Government

Increased Fines for New Canaan Parking Violators Proposed

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Saying New Canaan demands far less from parking violators than nearby towns, the volunteer group that oversees off-street parking here is recommending a new slate of increased fines. In all, the Parking Commission is seeking to raise amounts on 15 of 23 violations that range from parking on a curb—or more than one foot from it—to obstructing fire hydrants and crosswalks. A look at what the commission is proposing —current fines and proposed—can be found at the end of this article. Not every commissioner agreed with every decision. When Peter Ogilvie suggested raising the three $20 fines—no parking zone, loading zone and obstructing two spaces—to $30, this exchange took place between Chairman Keith Richey and Secretary Rick Franco:
Franco: Someone has to second Peter.

Government

‘Perfect Storm’ Brewing at Locust Avenue Parking Lot

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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.

Government

Coming to Pine Street Parking Lot: 90-Minute Spaces at $1 per Hour

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The volunteer group that oversees off-street parking in New Canaan wants the 15 non-handicapped spaces in the Pine Street parking lot for downtown commercial—as opposed to commuter—use, and designated at 90 minutes for each space at a rate of $1 per hour. The Parking Commission additionally will recommend to those in charge of on-street that the seven parking space up alongside Mrs. Green’s on Pine Street switch from 15 minutes—a relic from the post office days—to 90 minutes. Business and town leaders attending the commission’s meeting Thursday night at Lapham Community Center urged the group to designate the spaces in the Pine Street lot—that’s the one on the northeast corner at Park and Pine, where you can exit by driving past the postal mail drop-off boxes—for commercial rather than commuter use. “I understand that at one point it was a commuter lot,” Tucker Murphy, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce and a guest at the meeting, said when asked for her view. “I think you have been hearing a lot of need to keep it as an open lot.