Center St and Locust lots that dramatically reduce the cost of parking year round and eliminate the need to ‘pump the meter’ or repark, something business owners should see as saving them money since employees won’t be running out to deal with parking. Is the parking commission sharing this information so that business owners can register for parking passes for employees?
Additionally, the FREE parking at Center and Locust, Richmond hill and train station lots starts at 2pm. This is a more than appropriate solution for restaurant employees that start shifts at 3 or 4 pm.
The daytime employees that work a 8+ hours would be best served to park a little further and pay for full day parking at Center or Locust and not deal with frequent tickets.
Does the parking commission share this information with business owners directly or through the chamber of commerce?
They should start with training sessions on how to use the parking meters. The amount of time wasted while waiting for a “newbie” to successfully navigate their complexity is staggering.