Government

‘Ignorance Is an Excuse Under the Law’: Divided Parking Commission Voids New Canaan Woman’s Loading Zone Ticket

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The Parking Commission at its most recent meeting voted 3-2 to void a ticket issued to a New Canaan woman who had parked in a loading zone on Main Street. Elizabeth Zea told the commissioners that when she parked in front of the former Thali building around 9 a.m. on a Saturday in June to get her hair colored, she didn’t see a sign designating the area as a loading zone from 7 to 11 a.m. 

“I was gone for about 90 minutes and when I came back I got a ticket and thought, ‘What did I do?’ ” Zea told the Police Commission at its regular meeting, held July 12 at Town Hall. 

The only signs Zea saw were for two-hour parking from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., she said, and what she eventually discovered to be the loading zone sign was hidden behind a hanging basket. “Those darn hanging baskets,” Chairman Keith Richey said. Zea said that she liked flowers but “I really didn’t see the ‘No Parking’ ” designation. Since that specific loading zone has come up a few times at recent meetings of the Commission, the panel spent some time reviewing the history of its designation.

Government

Parking Commission Upholds Two Tickets Issued to Downtown Employee

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Parking officials last month upheld two tickets issued to an employee of a business downtown who had overstayed the time limit for on-street parking there. Maria Ju told members of the Parking Commission during her appeal hearing that she received two tickets about one week apart after overstaying in her space by about 10 minutes. “I was working at the ophthalmology office and I got stuck,” she said at the hearing, held July 12 at Town Hall. “We were busy in the office … I was with a patient and I could not get out, so I missed it by 10 minutes.”

Commissioner Peter Ogilvie noted that one of the office’s patients had also overstayed in his parking spot and was ticketed, and came before the panel seeking to have the ticket voided recently. Chairman Keith Richey told Ju that the Commission is “pretty much against employees of the shops along Main and Elm parking in the street.”

“We want them to park with a very cheap permit in the Center Lot, or parking in Morse Court and paying by the hour,” Richey said.

Government

Due to Problem Out Front of Starbucks, New ‘Parking on Sidewalk’ Violation, $50 Fine Proposed

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Saying the problem is most prevalent in front of Starbucks, town officials are seeking a new violation and $50 fine for those who park on a sidewalk in New Canaan. As it is, parking enforcement officers may issue a $30 fine under the category “Other” when motorists pull onto the Park Street sidewalk in front of Starbucks, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. But a dedicated violation and fine more along the lines of what motorists face when they park in a crosswalk ($75) would be preferable, Miltenberg told members of the Parking Commission at their meeting Thursday. “You know at Starbucks where they have the outside tables?” Miltenberg said at the meeting, held at Town Hall. “OK, you know the sidewalk in front of them?

Government

Town Upholds $30 Ticket for Woman Who Parks in Loading Zone on Forest Street

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Officials this month upheld a $30 ticket for a woman visiting family in New Canaan who had inadvertently parked in a loading zone on Forest Street. Jennifer Gubilaro told members of the Parking Commission at their most recent meeting that she had been going to Embody Fitness Gourmet for healthy drinks each morning, and found herself parking on either side of the street as close to the business as possible. Though she noticed the striping directly outside of Heritage Square, Gubilaro said during her appeal hearing, she only noticed the white lines on Forest Street designating the various parallel parking spaces and not the signage indicating a loading zone. “I just parked on the left and I looked on the street,” she said during the hearing, held at Town Hall. “I noticed those white things you park inside of and I thought it was a regular parking spot.”

It is, though for a few hours in the morning it’s a loading zone, according to a sign.

Government

Man on Crutches Gets Town To Void $150 Ticket for Parking in Handicapped Space

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Town officials last week voided a $150 ticket issued to a man who parked in a handicapped space at the New Canaan Post Office though he had no such permit at the time. Gordon Thurber told members of the Parking Commission during a public hearing that he circled the Post Office three times trying to find a parking spot on the afternoon of Tuesday April 17 but “there wasn’t a place to park within three-quarters of a mile.”

Thurber needed to drop into the Post Office to file his taxes that day, and said he’s been unable to walk without crutches since having an accident (a hip replacement is needed, he said) “so I pulled into the handicapped spot” and “and less than five minutes later” there was a ticket on the windshield, he said at the May 10 appeal hearing, held in Town Hall. The ticket for parking illegally in a handicapped zone is by far the most severe in New Canaan and the commission in the past has never voided it, as a rule. Yet in this case, Chairman Keith Richey and Commissioners Stuart Stringfellow and Chris Hering voted to void. Commissioners Pam Crum and Peter Ogilvie voted to uphold, making it a 3-2 vote in Thurber’s favor.