‘I’m Almost 8 ½ Months Pregnant’: Parking Ticket Appeals

What follows are excerpts from parking ticket appeals letters filed recently with the New Canaan Parking Bureau. Where available, we’ve included information on the violation for which these people were cited, in what amount, and where and when the violation occurred. We preserve spelling, capital letters and punctuation as written by the appellant.

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“I am a new driver I got my license in December and am really upset that I broke the law. I understand I did something wrong, and am really sorry I did, but please consider forgiving the tickets or reducing the fine. I was parked for five minutes to get a bagel at Bruegger’s. I realize now you’re not supposed to park facing a different direction, but that was not covered in my driving lessons or on the license test. I also misread the loading zone sign; I saw the one hour parking limit but did not notice the times of the loading zone.”

—$50 for parking wrong side on South Avenue, at 11:10 a.m. on May 3

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“I did in fact forget to pay my parking fee on the morning of May 5; it completely slipped my mind. I wonder if you might consider my circumstances and reduce the fee. I have been selected to be on long-term Grand Jury at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Manhattan at 40 Foley Square. I am to appear every day for the month of May until June 1^st. Because I am serving the United States Justice System, I hope you will value my service to my country as a juror. I’ve have been recovering from hip replacement surgery and find it very stressful to travel over 5 hours round-trip every day into New York City—but I am willing to serve. On May 5, I was rushing to catch the train, buy my ticket and metro card, and it was raining. I have been unemployed for a long time now and on a fixed social security income.”

—$30 for unpaid space in Railroad Lot on May 5

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“I’m almost 8 ½ months pregnant and although I took my time to go and move my car I was literally 1 minute late and I saw the parking lady, but couldn’t run to my car which was couple of seconds later. I know that is my responsibility to move my car within the one hour and half, but was hoping to have some understanding because of my current state. Please let me know since right now I’m also financially unable to pay the ticket. By no meanings I’m blaming anyone, but I was hoping to see if the ticket can be reconsidered.”

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“Regarding the ticket we discussed … issued on 5/31/17 for parking space 160 … please advise the parking authority that I had paid for a spot that day (spot 161). I would note that on 5/31 spot 161 was taken out of commission by the town for road work (cones, barricades, etc.). The reason I mention this is that ordinarily, waiving a fine results in a theoretical loss of revenue for the town. In this instance, since no one would have been able to park in the spot I paid for, it did not.”

—$30 for unpaid space in Railroad Lot on May 31

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“My car was not parked as the car was still running with keys in the ignition and the four way lights on. I briefly left the car for no more than four minutes to run a delivery in to the restaurant South End Uncorked as I am one of their vendors. I can get a witness testimony if necessary. The weather on the day in question was torrential rain and I didn’t want my delivery of cups, napkins and tshirts to become damaged.”

—$150 for handicapped zone on Elm Street, at 12:51 p.m. on May 5

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“I would appreciate it if you would consider I was not aware of any time limit for parking downtown New Canaan. I was visiting my daughter and grandchildren for Mothers Day. The next morning my daughter offered to buy me breakfast in town (since we don’t exchange gifts). After she left for tennis, I decided to shop, because I seldom get to New Canaan. I truly was never told of a time limit for parking on the Main Street. I thought at first the ticket was on Mothers Day when I paid with my charge card to park behind stores. Only after looking at the date did I understand that was not the case. My daughter just explained to her seventy year old mother WHY (that’s me!). I will surely remember this, since my husband passed away, I plan to spend more time in New Canaan with my grandchildren. I would appreciate consideration of this matter, it certainly was not done intentionally.”

—$25 for overtime parking on Main Street on May 15

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“I received a parking ticket for $25. I work at Green and Tonic on Burtis Ave and was assisting a customer, and could not leave to move my car (for the 2^nd time that shirt which infringes on my job). I was 3 minutes late out to my car and had a ticket. I truly cannot afford these tickets, they cost over 3 hours of my pay time while I work for a small local business in your town.”

—$25 for overtime parking on Burtis Avenue at 2:03 p.m. on May 31

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“I herby declare by submission of this written notice of intent my desire to appeal before the parking commission the parking citation issued on 5/19/17 at 15:32 hours. I believe the citation was issued in error and no sign prohibiting parking is displayed in front of the spot in which I was parked. I provide photographic evidence below and am happy to bring said evidence to my appeal hearing, should one be necessary.”

—$30 for Fire Department Parking Only on Locust Avenue, at 3:32 p.m. on May 19

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“Lines are not ‘lines’ but rather random remains of what were previously lines (painted). I am a permit holder, employed [on Locust Avenue], park in this lot daily. It is very poorly marked.”

—$30 for obstructing two spaces in Locust Lot at 12:19 p.m. on May 11

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“Saturday afternoon at 11 am I parked my car at space number 59. I went to one of the two machines and put in my space number and deposited 50 cents. Also I deposited another 50 cents after about 30 minutes because I didn’t want to take a chance of my time expiring. After about an hour I saw the parking ticket which had 11:16 as the time of violation. So that was given to me at the very beginning of my time parked. But I can assure you after visiting and working in New Canaan for over 10 years, I am very familiar with the steep parking violations (more than the price of my haircut at Colonial Barber Shop). However, if possible, I would greatly appreciate your dismissal of this parking ticket.”

—$25 for unpaid space at Morse Court, at 11:16 a.m. on April 29

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“IT STATED THAT THE PARKING PASS WAS REDATED. NOT TRUE! I WAS IN A HURRY, DIDN’T HAVE MY GLASSES AND WROTE THE MONTH INCORRECTLY. INSTEAD OF 4, I WROTE 7 WHICH I CORRECTED AND SPECIFICALLY ALSO WROTE ‘APRIL’ TO SPECIFY. AS YOU CAN SEE ONLY THE MONTH WAS WRITTEN INCORRECTLY, THE DAY AND YEAR WERE CORRECT. HAD I USED THE TICKET BEFORE, THE MONTH COULDN’T HAVE BEEN ‘7’ (JULY).”

—$30 or invalid voucher, re-dated day pass for Lumberyard Lot at 12 p.m. on April 26

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“Last Thursday and Friday morning, I thought I had won the lottery when I got the same great spot in upper lot – #135. That is until I arrived at my car on Friday night to find a ticket on my windshield. I thought it had to be a mistake. I’m on autopilot when it comes to getting the correct space number and paying for my space — and I don’t take chances. Even when snow was covering some of the space numbers, I would be sure to get the correct space number even if it meant scraping the snow off of the number. So, how on earth could this have happened? I pulled my receipts and then pulled up the payment history from TransitChek. Lo and behold, I had not paid. I have a receipt dated Friday, April 12^th but the space number is not correct. I thought that I had gone through the normal and very familiar paces but on Friday I missed something. I remember putting my card in the machine because I definitely remember placing it back into my wallet. But what has happened before is that the card does not read properly and I either have to try again or use my debit card. On Friday, I was not feeling well. So, the only thing I can imagine is that I inserted the card, assumed everything was working and turned away for a moment to wait for the receipt to print. I looked down, saw the receipt, grabbed it and put it away. My monthly commuting expenses (the monthly pass from New Canaan to Grand Central, parking and the occasional cab rides to the NC train station from either Talmadge Hill or Stamford when the train cannot travel to NC) are significant. The last thing I want to do is take a chance on getting a $30 ticket.”

—$30 for unpaid space in Railroad Lot on May 12

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“I request an appeal of the ticket referenced above, a photograph of which is attached here. I see that this situation did not in actuality cause ‘obstruction’ or inaccessibility for the quite large auto present—another photograph indicates the proximity of this vehicle to the parking space to its right as well.”

—$30 for obstructing 2 spaces on Elm Street at 9:52 a.m. on April 27

 

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“I am writing this letter to appeal a parking ticket that I received in town on the afternoon of May 12, 2017. I have never received a parking ticket before and am respectful of all parking laws in town. On the morning of May 12^th, I had a 90 minute massage booked at [a spa on East Avenue] in New Canaan. I was, unfortunately, running late because I could not find anywhere to park. At exactly 11 am, I found a spot just around the corner on Main Street in from Ski and Sport. It was a 90 minute spot like all the others in town. Since my service was scheduled for 90 minutes, and I was already a minute or two late I thought I would be fine to park there. My massage ended at 12:30, I paid and left the spa returning immediately to my vehicle. When I arrived back at my car, I had a parking ticket. The ticket was issues at 12:34, 4 minutes over my 90 minutes. Now, I do fully understand that I violated the parking limit, I am not claiming that I didn’t. However, it does seem a bit unfortunate that I was spending over $200 at a business in our town that does not have parking and would not be in business at all without the support of our town residents. They have no online business and provide services that are readily available elsewhere. Without local support of our town businesses, we are left with another empty store front on a stretch with so many empty stores its starting to become depressing. I’m not sure how else I could have handled my parking situation. There is nowhere to park that is longer than 90 minutes. I am not someone who thinks the rules don’t apply to them but in this instance, I ask simply that I am given a warning and that my ticket be excused.”

—$25 for overtime parking on Elm Street at 12:34 p.m. on May 12

 

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“I was in the process of delivering a piece of artwork to Heather Gaudio Fine Art which is why I was in the loading zone on South Ave. right outside their door. I arrived at the gallery, parked leaving my flashers on, went inside to deliver and checked the time, which was 12:35. I was in the gallery no longer than 10-12 minutes waiting for a signature and was surprised the ticket was written 4 minutes after I entered the gallery.”

—$30 for loading zone on South Avenue, at 12:39 p.m. on May 11

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“I pulled into the space on Forest Street at 10:39 in AM. The street was empty at the time with one or two spots taken. The signs are confusing and I thought the spot in front of me was loading. I was not in a hurry or pressed for a space. Just thought it was legal to be in my space. I would have immediately moved if I thought that I was in a wrong spot. The signs are not very clear and in light of that I am appealing this ticket & have lived here 25+ years and this is not a common occurrence for me.”

—$30 for loading zone on Forest Street, at 10:39 a.m. on May 12

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“I was parked on Cherry Street and moved my car onto Main St. around 11:15AM. I parked on Main Street in the hour and a half parking spot and I received a parking ticket at 11:40 when I should have had until 12:45 p.m.”

—$25 for overtime parking on Main Street at 11:40 a.m. on May 3