Government

‘This Is Not the Year’: Parking Commission Divided on Whether To Raise Rates of Commuter Lot Permits

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As New Canaan faces threats of reduced service on its rail line and the likelihood of devalued real property and increased taxes, it should reduce the fees for permits to park in commuter lots this year, according to one member of the Parking Commission. According to Chris Hering, if New Canaan looks considers its “optics” relative to comparable towns—at “our competitive towns, arguably,” he told fellow commissioners at their regular meeting March 14—then it makes sense to help commuters. Told that doing so would deprive the town of a ready source of revenue, Hering said: “You are basically telling everyone that earns money in this town, that goes and pays for parking, you are going to tell them, ‘Hey, why don’t you move to Darien? It’s another $400 cheaper.’ ”

He proposed a 20 percent reduction to the rates, but found no support from fellow commissioners. Ultimately, the four commissioners who attended the meeting at Town Hall—Hering, Chairman Keith Richey, Pam Crum and Peter Ogilvie (Stuart Stringfellow was absent)—could reach no consensus on whether to reduce or raise the rates, or keep them flat.

Government

Parking Officials: ‘Clean’ Waitlist for Lumberyard Lot Permits Down to 475

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Parking officials say the number of New Canaan residents now waiting for permits for the convenient Lumberyard Lot next to the train station is 475—the lowest figure in memory. Another 189 names are on a waiting list for the Richmond Hill Lot and 115 at Talmadge Hill, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. The number of people on the Lumberyard waitlist had stood at 606 in November. But a total of 168 names were removed after people either opted out or failed to respond to a call for a $10 fee to remain on the waitlist, Miltenberg told members of the Parking Commission at their regular meeting Thursday. Chairman Keith Richey called the 475 figure “very interesting.”

“There was a point not so long ago when we would say that there were 1,200 people on the waiting list,” Richey said at the meeting, held in Town Hall.

Government

Officials Deny Appeal of $30 Ticket from Commuter Who Parked on the Grass at Talmadge Hill Train Station

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Town officials voted 3-1 to uphold a $30 ticket incurred by a New Canaan man who parked on the grass at Talmadge Hill Train Station one morning when he was running late. The ticketed man told members of the Parking Commission at their most recent meeting that the train was already approaching when he parked west of (below) the tracks at Talmadge Hill to catch the 7:16 a.m. train. “I could hear the train,” the man recalled at the meeting, held Nov. 9 at Town Hall. “I could not drive to the other side.

Government

Parking Commission Votes 3-1 To Uphold Ticket for Man Who Overstayed at Morse Court During Eye Doctor Visit

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Parking Commission members at their most recent meeting voted 3-1 to uphold a $20 ticket for a man who claimed to have been held up unexpectedly at the eye doctor. The split decision came after Yong Sung Kim made his case at the commission’s Nov. 9 meeting. Kim said he paid for about one hour at the Morse Court parking lot to visit a Main Street optometrist, but that when he got to the doctor’s office, “there were two or three people ahead of me and basically I was just waiting.”

He asked the receptionist how long he’d have to wait to see the eye doctor and was told “soon,” Kim recalled. Then, the staff there put some eye drops into Kim’s eyes and when he said that he had to, told him that it was “too dangerous to go downstairs” until his vision cleared, he told the commissioners at the meeting, held in Town Hall.

Government

Officials To Renew $10 Fee for Commuters Seeking Parking Permits To Remain on Waitlists

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Town officials last week voted to institute again a $10 fee for commuters seeking to retain their places on waitlists for coveted municipal parking permits in New Canaan. Following approval from the selectmen, the New Canaan Parking Bureau last fall sent out 1,281 letters to those on any of three waiting lists for the Richmond Hill, Talmadge Hill and Lumberyard Lots, according to Parking Superintendent Stacy Miltenberg. The idea was to “clean up” the lists by dropping anyone who had moved out of town or otherwise had no reason to remain on them, and it worked, Miltenberg said. “This year, 636 [letters] are going out,” she told members of the Parking Commission at their Nov. 9 meeting, held at Town Hall.