First Selectman: Possible to Expand ‘Laterally’ at Locust Lot, Rather Than Building a New Parking Deck

Options for increasing the number of parking spaces at the in-demand Locust Avenue lot include not only a widely anticipated plan to install a new parking deck there, but also “expanding laterally,” New Canaan’s highest elected official said Tuesday.

Here’s a rendering of the postponed parking deck at Locust Avenue.

Though the town body in charge of public parking lots wants the Locust Lot tiered as soon as possible, a less expensive option (combined with other spots freeing up—see below) in what’s expected to be a tight budget season would be to expand the lot “by land”—presumably through the town’s acquisition of what is now private property contiguous to the lot—First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department.

Selectman Beth Jones said she rather agrees with the New Canaan Parking Commission (see that group’s recommendation on page 11 here) and added that when Town Hall does reopen following its renovation “that we will wish we started the Locust Lot before Town Hall was finished.”

Locust Avenue Parking Lot, looking down from the VNA Thrift Shop. Credit: Michael Dinan

“I don’t think a few more spaces going laterally will do it,” Jones said at the meeting.

Put off during the renovation of Town Hall—which is on time and budget, with a planned opening next spring—creating tiered parking at Locust Avenue has won approval from municipal bodies. No one disagrees that more parking is needed—an estimated 50 town employees will need to park nearby once Town Hall reopens—though it had been an open question of just when the project should go forward.

Ultimately, the town decided to put it off until Town Hall was done, saying it would be too much to tackle both capital projects simultaneously, particularly with the mixed-use structure going in down on Forest Street.

Another rendering of what the Locust Avenue lot could look like after a parking deck is installed.

The selectmen’s discussion Tuesday arose out of a recommendation from the Parking Commission. In a letter to the selectmen dated Nov. 12, the group said: “We foresee a continuing shortage of parking spaces in the Main/Locust/Forest area which is likely to become worse once Town Hall is completed and its employees and visitors return. To alleviate this, the Locust Lot should be tiered coupled with the transfer of parking of Town Hall employees into the proposed parking structure. The plans for this project should be completed and agreed as soon as possible so that we will be ready to turn this over to a contractor as soon as the Town Hall Project is completed (if not sooner).”

From the July 2012 “Locust Avenue Parking Deck Traffic Impact Study,” BFJ Planning.

Mallozzi commended the Parking Commission for its work, and said he could “allay some fears” about an anticipated parking crunch. The town might be able to pick up (through a lease) about 12 parking spaces from the Red Cross on Main Street and gain 20 additional spots for Town Hall use in the Park Street lot, he said. Calling those 32 spots “significant,” Mallozzi said: “The crunch is not as bad as we had thought.”

Jones said she sees the Locust lot full “every day” and that people circle continuously to find a space.

Saying she knows it’s a tight budget season and the town doesn’t want to bond more than it has to, Jones still said it’s worth it to get the parking deck installed.

Selectman Nick Williams said he felt it wasn’t a mistake to put off the capital project at the Locust lot and agreed with Mallozzi that it was the right thing to expand laterally.

He added that a parking deck at Locust wasn’t as attractive as keeping it all at one street-level.

“We are New Canaan—the aesthetic is as important to people as utilization,” he said.