Government

Officials Uphold Three Tickets for Downtown Worker Who Parked Outside Shop All Day

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Parking officials last week voted unanimously to uphold three tickets totaling $105 for a downtown retail shop worker who said she inadvertently had parked all day outside the Main Street business. During an exchange that became testy at times, Jamie Friend told members of the Parking Commission at their most recent meeting that she parked in front of Wave on Main Street on a Saturday morning “because I had a bunch of things to bring into the store where I work, and once I got into work it was crazy.”

“It was busy and I completely forgot that my car was parked there,” she said while appealing her tickets at the commission’s Nov. 9 meeting, held in Town Hall. “So I didn’t leave until the end of the day at 6 o’clock and I had three tickets on my car so I was pretty upset because that is pretty much my whole day’s wages.”

Commissioners Keith Richey, the body’s chairman, Pam Crum and Peter Ogilvie voted to uphold the tickets—$25 for the initial overtime parking violation and then $40 each for two subsequent violations. Parking on Main and Elm, and other downtown streets, is 90 minutes though it will change to two hours once new signs are installed, following a recent decision.

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

‘Ignoring the Law for Months, If Not Years’: Parking Authority Seeks To Double Fine for Scofflaws Requiring Boot Removal

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The volunteer group that oversees the New Canaan Parking Bureau is proposing dollar increases to a handful of fines for violations, including doubling the fee for removing the boot off of scofflaws’ cars to $100. A boot is affixed to a motor vehicle if it has five or more unpaid parking tickets, members of the Parking Commission said Thursday at their regular meeting. Though violators already are facing numerous fines, and at higher-than-usual rates because they’re assessed late fees, scofflaws shouldn’t be left to face only $50 because “these are chronic offenders who finally—at long, long last—have been caught,” according to parking commissioner Peter Ogilvie. “You are a chronic scofflaw,” he said at the meeting, held at Town Hall. “You have been ignoring the law for months, if not years.”

The proposed increase passed 4-1, with commissioner Rick Franco voting against it.