COVID-19 New Canaan

Town To Annual Parking Permit-Holders: Don’t Worry About Renewing Them Yet

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Those holding annual permits for New Canaan’s municipal parking lots need not worry just now about renewing them, officials said Monday. Typically, the Parking Bureau sends renewal notifications each May to permit-holders for lots such as the Lumberyard, Talmadge Hill and Park Street Lots. They expire June 30, just before the fiscal year begins. Yet this year, “[g]iven the current circumstances with regard to the COVID-19 virus, the Board of Selectman and Parking Commission are planning to extend the current permit year for the time period covering the state’s stay-at-home order and pro-rating next year’s permit fees,” according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. “For this reason, permit renewal applications will not be mailed out in May as they have been in the past,” Miltenberg said in a bulletin posted to the town’s website.

Government

Divided Commission Rejects Plan To Add 8 Permit Spaces in Park Street Lot

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Saying the spaces should be left to short-term shoppers and diners, members of the Parking Commission last week voted 3-2 against offering eight additional permits for the Park Street Lot. Tucked behind Elm Street near the corner of Park, the 126-space lot already accommodates 36 “commercial permit” holders, 25 individuals with grandfathered permit spaces and about 17 municipal employees, officials say. Issuing eight more permits for those who work downtown would squeeze out those seeking to pay by the hour for spaces in order to visit retail shops and restaurants, according to Parking Commission members who opposed the measure. In addition, those who work downtown should be directed to buy a permit for lots located further from the center of town, such as on Locust Avenue or on the former Center School site along Maple Street, according to Commissioner Chris Hering. “The further out you get, the longer you are able to park,” he said at the March 4 meeting, held in Town Hall.

Chris Hering

Commission Votes 4-1 To Recommend Holding Parking Permit Fees Flat

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Noting that a new sales tax from the state will drive the rates up substantially, municipal officials voted last week to recommend keeping the town’s parking permit fees flat next fiscal year. The Parking Commission voted 4-1 to leave the fees for permits at eight municipal lots flat, though motorists should expect to see a 6.35% sales tax broken out on their annual bills. The state tax “is a sizable increase, much bigger than any increase we have done in my entire term on the Parking Commission,” Chair Keith Richey said at the March 4 meeting, held at Town Hall. “And obviously this huge increase that would go along even if we didn’t increase the rates but just passed along the sales tax,” he added. “That will not add to our permit revenue.

Around Town

‘I Was Running Late To Make a Fitness Class’: Parking Ticket Appeals

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Ticketed motorists recently filed the following appeals to the New Canaan Parking Bureau:

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“I was a volunteer for the rehearsal at Saxe Middle School while I got the ticket. I parked behind a fire zone and blocked a hydrant unfortunately. I’m an au pair and actually from Germany, so we don’t have hydrants in front of buildings or on streets, they are under the ground. I never learned something about hydrants in my German driving school and it wasn’t necessary to visit a driving school here in CT. I didn’t know about the rules and that isn’t allowed to park next to a hydrant.

Chris Hering

Parking Commission Votes 4-1 To Recommend Widening Spaces in Morse Court, Playhouse Lots

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The Parking Commission voted last week to recommend re-striping in two municipal parking lots so that the width of stalls is in line with New Canaan’s own zoning regulations. 

The appointed body’s 4-1 vote recommends widening spaces at Morse Court and one area of the Playhouse Lot to nine feet. Commission Secretary Pam Crum said the parking spaces in the middle area of the Playhouse Lot currently are just 7.5 feet wide. “I have been stuck three times in there where I have been wedged between two vehicles,” she said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “I’ve had to wait until cars showed up. One time I climbed from the passenger said—barely snuck in the passenger side, and crawled over the center console to the driver’s side.”

In addition to Crum, those voting in favor of the recommendation included Chair Keith Richey and Commissioners Peter Ogilvie and Chris Hering. 

The change likely would result in the loss of about eight parking spaces, commissioners said.