Government

‘Perfect Storm’ Brewing at Locust Avenue Parking Lot

By |

Problems of overuse at what long had been New Canaan’s least busy parking lot are expected very soon to worsen, and town officials are trying to figure out how to get out ahead of what some are calling “a perfect storm.”

The past six weeks has seen a dramatic rise in the number of motorists parking in the Locust Avenue lot. In addition to longtime regulars—including people who work on that side of town—“new” users include some personnel and construction workers at the Fire Department (where interior and exterior capital projects are underway), construction workers at the Town Hall renovation site and in-town shoppers, diners and post office visitors who, under normal circumstances, would park behind Town Hall itself or in one of the lots that rise behind it (toward Park Street). Starting in August, demolition and construction work is expected to start just down the hill on Forest Street, where a 3-story residential-and-retail complex is going up. “There is a perfect storm that is exploding over there,” Parking Bureau Superintendent Karen Miller said at the group’s May 1 meeting. “And I won’t lie to you: It’s very bad.

Around Town

Double-Parking Problems Arise at Post Office’s Main St. Location

By |

 

Officials say they’re seeing frequent double-parking in front of the Post Office’s hastily relocated Main Street space, especially in the afternoon. The problem has emerged since a loading zone in front of 90 Main St. earlier this month was modified to allow three 15-minute spaces—a change that was itself designed to accommodate customers of the Post Office. (From 7 to 11 a.m., they coincide with the loading zone that continues to serve businesses along that stretch.)

Karen Miller, supervisor of the New Canaan Parking Bureau, said the morning has been OK but that officials are seeing “a little more shenanigans in the afternoon.”

“We are giving a lot of double-parking tickets,” she said at Thursday’s meeting of the Parking Commission, held at Lapham Community Center. Town officials and business leaders have leveled strong criticism at the Post Office, saying it vacated a longtime Pine Street location (there’s a Mrs. Green’s Natural Market going in there) with no real plan for relocation.