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. For context, we’ve also added town of residence for the ticketed motorist. We preserve spelling, capital letters and punctuation as written by the appellant.
A GMC driver getting into the holiday spirit downtown. BT photo
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“I have just handed in my ticket and my receipt. I was at the movies to see Coco and it ran a few minutes over 2 hours. I request that you cancel my fine. I actually paid at 1:30. Surely a few minutes over for a 77 year old is not asking too much.”
—$25 for unpaid space in Park Street lot, at 3:42 p.m. on Nov. 28
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“My husband, 2 daughters and I have resided in New Canaan for about 3.5 years. I am currently [with] The Newcomers Club of New Canaan, volunteer at the library and am a member of the New Canaan Historical Society. We love our town! Today, I was issued a ticket having exceeded my allotted time by approximately 20 minutes. In that total time, I spent over $2000 at: The Wireless Store, South Ave Butcher, Groove, She La La, Togs, and that was after a grocery shop at Walter Stewarts. I have receipts to prove all of these purchases if you’d like to see them. All the errands I did today in town could have easily been done online, however today, I chose to pay for a babysitter and shop local. You’ll also see from my files that I’ve never appealed a ticket; I’m not a regular ‘complainer.’ The officers are doing their jobs (and they’re doing great things for the town) but in this instance when I went over my time by so little and had done so much to specifically support commerce in our wonderful town, a ticket for $25 felt like fair grounds for an appeal.
—$25 for overtime parking on Elm Street, at 11:34 a.m. on Nov. 20 (New Canaan resident)
It isn’t clear whether there was a rolled carpet discarded alongside the curb prior to this New Yorker parking his Merc. MS photo
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“On Tuesday, November 14th I was issued a parking citation at the railroad lot, at the New Canaan Train Station for my motor scooter. I have been parking in the same spot everyday by the bike racks, careful not to block the bike rack or park in the middle of it. on this particular day, I received a ticket for being in a handicap zone, specifically for ‘Obstructing handicap ramp.’ I am truly sorry if I was too close to the ramp, and if any disabled person(s) had issues with using the ramp. I was under the impression that I was far enough away, as I was parallel to the bike racks that also are exceedingly close to said ramp. However, I am confused as to the nature of this ticket for several reasons, the first of which is that myself and several other individuals with motor scooters park in this place by the bike racks every single day. Most people have been witness to traffic/parking enforcement checking the lots for violations on a regular basis, so I find it strange that in 6 months there has never been a ticket or a warning issued to anyone parking in this same spot at the bike racks. Furthermore, if you would like to call me ignorant then that is your prerogative, but while it’s obvious that parking IN a handicapped spot is a violation if you don’t have a placard, I’ve have never read, seen, been told (even in driver’s Ed) that the same statute exists for a ramp up a curb to the platform. Had there been a sign that indicated this, I wouldn’t have parked there. Yes, there are the diagonal lines on the tarmac, however given they’re all surrounding the bike racks, it’s an easy assumption that this would just be for automobiles not to park over the lines – not bicycles or motor scooters. The primary reason that so many people ride bicycles and/or motor scooters to the train station is so that they can save the gasoline used by a car, and/or save the money required to park in a numbered space. Given how many people take advantage of this, I am always cognizant not to park inside the bike rack as a motor scooter takes up too much space. There are no signs indicating specific parking areas for motor bikes/scooters – if there were then I would be happy to abide by them. I respectfully request a warning for this parking ticket, along with an explanation of how/where the approved parking zone for motor bikes/scooters is at the New Canaan Train Station. I simply assumed it was by the bike racks, given the already worrisome shortage of both day and monthly parking spots in all of the lots surround the two train stations in New Canaan.”
—$150 for handicapped zone in Railroad Lot, at 11:52 a.m. on Nov. 14 (New Canaan resident)
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“I was cited for parking on the wrong side yesterday, but in all honesty I never knew that could be a violation. It was a one way street however I was inside the Starbucks parking lot and I could have backed out of the lot and parked in the right direction. However, since it was the very first space of the row of parking spaces, it was much easier to park with the front out. I’m happy to come in and explain in person but I had a newborn in the car who was a few weeks old and she was crying in the back so I really needed to get to her. I was honestly not aware of this rule that the direction of your vehicle mattered in a parking space. Please consider my citation as this has never happened to me before but will be a good lesson learned from this point on.”
—$50 for parking wrong side on Elm Street, at 12:03 p.m. on Dec. 11 (Darien resident)
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“I stopped for a moment in front of J. Crew outlet in New Canaan CT to drop my wife, while my wife just shut the car door as she left and I bent from driving seat towards passenger seat to empty some of the space filled with shopping bags and look for a permanent parking. The inspector did not ask for my name and did not even hand over me the ticket while I was behind the wheel. On Nov 18th 2017 at 14:20 me and my wife were out to return some stuff on New Canaan’s J. Crew outlet, we dove together and I was driving my Honda Accord when at 14:35 I reached in front of J. Crew Outlet where there were no vacant curbside parking space at that hour and it was too cold to park and walk too far for my pregnant wife. So I asked [my wife] I’ll drop you in front of the outlet and you can start the return of stuff that we had while I look for permanent parking, my wife just left from the passenger seat and started to walk towards the outlet. At that moment, a TEA came around the car, walked past me (who was sitting in the driver seat) and placed the ticket under the windshield wiper. According to the guide – It is legal to double park with stopping temporarily to drop off a passenger and leave. That’s what exactly we did. The rules required a TEA to personally serve a driver wit the parking ticket, if the driver is present, when the parking ticket was issued. I was sitting behind the wheel when the ticket was issued. But TEA failed to ask my name and hand over me the ticket.”
—$50 for double parking on Elm Street, at 2:36 p.m. on Nov. 18
The appellant’s car is parked on the right in this photo, near the Starbucks lot. He said there were no signs indicating that Elm Street allowed 90-minute parking.
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“I do not think it is fair to give someone a parking ticket for overtime parking when there are no signs showing the time limit. Please see attached photo. My car is the one on the right. As you can see, there is no sign visible showing time limits.”
—$25 for overtime parking on Elm Street
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“I am attaching my receipt and the ticket I received on Monday in the lot behind the Teen Center. When I entered in what I thought was 2 hours, enough to cover my errands in town, I did not have my glasses on and see it registered only 1 hour of payment. This is my fault, but I am hoping you might waive the ticket for my error. Next time I will be sure to wear my glasses when entering information into the parking machine!”
—$25 ticket (New Canaan resident)
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“I know you probably get tons of emails/excuses about tickets but I work in town, have a Locust Street parking pass, and was only a few minutes over parking time limit due to an emergency at work (I work @ Hilderbrand Interiors on Forest Street).”
—$25 on Nov. 8
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“I have received a parking ticket while having breakfast at Rosie’s Restaurant on October 24, 2017. We were a group and we waited for others to join us, which made us be there longer than usual. Upon leaving we discovered a ticket for overtime parking. There were no coin machines outside where we parked. I didn’t see any sign for a parking time limit. I would appreciate your taking this under advertisement. I would think your business establishments do appreciate their customers not to be rushed out because of a time limit. This is not good business. Please notify me of your reply to this matter.”
—$25 for overtime parking on Elm Street at 12:54 p.m. on Oct. 24 (South Salem, N.Y. resident)
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“On Nov. 30th I was dropping off a very large very heavy box of children’s books for our company wide Holiday book drive at Houlihan Lawrence. Since the box of books was very heavy I parked right in front of our office – in what I thought was the loading zone. Since I was going in our office quickly I left my car running with my hazards on – in hopes this would notify the parking attendants that I would be just a second. When I came back to my car I saw the parking ticket and immediately went to the parking department to try to appeal. I have attached a flyer of our book drive along with a photo of the very large books of books. If I have something heavy to drop off at work again, I will ask a male to help me carry whatever it is. But since this was for charity and I did have my car running (since I was in and out of my office quickly) I hope you will waive this ticket.”
—$30 for no parking zone on Elm Street, at 10:10 a.m. on Nov. 30 (New Canaan resident)
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“When parked the loading zone sign is above the 90 minute parking sign and not visible from inside the car.”
—$30 for loading zone on Forest Street, at 10:18 a.m. on Nov. 9 (Fairfield resident)
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“I am a Stamford resident who is an independent contractor working with a company called Design Dot. Recently Design Dot started renting office space in New Canaan at 71 Elm Street. On 12/8/2017 I attended a meeting at the Design Dot office. Due to the fact that the parking signs were not clearly visible from my parking spot and I was not familiar with the regulations I asked the business owner as well as other New Canaan residents attending the meeting what the parking regulations were. I was told that the ninety minute parking rule had been changed to two hours. I arrived in New Canaan and parked at approximately 10:10 and when I returned to my vehicle at noon I had been ticketed for overtime parking at 11:53. I immediately called a coworker to see if she had been ticketed as well because she too had parked on Elm Street a few minutes prior to myself. I know this because I saw her waling to the office as I was parking my car. She did not get a ticket. I now know after talking with the New Canaan parking department that while the two hour parking limit has been approved, it is not being enforced until the new signs are installed. I am hoping you will give me some consideration in that the information I was given by a local business owner as well as New Canaan residents led me to believe I was parking in accordance to the rules.”
—$25 for overtime parking on Elm Street, at 11:53 a.m. on Dec. 8 (Stamford resident)
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“This ticket given to me is not right, because on this day, I had no time for break during work. I did pay to have my car parked. The person who gave my car a ticket arrived 20 mins after my tix ended. If I had time to pay, I would. Thanks for understanding.”
—$25 for unpaid space at Playhouse lot, at 3:37 p.m. on Oct. 31 (Fairfield resident)
If someone overstays their limit but has spent 2k shopping in town that ticket should be ripped up. Movies watchers not included.