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Town Upholds $30 Ticket for New Canaan Woman Who Said Truck Obstructed View of ‘Loading Zone’ Sign

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Town officials recently upheld a $30 ticket for a New Canaan woman who parked in a loading zone on Main Street. Mary McCauley told members of the Parking Commission during her appeal hearing that she’s accustomed to parking on Main Street between East and Locust Avenues for morning sessions at a business that helps people with stretching. On the morning of March 21, a Thursday, McCauley pulled in near the corner in front of Organika Kitchen and didn’t read signs saying the area was reserved as a loading zone from 7 to 11 a.m. “because I know it’s two-hour parking,” she told Commissioners during their most recent meeting. “I had no idea it’s a loading zone and could not have known that it was a loading zone, because the truck in front of me was obstructing the sign view,” McCauley said during the May 2 hearing, held in Town Hall. “So when I came out and I had a ticket, I was absolutely shocked because I think I’ve had just one other ticket in the 27 years I have been here.”

Ultimately, saying McCauley should’ve seen a sign posting the loading zone hours at the near side of the area, even if a truck obstructed her view of the one on the far side, Commissioners voted 4-1 to uphold the ticket.

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‘I Have No Inclination’: Police Commission Rejects Proposed Parking Meters on Main and Elm

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New Canaan’s local traffic authority voted unanimously Wednesday night to reject a proposal to start charging for parking on Main and Elm Streets. 

The Police Commission voted 2-0 to deny the proposal for metered parking in the heart of the business district. 

Chairman Sperry DeCew noted during the Commission’s regular meeting that officials are still investigating whether the business district can gain back 13 spaces lost last year due to the town’s decision to observe a state law regarding buffers near crosswalks. “It was changed 50 years ago for pretty good reasons, and people have gotten used to having that enticement to shop and everything else,” DeCew said during the meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department. He referred to the fact that Elm Street used to have parking meters. 

“I have no inclination to change the current situation,” DeCew said. 

He and Commissioner Jim McLaughlin voted 2-0 to deny the recommendation, which originated with the New Canaan Parking Commission. That appointed group had voted 3-2 at a meeting earlier this month in favor of the change, with advocates saying it didn’t make sense to offer up the most coveted spaces for free while charging for parking further out, and that it was the only way New Canaan would get employees of downtown businesses, stores and restaurants out of the free spaces designed to served shoppers and diners. Asked for her opinion by the Police Commission, Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg, a guest at the meeting, said she personally didn’t support it. 

“I don’t believe it would be beneficial to merchants or anybody coming into town to park,” Miltenberg said.

Chris Hering

Parking Commission Votes 3-2 in Favor of Extending Main Street Loading Zone from Half-Day to Full-Day

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Saying the change will ease traffic and send a clearer message to non-commercial drivers, officials are recommending that an area on Main Street that serves as a loading zone for half of the day become a full-day loading zone. In addition to extending the time of the loading zone at Main Street and East Avenue, members of the Parking Commission are recommending that the area out front of Organika be striped as a clear signal to motorists, who often are ticketed there. The proposal originated with the Parking Bureau and was supported by a 3-2 vote on the Commission at the appointed body’s May 2 meeting. 

As it is now, because the loading zone operates from 7 to 11 a.m. and then coverts to regular two-hour parking, the town can’t indicate beyond signage—for example, by painting the curb or street—that it’s a designated area for trucks, commissioners said. But if the loading zone extends to 3 p.m., more can be done to make it clearer to motorists that they can’t park there during the day. In the afternoon, because the loading zone is not in effect and regular cars park there, “the trucks get there, they are blocking in the cars, they are parking on East Avenue and blocking the traffic going down East Avenue,” Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg told commissioners at the meeting, held in Town Hall.

Chris Hering

‘We Are Being Reasonable’: Facing Rebuke from Commission Chairman, Parking Manager Defends Enforcement 

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During a tense meeting last week that included menacing language from an appointed official, the head of New Canaan’s Parking Bureau defended the town’s enforcement officers against accusations that they’re aggressive and sneaky about issuing tickets. 

Not only do enforcement officers ask motorists to move prior to ticketing them, but many tickets are voided by the Parking Bureau before they ever come before the appointed body that oversees the town department, Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said Thursday night. “We give leniency,” Miltenberg said during the Parking Commission’s regular meeting, held in Town Hall. 

“If somebody is sitting in the car and in a no parking zone, we ask them to move. Let me tell you what the staff and I am encountering by these people out on they street: They don’t want to move. Excuse me for being like this, but we are taking such crap from these people that you don’t see the other side and I have to defend the department. We are not out there—we’re short-staffed to begin with and we are not out there watching people and sneaking up on people.

Government

Town Officials Vote 4-1 To Charge for Disabled Parking Spaces at Railroad Station 

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After research showed that several nearby towns already do so, officials last week recommended that six spaces for disabled parking at the train station be included among those charged $6 per day. The Parking Commission’s recommendation by a 4-1 vote is limited to six spots fronting the train platform on the north side of the station downtown and does not extend to municipal lots. The measure still requires approval from the Board of Selectmen. Commission Chairman Keith Richey said during the appointed body’s March 14 meeting that state officials have confirmed “the town has latitude and discretion to charge a parking fee for handicapped designated spaces at the rail stations.”

“This is a common practice at many New Haven line station facilities,” Richey said, citing a memo from the state Department of Transportation’s supervising rail officer. 

Currently, disabled people using the six spots at the train station are not charged. Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said a survey conducted at the request of First Selectman Kevin Moynihan showed that of five comparable towns—Stamford, Westport, Fairfield, Greenwich and Darien—only one (Darien) does not charge for disabled spots at train station lots.