The New Canaan Parking Commission has not yet voted whether to uphold or void the following tickets, most of them administered since Jan. 19, the last time we reviewed appeals letters. What follows are excerpts from some recent appeals letters, with a note on when, where, why and in what amount the ticket had been issued, and in some cases a note on the violating motorist’s history of fines.
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I am sorry for being such a ding dong! I stupidly read the sign wrong on South Street and parked in what I thought was a 1-hour parking spot, but turned out to be a 1-hour parking spot between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. please excuse my ignorance. (We moved here in July and I am still trying to figure out the parking rules in this town.) I am so sorry and wondered if you’d have mercy on me. (My husband will be so angry if he hears I received yet another parking ticket.)
—10:24 a.m. on Feb. 11, $30 for parking in a loading zone on South Avenue
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It [The ticket] was written because through honest mistake, caused by the snow covered parking areas, I inadvertently parked my motorcycle adjacent to (but not in) the designated area for motorcycles in the lumberyard lot. I always park in the correct area, but because the snow had for several days obscured the area (and even cars had been blocking its access), I had become confused and actually thought I was parking in the correct spot. I was actually within about 10 feet of the sign post designating the area. Anyway, I accidentally parked adjacent to the designated area and hope you will favorably consider this appeal and let me off with a warning to be more attentive when parking my motorcycle on snow covered days (I understand it is considered in the nature of stupidity to ride a motorcycle on such days, but I am so thankful for you providing the designated area that I am compelled to use it).
—11:52 a.m. on Feb. 11, $30 for obstructing a travel lane in the Lumberyard parking lot
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I spoke to you today, Jan. 16, regarding a parking ticket I received at the “Play House Lot,” while attending an SAT class at the New Canaan Outback. I would truly appreciate if this citation could be appealed, as I was under the impression that if I were paying to attend the SAT class at the Outback, I was permitted to use the lot. Now that I am aware that this is not the case, such a problem will not happen again in the future.
—4 p.m. on Jan. 15, $20 for expired meter in the Playhouse lot
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Unfortunately I get many parking tickets even though I don’t agree with all of them I do pay them all. This ticket however I have to dispute. I parked in a 90-min spot and could not have been there more than 30 mins. I’m not sure why I received this ticket. Please consider waiving this ticket.
—12:38 p.m. on Feb. 10, $20 for overtime parking at Morse Court (this individual has been issued 24 parking tickets since Jan. 8, 2014)
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We were delivering to [an Elm Street restaurant] on Friday 2/6/15, we double-parked our vehicle to deliver; the flashers were on and the car was running as we were only dropping off two pies. We did not realize that we needed to have a sign on the dashboard explaining that we were making a delivery. We will carry a sign from now on. Please waive this fee as it is considerably more than the value of the delivery.
—12:47 p.m. on Feb. 6, $50 for double-parking on Elm Street
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On January 31st I was in New Canaan and parked my car on Elm Street near the Bank of America. It was very hard to find a parking space, but finally a car pulled out and I was so happy to pull in. Unfortunately, because of the snow and slush covering the ground, I did not see it was a handicapped spot. I cannot tell you how sorry I am—but it happened … [My husband] was a handicapped and I know the frustration of finding somebody unauthorized to take my spot. I would beg you to reconsider this fine.
—1:17 p.m. on Jan. 31, $100 for parking in a handicapped zone on Elm Street
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I was looking for a parking spot on Elm Street. Got in where a person pulled out in front of me. Was totally unaware that it was not a parking spot and there was a lot of snow around it. I would highly appreciate your kindness if you could ignore my innocent mistake and revert the fine. I have always been cautious before and never been in any unlawful incident.
—2:47 pm. on Feb. 13, $75 for obstructing a crosswalk on Elm Street
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Based on a recommendation from Moffly Media’s ‘Best of the Gold Coast,’ I drove to New Canaan yesterday to shop [on Elm Street] and parked in the lot beyond the shops on Elm Street. I arrived shortly after 12 noon and put 30 minutes on my meter (please see attached receipt from 1206 to 1236). Once inside the store, I told the sales assistant … that I had to leave at 1235 pm (in part because of my parking situation, and because I had an appointment in Stamford at 1 p.m.) I shopped quickly and was rushing to leave the store at 1235 when the assistant at the register said she’d failed to ring me up for one of my selections. Thus, she had to reprocess my entire order (6 pieces total), which delayed me leaving the store. As you can see, the parking ticket was issued at 1238, a mere two minutes after my parking spot expired. I am a consistent patron of shops in New Canaan (including [a longstandng Elm Street shop]) and often recommend New Canaan restaurants to friends in Greenwich. Given I was delayed for reasons beyond my control, I am appealing this parking ticket and appreciate your consideration of my case.
—12:38 p.m. on Feb. 4, $20 for an unpaid space in Morse Court (the motorist is a Cos Cob resident)
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I boarded the 5:33 train from New Canaan and, as I do every day, I pay my parking charge using the mobile service. At 5:25 a.m., the parking spaces were completely covered in snow and had near impossible visibility. Truth is I did pay that day, but chose space #130 based on the partially visible space #129. I chose the wrong direction. I was in space #128.
—10:50 a.m. on Feb. 10, $30 for unpaid space at railroad parking lot
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There was snow that morning and the lot was covered. The space numbers could not be seen so I didn’t know what space to pay for. Happy to pay $5 for the space. The lot was cleared after the morning rush.
—12:11 p.m. on Feb. 10, $30 for unpaid space in railroad parking lot
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I have allowed parking in that space.
—11:08 a.m. on Feb. 18, $20 for unpaid space in the Park Street lot
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My car was parked for 45 minutes during which time it must have been marked. I moved the car to run a number of errands and when I returned there were numerous open spots in the same area, so I reparked knowing I had not accrued 90 minutes in total. My car was then ticketed (despite being in a different location) within 50 minutes. Nowhere is it posted that you cannot return to park after moving for 30+ minutes.
—12:55 p.m. on Feb. 17, $20 for overtime parking on Elm Street (this individual has been issued 20 parking tickets since Jan. 21, 2005)
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Tried multiple times to get quarters in without success—Saturday—went to office to get phone to call & came back to ticket. Tried running after car marking tires—but it did not see me and turned onto Pine Street.
—9:10 a.m. on Feb. 7, $20 for unpaid space in Morse Court
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Parked in 15 minute – ran over to [a shop on Elm Street] and it took more time than planned to purchase linens. There were no other spots on Elm or in Morse Court. I paid the first ticket of $20 … I feel the second fine of $40 excessive. I always pay my tickets and do not contest any but on this circumstance feel this fine excessive.
—2:38 p.m. on Feb. 4, $40 for second parking violation at Morse Court
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I put multiple quarters in the machine (see the few receipts I saved). I’m honestly not sure whether I pressed the green button too early on machine or if machine was not functioning properly – but I absolutely paid many quarters! I simply parked for 1 hr (plus maybe 5-10 mins) to go to an exercise class [on Elm Street], and I promise I do not deserve this ticket! Please let me know next steps. If I have to pay the fine you are going to make me – I will but it seems extremely unfair.
—10:30 a.m. on Jan. 15, $20 for unpaid space on Morse Court
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A series of ‘unfortunate’ events caused me to mistakenly believe that I had paid for parking on this occasion, and I’m asking for your forgiveness for these errors and dismissed of this ticket. It was a bright but snowy morning, and while it now appears that I had parked in space #92, because of the snow I thought I was in space #[unreadable]. I went to the meter and put my credit card in, but the LCD read out was very difficult for me to see: with prescription sunglasses effectively canceling my ability to see the screen. (without my glasses I could not read it at all!) I pressed the button for space 9, entered that , and believed at the time that I had paid for 1 hour. Unfortunately (in retrospect) I did not wait for a receipt. As a first time unintentional transgression, I am hoping that an offer to pay for the cost of parking rather than a violation would be considered.
—11:55 a.m. on Jan. 6, $20 for unpaid space at Morse Court
Perhaps inappropriate for the parking department to share this info with you?
Or public record?
Leslie,
Thank you for posting your comments.
I requested this information of the Parking Bureau because it is newsworthy and relevant.
For this last month’s worth of appeals letters, one-third to half cite snow on the ground as a reason for mis-parking. That we have so many appeals letters and that so many of them cite the difficulty of finding a space downtown is a testament to the newsworthiness of what is parking-related—that’s my feeling.
Consider that in the last several months, we’ve heard recommendations from citizens and town officials about limiting the number of times any single motorist can park downtown on a given day, switching the meter layout so that motorists pay on Elm and Main but not further out of the heart of the village, proposed text changes to the New Canaan Zoning Regulations regarding parking requirements and doubling the number of loading zones in the business district.
When a new use or project is proposed, parking invariably emerges as a central concern—Forest Street mixed-use, Post Office, Cross Street mixed-use, POCD, Mrs. Green’s, Caffeine & Carburetors.
And we haven’t even talked about rail commuter lots. Right now, parking is perhaps the single major concern attached to the reopening of Town Hall, with the possible future decking of the Locust Avenue municipal lot as an attendant story.
Each meeting of the Police Commission or Traffic Calming Work Group touches on parking policy and emerging parking needs, in some fashion.
Policy is set by the Police and Parking Commissions, and the only way anyone knows if it’s working is when parking enforcement officers set out to do their jobs. Part of knowing whether it’s working or not is feedback from motorists themselves, and that includes these appeals letters—in many cases, such as the man who parked on Elm, left and returned, then was ticketed, you see the suggestions and challenges facing those commissions materialize.
Finally, as a keen observer of poor parking in town (which, I understand, does not necessarily include unpaid meters and overtime parking), I am constantly asking myself how an individual parked in such-and-such a way in the first place—a question I would imagine others have, as well—and these letters often supply answers.
So I do feel that the material is newsworthy. Whether or not it’s appropriate may be a matter of how I am laying it out here. I am not printing the names or other information that would identify an offender, and where appeal letter-writers include personal information such as financial or medical details, I additionally leave those out unless they’re central to the person’s appeal. And I do not name businesses or workers cited by name in appeals letters where those places and people are bystanders to the ticketed person. Additionally, I decided this time to gather up the appeals letters for this wrap-up before the Parking Commission had decided whether to void or uphold them, because I felt that it was unfair to the commissioners who give of their time to go through these every two months, one by one, to print their decisions without giving full context (which would be very difficult if possible at all).
I am open to hearing suggestions about how I might make this a better news item specifically and news site generally.
On the question of whether these letters are public record, honestly I did not broach it. My hope is that I have earned the trust of parking officials as a responsible reporter, and that as a result they complied with my request and there was no need for FOI requests and actions—a time-consuming process for an already stretched group of hard-working people in the Parking Bureau.