Parking Commission by 4-1 Vote Recommends Charging for Use of Park Street, Playhouse Lots on Saturdays

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Saying it would be more consistent with other municipal lots and would create more revenue for the town, officials are recommending that motorists start being charged for the Saturday use of two lots located behind Elm Street. The Parking Commission at its May 6 meeting voted 4-1 to start charging for the Park Street and Playhouse Lots on Saturdays. “We always try to keep the rules simple, and if we just say ‘parking is free Sunday and you pay on Saturday for all downtown lots’ it’s easier for everyone to remember,” Chair Keith Richey said at the appointed body’s regular meeting, held via videoconference. 

Town officials already charge on Saturday for parking in the Morse Court Lot. Commissioner Peter Ogilvie said the town should have the same policy for Park Street and Playhouse, which are next to each other, as it has for Morse Court. 

Commissioner Drew Magratten agreed, noting that Connecticut and the wider tristate area are on the verge of trying to reopen after more than one year of sweeping restrictions under the pandemic “to get back to some sort of normalcy.”

Consistency is important, Magratten said, “because as you can see from these appeals a lot of people people get confused—different rules [for] different lots.” He referred to ticketed motorists who appeal to the Commission in order to have violation fees forgiven. Richey, Ogilvie, Magratten and Commissioner Jennifer Donovan voted in favor of the recommendation.

Board of Selectmen

Town Resident Flags Noisy Late-Night Gas Line Construction Work, Cites Safety Concerns

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A Green Avenue man filed a formal complaint with New Canaan’s highest elected official that crews installing gas lines on Saturday worked during off-hours in a way that’s been disruptive for residents. 

Drew Magratten in an email to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said the crews worked from 6:30 a.m. until past 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 6, and in doing so “have abused our neighborhood’s good will.”

“We pay a lot of money to live here and it is NOT in order to have to listen to endless beeping, yelling and diesel-powered equipment rumbling at all hours,” Magratten said in his email, obtained by NewCanaanite.com. “Our street and the adjacent street has been blocked by large equipment all week and God only knows when they will finish, if ever.”

The letter continued: “Who is permitting this? You? The town’s residents did not agree to these disruptions. My neighbors and I would like some assurances that they will stop. Immediately.”

Moynihan during Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting at Town Hall acknowledged that Magratten is “absolutely right” and that the town did not give permission for Saturday evening work.