Government

Divided Commission Rejects Plan To Add 8 Permit Spaces in Park Street Lot

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Saying the spaces should be left to short-term shoppers and diners, members of the Parking Commission last week voted 3-2 against offering eight additional permits for the Park Street Lot. Tucked behind Elm Street near the corner of Park, the 126-space lot already accommodates 36 “commercial permit” holders, 25 individuals with grandfathered permit spaces and about 17 municipal employees, officials say. Issuing eight more permits for those who work downtown would squeeze out those seeking to pay by the hour for spaces in order to visit retail shops and restaurants, according to Parking Commission members who opposed the measure. In addition, those who work downtown should be directed to buy a permit for lots located further from the center of town, such as on Locust Avenue or on the former Center School site along Maple Street, according to Commissioner Chris Hering. “The further out you get, the longer you are able to park,” he said at the March 4 meeting, held in Town Hall.

Chris Hering

Commission Votes 4-1 To Recommend Holding Parking Permit Fees Flat

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Noting that a new sales tax from the state will drive the rates up substantially, municipal officials voted last week to recommend keeping the town’s parking permit fees flat next fiscal year. The Parking Commission voted 4-1 to leave the fees for permits at eight municipal lots flat, though motorists should expect to see a 6.35% sales tax broken out on their annual bills. The state tax “is a sizable increase, much bigger than any increase we have done in my entire term on the Parking Commission,” Chair Keith Richey said at the March 4 meeting, held at Town Hall. “And obviously this huge increase that would go along even if we didn’t increase the rates but just passed along the sales tax,” he added. “That will not add to our permit revenue.

Chris Hering

Parking Commission Votes 4-1 To Recommend Widening Spaces in Morse Court, Playhouse Lots

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The Parking Commission voted last week to recommend re-striping in two municipal parking lots so that the width of stalls is in line with New Canaan’s own zoning regulations. 

The appointed body’s 4-1 vote recommends widening spaces at Morse Court and one area of the Playhouse Lot to nine feet. Commission Secretary Pam Crum said the parking spaces in the middle area of the Playhouse Lot currently are just 7.5 feet wide. “I have been stuck three times in there where I have been wedged between two vehicles,” she said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. “I’ve had to wait until cars showed up. One time I climbed from the passenger said—barely snuck in the passenger side, and crawled over the center console to the driver’s side.”

In addition to Crum, those voting in favor of the recommendation included Chair Keith Richey and Commissioners Peter Ogilvie and Chris Hering. 

The change likely would result in the loss of about eight parking spaces, commissioners said.

Parking Commission Opposed to Double Yellow Line in Morse Court

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Members of the New Canaan Parking Commission at their most recent meeting said they are opposed to a traffic consultant’s recommendation that Morse Court be double-yellow-lined, so as to eliminate “wrong way” parking on the north side of the road, which is used for access to the Morse Court Lot. The traffic consultant had first made the recommendation during a meeting of the Police Commission several weeks ago—when possible changes to parking and crosswalks on Main Street were discussed—and it was reported by NewCanaanite. However, during the Nov. 7 meeting at Town Hall, Parking Commissioner Pamela Crum wanted to make it clear to the public that the appointed body is not in favor of this recommendation and, furthermore, that the road falls under the purview of the Parking Commission and not the Police Commission. “[This matter] results from an article in New Canaanite about a consultant that the police had hired who had suggested putting a double yellow line through Morse Court, so there would be a street, so you could put one-way parking down one side,” Crum explained.

Commission Upholds Parking Tickets at Appeals Hearing

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Several motorists appealed parking violations during last week’s meeting of the New Canaan Parking Commission. Mariann Funch said she came to New Canaan to shop on a Monday and parked on Elm Street. The Stamford resident told the Commission during her appeal hearing that she “put the space number into the machine and paid with three quarters, slowly, one at a time.” Funch went into the store for about 45 minutes and when she came back she had a ticket, she said during the hearing, held Nov. 7 in Town Hall. Funch said after she discovered the ticket on her vehicle she went back to check the parking kiosk and noticed that there was three quarters in the refund slot, indicating that her transaction never went through.