Government

Parking Officials Re-Designate Time Limit in Two Areas on Locust to 30 Minutes

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Responding to a business owner’s request, town officials are re-designating an area of Locust Avenue as 30-minute parking. The areas directly in front of the Post Office and Joe’s Pizza across the street long have been two-hour parking, as is the rest of downtown New Canaan. Yet town officials recently confirmed with parking enforcement officers “that the people that were parking on that street were not frequenting businesses like Joe’s Pizza or the Post Office—they were using that area to park and go to an office or other places of work,” Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg told members of the Police Commission during their regular meeting last week. The town long has urged employees of downtown New Canaan businesses to park in municipal lots and leave coveted on-street parking for those seeking to shop and dine here. Last year, the Parking Bureau issued a new type of permit, in Morse Court and the Park Street Lot, specifically to that end.

Government

Due to Problem Out Front of Starbucks, New ‘Parking on Sidewalk’ Violation, $50 Fine Proposed

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Saying the problem is most prevalent in front of Starbucks, town officials are seeking a new violation and $50 fine for those who park on a sidewalk in New Canaan. As it is, parking enforcement officers may issue a $30 fine under the category “Other” when motorists pull onto the Park Street sidewalk in front of Starbucks, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. But a dedicated violation and fine more along the lines of what motorists face when they park in a crosswalk ($75) would be preferable, Miltenberg told members of the Parking Commission at their meeting Thursday. “You know at Starbucks where they have the outside tables?” Miltenberg said at the meeting, held at Town Hall. “OK, you know the sidewalk in front of them?

Government

Parking Officials Weigh Fine for Motorists Who Fail To Display Handicapped Placards Prominently

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Parking officials said last week that they’d like to institute a new fine for motorists who fail to display handicapped placards properly. It long has been the Parking Bureau’s practice to forego issuing tickets to motorists with handicapped stickers on license plates or who have handicapped placards displayed visibly in their cars, such as hanging from a rearview mirror, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. Yet people who “legitimately have a handicapped permit” have been found to park in a handicapped spot or elsewhere “and they forget to put it up,” Miltenberg told members of the Parking Commission at their regular meeting Thursday. “They leave it on the dashboard, [or] it’s on a seat,” Miltenberg said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “We were wondering if–of course we would take back the fine [for the associated parking violation]—but we would like to implement a small fee for not displaying it properly or not displaying it at all.

Government

Friday Renewal Deadline Looms for New Canaan Parking Permit-Holders

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Those who hold parking permits for lots in New Canaan have until Friday to renew them or else face late fees or even cancellation, officials say. The New Canaan Parking Bureau will accept payment, by check only, at its office on the second floor of the New Canaan Police Department through 4:30 p.m. on June 29, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. Permit-holders also may pay by that deadline online, with an approximately 3.5 percent service charge, or may mail in a check so long as it’s postmarked by June 30, she said. That means permit-holders “cannot drop it in the mail and hope that the Post Office runs it through a machine—they have to go into the Post Office and have it stamped,” she said. Those who fail to renew by Friday face a $50 late fee in July, $100 in August and losing the permit after Sept.

Government

Town Upholds $30 Ticket for Woman Who Parks in Loading Zone on Forest Street

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Officials this month upheld a $30 ticket for a woman visiting family in New Canaan who had inadvertently parked in a loading zone on Forest Street. Jennifer Gubilaro told members of the Parking Commission at their most recent meeting that she had been going to Embody Fitness Gourmet for healthy drinks each morning, and found herself parking on either side of the street as close to the business as possible. Though she noticed the striping directly outside of Heritage Square, Gubilaro said during her appeal hearing, she only noticed the white lines on Forest Street designating the various parallel parking spaces and not the signage indicating a loading zone. “I just parked on the left and I looked on the street,” she said during the hearing, held at Town Hall. “I noticed those white things you park inside of and I thought it was a regular parking spot.”

It is, though for a few hours in the morning it’s a loading zone, according to a sign.