Government

New Loading Zone on Main Street To Revert To Regular Parking After Post Office Moves

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Town officials say they’re viewing the creation of a new loading zone on Main Street as temporary, after a commercial property owner there voiced concerns that it could exacerbate a sight line problem. No one disagrees that there’s a need for more loading zones in the area of Main Street at East Avenue, especially now with Gates reopened (there are alsso two new businesses, a pet supplies shop and healthy food store, coming to Forest Street). Truck drivers have habitually (as well as illegally, and dangerously) parked at the very top of East Avenue when making deliveries—a problem that town officials are addressing. But a proposed new loading zone in front of the former Thali restaurant building at 87 Main St. (now for sale, and the restaurant’s owner is opening up a new place, ‘India,’ up the street) could make it even more difficult for motorists pulling out of the alley by the old Varnum’s, according to the commercial property’s owner.

Government

Following Complaint, Town Officials Take Steps To Prevent All-Day Commuter Parking Alongside Ed Dixon Park

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Town officials are setting a parking limit along a stretch of Hoyt Street following an area resident’s complaint about rail commuters leaving their cars there all day. Three or four cars can parallel park, and often do, along the western edge of Ed Dixon Memorial Park, a narrow pocket park with a small playground that runs between Summer and Hoyt Streets just off of East Avenue. Members of the Police Commission, which oversees on-street parking in New Canaan, voted 3-0 during their regular meeting Thursday night to set a 3-hour time limit there on weekdays. Already discussed within and recommended by the Traffic Calming Work Group, the measure is designed “to prevent all-day commuter parking” while allowing those who wish to enjoy the park itself to do so, Police Capt. John DiFederico said during the commission’s meeting, held at department headquarters. The work group, which fields requests for traffic calming, discussed the matter during its meeting on Tuesday, also held at NCPD.

News

Neighbors: Vehicle Parked on Harrison Avenue Creates Safety Hazard

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A handful of Harrison Avenue residents are calling for police to intervene with a neighbor whose habit of parking a motor vehicle in the street overnight is creating a safety hazard, they say, as well as violating a local ordinance. Already a heavily used cut-through for motorists between South Avenue and Main Street, Harrison Avenue is reduced to a single lane in the area of the vehicle when it’s parked in the street, and it “completely blocks your line of sight day and night, so you have to come to a stop to go around it constantly,” Susan Lynch told members of the Police Commission Wednesday night. “We all have driveways to park in and we don’t use the street as a parking lot,” Lynch, joined by about five other neighbors, told the commission at its regular monthly meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. “I think everybody consciously does not park on the street day and night so it is a safe street. Because it is a cut-through street.

News

NCPD Command Staff: Thanking Those Who ‘Protect and Serve’

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Dear Editor:

Written on each New Canaan Police vehicle is the motto “protect and serve.” These simple words are what the men and women of our Department do exceptionally well. Moreover, our new Department mission statement is: “To Protect and Serve our community with courage, professionalism and integrity.” Our officers fulfill this mission each and every day. New Canaan is Exceptionally Safe

Although New Canaan is an exceptionally safe Town for our residents, due in large part to the work of our officers, it is not so safe for our officers. We have no doubt that our Town enjoys a very low crime rate due to the tireless work of our officers.

News

Resident Calls for Traffic Calming on Frogtown Near Weed Street

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The owner of three contiguous properties near the eastern end of Frogtown Road is asking town officials to help reduce the speed of motorists at the sharp bend there, down the hill from the intersection at Weed Street. Limited visibility creates a safety hazard at the curve that slopes down from Weed, and additional signage or speed bumps would help, according to a letter filed with the Traffic Calming Work Group by the owner of 96, 112 and 138 Frogtown—parcels that total about six acres on the south side of the road. Yet there are “not a lot more signs that you can put out there” beyond the multiple warning signs and reflecting arrow signs in place, Police Capt. John DiFederico said during the group’s most recent meeting. “We will continue to monitor it, with [officers] enforcing the speed limit,” DiFederico said during the Dec. 15 meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department.