Government

Commission Approves New Parking Configuration for Morse Court

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Saying it’ll make parking easier for large vehicles and improve traffic flow, town officials voted last week in favor of re-striping the Morse Court lot. The change will create spaces nine feet wide and at 90 degrees from the travel lane, as opposed to the current configuration where stall widths range from 7.5 to 8.5 feet wide and many are angled, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The new striping also will create wide enough traffic lanes within the lot to allow for two-way traffic all around, though it will bring a net loss of 10 spaces to Morse Court, officials said at the May 1 Parking Commission meeting. 

Though the town is “not being forced” to change the parking configuration when it re-stripes the lot, Mann said, the spaces as currently configured are not in compliance with the New Canaan Zoning Regulations or Village District Guidelines, Mann said. “The problem is you have spaces that are way undersized and the Commission was receiving complaints,” he said at the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. “The first selectman’s office was receiving complaints.

Government

New Canaan Family Tradition Continues with Appointment of Katie (Franco) O’Neill to Parking Commission 

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A family tradition in New Canaan is set to continue with the appointment last week of a local woman to the Parking Commission. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 at its Feb. 5 meeting to appoint Katie O’Neill, née Franco, to the volunteer body. O’Neill’s father had served on the Parking Commission and her brother, Rick, served for decades prior to stepping down in 2020. 

Selectman Steve Karl said, “On Katie, I feel a full circle because my career in service started with her older brother, Rick, on the Parking Commission.”

“I served with Rick on the Parking Commission for years before going onto the [Town] Council,” he continued at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And Katie’s a Franco, so she’s lived here her whole life and has intimate knowledge of parking and the way everything works in town.