Government

Parking Commission Votes 3-2 To Uphold $30 Ticket for New Canaan Man Who Parked in Loading Zone

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Town officials last week voted 3-2 to uphold a $30 ticket for a man who admitted that he parked in a designated loading zone but said it was an honest mistake and he didn’t know about the rule there. Bob Landeck identified himself to members of the Parking Commission as a town resident for 22 years, and said he had parked out front of the former Thali building on Main Street on a Saturday to run into the People’s Bank for a few minutes. “I went to use the ATM machine and when I got back, he wrote me up,” Landeck told the Commission during a May 10 hearing on the ticket, held at Town Hall. “Now I think since it’s a brand new sign, I think maybe they should put a yellow thing on the curb, because now i notice the sign, but I did not notice a sign when I parked there.”

Ultimately, Commissioners Pam Crum, Chris Hering and Peter Ogilvie voted to uphold the ticket, while Chairman Keith Richey and Stuart Stringfellow voted to void. During deliberations, Ogilvie said: “I think all parking violations are honest mistakes and that is what [Parking Manager] Stacy [Miltenberg] makes her business out of.”

He added: “It’s not as though the sign was hiding behind something.”

Crum said: “There was no reason not to see it.”

The area directly in front of Thali, or the old “bank building” as many New Canaanites know it, has been a designated loading zone for more than two years.

New Canine-ites

Brooke Landeck the 8-Year-Old Labradoodle: Eats Hard Food Mixed with Soft

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In this installment of “New Canine-ites,” featuring spot profiles of local dogs, we speak to town resident Bob Landeck about Brooke, an 8-year-old Labradoodle that he’s had since she was five. Acquired after Brooke’s original family discovered the animal wasn’t a good fit, the Labradoodle is a “great dog,” Landeck said on a recent afternoon from a grandstand at Waveny’s Orchard Field, while watching his daughter start at third base for the varsity New Canaan High School Rams softball team. “I don’t need a leash with her,” he said. “She is nice to anyone and great around kids.”

An enthusiastic fetcher, Brooke’s favorite places around town include both Irwin and Waveny. Asked what type of food his dog eats, Landeck answered: “Dog food.” He later clarified that he picks up hard and soft food from Pet Pantry downtown and mixes the two together.