Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan High School took in about $47,000 at the 2016 Turkey Bowl, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Town Council this week. ***

Originally scheduled to arrive this week, the amended zoning permit application from Grace Farms now is not expected to arrive until March 27 for review next month, officials said. ***

The Police Commission voted 3-0 on Wednesday night to approve the Pop Up Park’s proposed dates of operation for the summer of 2017—continuously, from July 16 to Sept. 4. ***

New Canaan Police Department Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm already is out of the “coyote safety kits” she put together for residents last month, and there are 24 people on a waiting list for more.

News

‘It’s a Bad Situation’: SUV Parked Regularly Near Lakeview and Main Causes Line-of-Sight Problem

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Officials say they’re asking a legally parked motorist to move his SUV away from a heavily used intersection in town because it blocks the line of sight for cars seeking to make a tough left-hand turn. The silver SUV with New York plates is parked nightly on the east side of Main Street just north of the intersection of Lakeview Avenue—in front of the Hanford Square condos, according to residents who attended the most recent meeting of the Police Commission. Motorists approaching the top of Lakeview at Main cannot see southbound traffic until they’ve pulled past the stop line and into the road, according to town resident Chris Hussey. “It’s a bad situation, if I may say,” she said at the Jan. 18 meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department.

Business

‘This Is Ridiculous’: Town Officials Urge Auto Shop Owner To Be Reasonable in Parking Vehicles Along Main Street

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Members of the volunteer group that oversees on-street parking in New Canaan are urging the owner of a downtown business to work with them or risk exacerbating an emotionally charged dispute and potentially dangerous situation. The Police Commission already has spent more time on traffic and safety concerns near AC Auto Body than it has on hiring issues, according to commissioner Paul Foley. “This is ridiculous and it is still not solved,” Foley said at the start of the commission’s regular meeting, held Wednesday in the training room at the New Canaan Police Department. “It would be resolved if this individual would perform in a neighborhood way.”

Turning to members of NCPD that are working with both AC Auto Body owner Anthony Ceraso and neighbors who say the way he parks customers and shop vehicles blocks sight lines, Foley added: “You want to convey that to [Ceraso]? That we are concerned again about this action that he continues to do and if there isn’t any cleanup, especially now that snow coming and all the other stuff, that we will go to [Planning & Zoning].

Government

‘We Are Angry, Sick of It’: Silvermine Road Residents Seek 25 MPH Speed Limit, Single Yellow Line

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The speed limit along the mile-long stretch of Silvermine Road that runs down from Route 106 to the market and arts center should be reduced by 5 mph and it should have a single yellow centerline, rather than a double, homeowners told town officials last week. The existing 30 mph speed limit is out-of-step with other, similar roads in town that have 25 mph limits, and Silvermine Road has become “is a speedway for contractors racing back and forth between Norwalk and New Canaan,” Mark Thorsheim told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting on Wednesday. Silvermine is very much a “walking community” and “pedestrian neighborhood” with “pedestrian activities” at the Silvermine Arts Center and with the market and eventual tavern re-opening, Thorsheim said at the meeting, held in the training room at the New Canaan Police Department. “We are angry, sick of it,” he said of the 30 mph speed limit. With that request, Thorsheim and other residents of Silvermine Road asked whether the newly repaved street surface could go back to a single yellow centerline.

Business

‘No Repeat’ Parking Signs Coming To Main and Elm

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Seeking to address a longstanding problem where those who work downtown take up free parking spaces meant to serve shoppers and diners, officials on Wednesday night approved new signage designed to help keep coveted spots on Main and Elm turning over. The Police Commission unanimously approved the installation of two “no repeats within one hour” signs—in other words, an instruction to those who use the 90-minute spots in the “magic circle” that after their time is up, they cannot simply move to a new spot on the block. It’s a rule that’s been on the books for years, though it’s been difficult to enforce and, according to Stacy Miltenberg, interim superintendent of the Parking Bureau, to convey to drivers. “There has to be a way to get it out, and I do believe that signage is wonderful and education also is wonderful,” Miltenberg said during the meeting, held in the training room at the New Canaan Police Department. Currently, parking enforcement officers chalk the tires of cars parked in the 90-minute zones of Main and Elm, and may ticket those vehicles they come upon again on those streets after 90 minutes has expired.