Government

Parking Officials Consider Issuing Additional Lot Permits for Downtown Workers

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The downtown workers still parking on Main and Elm Streets—even after special permits were made available for purchase to get them off—likely never will change their habits, the head of New Canaan’s Parking Bureau said at a recent meeting. According to Stacy Miltenberg, the 40 employees of businesses in the heart of New Canaan’s business district who purchased permits that allow them to park at either the Park Street or Morse Court lots are delighted with them are “so happy with them and they’re utilizing them.”

Yet others “are never going to take a permit, no matter what we do,” she told members of the Parking Commission at their Sept. 14 meeting, held in Town Hall. “I saw this with one of the people at the shops. I can’t tell you how many times I told her there were permits available and she just continued to get tickets and tickets, and then she comes in frustrated because she keeps getting tickets.

Government

Officials Void $25 Ticket for Woman Who Parked Too Long on Elm Street

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New Canaan’s Parking Commission voided a $25 overtime parking ticket at its most recent meeting after a Stamford woman said she wasn’t aware of Elm Street’s 90-minute parking limit and that there was no visible sign in front of the space where she parked her vehicle. Dr. Cheryl Gross provided a detailed account to the volunteer commission of how she parked her car on Elm Street on June 26 to attend a movie at The Playhouse with her parents and children. “I drove down South [Avenue] and made a left-hand turn [onto Elm Street] and parked in the first parking spot on the left-hand side,” she said. “There was this huge concrete structure [in front] that I think had flowers in it…I just remember thinking that we might bump our doors on it while getting out. It was a very tight fit.”

Gross noted that while she did see the structure, which Parking Superintendent Stacey Miltenberg explained was used to block off the Pop-Up Park, she didn’t notice any parking signs.

Government

Officials Consider Prohibiting Gas-Powered Car Owners from Using Electric Vehicle Parking Spots

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New Canaan’s Parking Commission last week broached the idea of prohibiting the owners of gas-powered cars from parking their vehicles in the two spaces at Morse Court equipped with recharging stations for electric cars. Commission Chairman Keith S. Richey said during the group’s regular meeting that due to the growing popularity of electric cars, restricting access to those spaces would better serve both residents and visitors who own them. According to Richey, the town has resisted implementing the rule in the past because there were very few electric cars being driven in the area. “We have reached the tipping point where there’s enough electric cars that need to be charged when parked in New Canaan,” Richey said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. “So, I think that we should make it electric car-only parking in those two spots.”

Stacy Miltenberg, superintendent of the Parking Bureau, told the commission that she has witnessed electric car owners taking the wire from the recharging station and bringing it across to Cherry Street to charge their cars because the two parking spots at Morse Court were filled.

Business

Parking Officials Open Discussion on Increasing Parking Times on Elm Street from 90 Minutes to Two Hours

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New Canaan’s Parking Commission on Thursday broached the possibility of extending the parking limit in the heart of the downtown from 90 minutes to two hours due to the increasing requests of residents who dine, shop and conduct business downtown on a regular basis. Stacy Miltenberg, superintendent of the Parking Bureau, said she’s hearing residents who park on Elm Street voicing similar concerns to those that prompted officials to boost the limit on Main Street to two hours, namely, it’s “located in an area where there’s doctor’s offices, salons, and people sometimes need more than two hours and they can’t pay for it.”

“I have not heard anybody complain that they’ve never had enough time when they’re parking [at Main Street], so it seems to be working well,” Miltenberg told members of the commission during their regular meeting, held at Town Hall. Miltenberg said that in addition to residents coming into her office and telling her that when meeting with friends for coffee or a meal on Elm Street, often 90 minutes just isn’t enough, if the parking limit were increased, it would have a positive impact on parking enforcement employees. Therefore, she recommended that the parking limit for every downtown street should be two hours. “The streets are all different times,” she said.

Government

‘I’m Not Out There To Ticket People’: Meet Marianne and Michael, the Town’s New Parking Enforcement Officers

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Michael Esposito, an active volunteer firefighter here since 2011 and first lieutenant in the New Canaan Fire Department, doesn’t see many people during the first part of his shift with the Parking Bureau. In the mornings, he oversees the outskirts of downtown—primarily the long-term lots around the train station. Yet in the afternoon he gets to the business permit and pay station lots—such as Locust Avenue and Center School—and in interacting with members of the community then, Esposito said he likes “to educate them before I give them a ticket.”

“I will catch people a lot of times pulling into a space and walking past the meter, or pulling into a loading zone and not looking at the signs, and I will catch them and tell them ‘Hey listen,’ and try not to give them a ticket. I try to educate them. I feel like that’s something a lot of people don’t know: I’m not out there to ticket people.”

He added: “I took this position because I thought it would be a better opportunity to serve the town, help the town.”

Together with Marianne Borchardt, Esposito is the newest member of the Parking Bureau.