In what town officials are calling a definitive step toward solving emerging downtown parking concerns, New Canaan is poised to secure 20 spaces in the lot behind the Historical Society for construction workers.
The town has signed a deal that will see construction vehicles crowding downtown lots park here, at the parking lot behind the New Canaan Historical Society and St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, up on God’s Acre. Credit: Michael Dinan
Those spots will be specially permitted for and used exclusively by construction workers at Town Hall and the fire station, helping to relieve some problems of space availability for parking permit-holders in the Locust Avenue lot, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said.
Though some i’s need dotting and t’s crossing, the agreement should be finalized in time to take hold next week, he said.
The agreement will be for six months with an option to renew, and will specify early morning to early afternoon hours, Mallozzi said. He thanked the Rev. Geoff Sinibaldo of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church and Janet Lindstrom and R. Bailey Stewart—executive director and board president of the New Canaan Historical Society, respectively—for helping facilitate the arrangement.
Concerns about midday parking in the normally wide-open Locust lot have emerged in the last two months, with not only construction workers but also downtown shoppers, diners and Post Office visitors adding to a regular complement of motorists who work on that side of town.
The problem has been expected to worsen—at least until school lets out in late June—when construction gets underway this summer on a big residential-and-retail complex on nearby Forest Street.
More help will arrive this fall, Mallozzi said. Renovation work at Town Hall is “moving along nicely” and in about six months, officials expect to remove some of the chain link from the parking area behind the construction site, freeing up additional spots, he said.