‘I Figured the Paper Had Run Out’: Parking Ticket Appeals

The New Canaan Parking Commission at its Jan. 15 meeting voted to either uphold or void tickets where motorists who had been found in violation of parking regulations later appealed those tickets. What follows are excerpts from some of their appeal letters, with a note on when the ticket had been issued, where and for what reason, as well as whether the Parking Commission upheld or voided the ticket.

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I put 7 quarters and 2 dimes into the parking meter. I pushed for a ticket but none came out. I figured the paper had run out.

—Dec. 4, unpaid space at Park Street lot (upheld)

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I tried several times to deposit coins into the left hand parking meter between 10:50 and 10:55 a.m. Not only were my coins returned, there were also several other coins returned. Since this meter was obviously broken and the other machine had a line of people waiting I made the decision to come back later.

—Nov. 22, unpaid space at Morse Court lot (upheld)

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I am visiting my 81-year-old mother who is a longtime resident of New Canaan. I just drove into town to do 2 quick errands before flying home today. I parked in what I thought was 1-hour parking and came back to this ticket. I am sorry that I did not read the two signs properly. After seeing the ticket I realized that I misinterpreted the signs. Could you please cut me some slack this one time?

—Dec. 30, loading zone on South Avenue (voided)

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I just received a parking ticket. I was doing my Christmas shopping in New Canaan in support of our local businesses. I often shop online, but know local shops need the sales.

—Dec. 11, overtime parking on Elm Street (voided with a note: “1^st strike, time very close”)

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I put the proper fee (5 quarters) in the machine. I did not realize that it did not register 2 of my quarters.

—Nov. 18, unpaid space at Locust Lot (upheld)

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I’m not sure as to why I received this ticket. On this day I did use my pass unfortunately it was unnoticed. I’ve been working at Town Hall since May please be understanding. Thank you.

—Nov. 25, unpaid space at Park Street lot (upheld)

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I pulled up and put my hazard lights on to pick up an item for my mother. I have gotten surgery on my ankle and walking is hard and I was gone for 3 minutes.

—Nov. 13, obstructing crosswalk on Morse Court (upheld)

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I was in New Canaan with my grandchildren to eat at [restaurant]. After riding around blocks for a parking space I came across a parking lot finally that had spaces available. I didn’t know it was a metered lot. There were no signs visible stating the fact and no meters in the lot as we have in Rhode Island.

—Dec. 3, expired meter at Morse Court lot (voided)

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What occurred was that I and a friend of mine were both parking there for a lunch meeting and my friend bought two parking tickets with her credit card. When we returned and I saw that I had received a ticket, I was very surprised. I thought I had paid for my parking spot. We then realized that since we were not familiar with the meter machine, we had inadvertently purchased two tickets for the same spot.

—Dec. 4, unpaid space at Morse Court lot (voided)