Officials Unanimously Uphold $30 Ticket for Darien Woman Who Parked in Loading Zone

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Parking officials this month upheld a $30 parking ticket for a Darien woman who had pulled into a loading zone on a Saturday afternoon. Maria Olivo told members of the Parking Commission that she came to New Canaan to return an item to J. Crew and didn’t realize that the loading zone applied to weekends. “It wasn’t like there weren’t other spots,” Olivo said during the Commission’s regular meeting, held Nov. 1 at Town Hall. “There were other spots.

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Town Upholds $30 Ticket for Woman Who Parked Above the Bike Rack at Elm and South

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Despite her protests, officials this month upheld a $30 ticket for a woman who had parked on the southeast corner of Elm Street and South Avenue, squeezing in between a bike rack and the pedestrian crosswalk. Lauren Sandstrom said she didn’t deserve the ticket for a No Parking Zone violation, issued at about 1 p.m. on a Friday in October. Though lines had been drawn on the asphalt there, sketching out a no parking area, they had not yet been repainted, Sandstrom told members of the Parking Commission at their regular meeting. Also, a sign there says two-hour parking from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with arrows pointing in both directions. “So I parked my car and actually when I came out, the lady in the store said, ‘Oh yeah, the man [parking enforcement officer] on the bike was just here and passed out tickets,’ and he actually had ticketed every car in a line, including a car that parked next to me on the other side [of the bike rack],” Sandstrom said during her appeal hearing, held at Town Hall. 

Chairman Keith Richey asked whether Sandstrom had parked in the “spot” for less than two hours.

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‘I Don’t Mean To Be a Comic’: Parking Officials Void One of Three $25 Tickets Issued to Forest Street Man

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Town officials this month voided two of three $25 parking tickets given to a Forest Street man who claimed he’s kept his car in the same on-street spot in front of his home for more than two years without a problem. Joseph Morcerino of 170 Forest St. told members of the Parking Commission at their Nov. 1 meeting that he parked his car in its usual spot when he left for vacation Sept. 28 to Oct.

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Improving Cell Service: Development on Proposed Soundview Lane Tower Imminent, Officials Say

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First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said Thursday that residents should expect a development this month regarding improved cell coverage in the northeast part of New Canaan. A Soundview Lane resident’s plan to use his uniquely situated property to bolster service in the area has been on hold for nearly one year, as no lease agreement with a cell service carrier has materialized—a necessary step for the proposal to come before state officials. Moynihan during a press briefing in his office said, “There are things happening there,” with respect to the Soundview Lane proposal. “There should be news by Thanksgiving on that front,” Moynihan said, declining to provide more details. The first selectman did say he’s met with cell service carriers and that he envisions improving service in the northeastern part of town first, then in northwestern New Canaan through a proposed tower near the reservoir property of off Ponus Ridge, and finally in downtown New Canaan.

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Officials Uphold $150 Ticket for Woman Who Parked in Handicapped Spot

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Town officials last week upheld a $150 ticket for a woman who parked in a handicapped spot at the Post Office on Locust Avenue. 

Anila Tirja described herself to members of the Parking Commission as a nurse from Europe who is unfamiliar with local rules. Even so, Tirja told the Commission at its most recent meeting, on the day in question she had circled the Post Office lot three times and thought it would be OK to park in the designated space so that her friend could run in and pick up an important letter “because the whole line of handicapped it was empty.” 

“Everywhere it was big line,” Tirja told the Commission during an appeal hearing at its Nov. 1 meeting, held in Town Hall. 

“The minute she open the door, she runs away. Her son was in the car, I see a person standing behind my car. We didn’t even have a chance to go out.