Government

First Selectman: Locust Avenue Lot Repaving Project Likely Put Off to Next Summer

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The widely anticipated repaving of the Locust Avenue Lot likely will take place next summer instead of this year, as originally planned, officials say. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said during an update to the Parking Commission at the appointed body’s most recent meeting that he had “thought it was going to get done in August, but I don’t think it’s going to get done in August” now. Saying he was concerned about “people’s need for parking,” Moynihan told the Commission during its July 11 meeting that the work will involve “re-architecting” the lot. 

“They are going to redo the lot,” Moynihan said at the meeting, held in Town Hall. The town’s budget for the current fiscal year includes a $500,000 item for “parking lot construction” that had been thought to go toward the heavily used and deteriorating permit-and-meter parking lot next to the Post Office. Earlier this year, public works officials said that the repaving project could end up more expensive than originally planned if, when the town starts to dig up the area, it runs into the demolished, buried remains buildings that used to stand there. 

Thought nearly three years ago to be right for an estimated $4 million decking job, the lot is to be removed and replaced during a single estimated two-month period, public works officials have said.

Government

Town Officials Void $30 Ticket for Woman Who Parked in Main Street Loading Zone

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Town officials last month voided a $30 ticket that had been issued to an out-of-town woman delivering large books to a Main Street business. 

Terese Becker of Milford told members of the Parking Commission during her July 11 appeal hearing that she made just two trips to carry a total of about 12 large fabric and wallpaper books up to a business at 80 Main St. Becker said during her appeal hearing at Town Hall that she purposely parked in a loading zone on the morning of May 30 (a Thursday) near the corner of East Avenue because “actually I thought I was loading.”

The books themselves are long and heavy, she said. “So I literally took two trips from the car to the store, ran them up, two trips back down,” she told the Commission. “And I got a ticket. If I am not allowed to do that, that’s fine, I am happy to abide by the rules.

Government

Parking Officials Uphold $150 Ticket for Local Woman Who Parked in Disabled Space on Elm

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Town officials this month voted unanimously to uphold a $150 ticket issued to a New Canaan woman who had parked in a disabled space on Elm Street. 

Trine Lozier told members of the Parking Commission during a recent appeal hearing that she’d come downtown on the afternoon of May 8 (a Wednesday) to meet girlfriends for lunch at Rosie to celebrate her birthday. “I saw this spot and so I reversed into it,” Lozier said during the July 11 hearing, held at Town Hall. “I couldn’t believe I got this spot. And I never saw the handicapped sign.”

In her appeal, Lozier said the signage on Elm Street is confusing because some say there’s two-hour parking and, though there may have been another sign indicating the disabled space, there was no blue “handicapped painted symbols on the road.”

Lozier said further that she’s “become embarrassed” at parking enforcement after moving to New Canaan from northern California. “I worked like a lot of retail and stuff, too, and I am always like so supportive of the town shopping and I have to say, that the parking situation, I’ve become embarrassed, I used to work in Greenwich, also, I’m an interior designer, and I was always so positive about our situation, we try to keep everyone shopping locally and try to support the town, but the parking situation is just out of control,” she said.

Farva Jafri

Ticketed Woman Accuses Parking Enforcement and Town of Racism, Threatens Lawsuit

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An Armonk, N.Y. woman on Thursday night leveled accusations of race discrimination against the town of New Canaan and parking enforcement while appealing a $30 ticket she’d received downtown earlier this year. Farva Jafri told members of the Parking Commission during an appeal hearing that she watched an enforcement officer usher along white motorists with running cars stopped in hash-marked “no parking” zones on the east side of Main Street on a March afternoon while she herself received a ticket for having her car in the same type of area. “This is ridiculous,” Jafri said at the hearing, held in Town Hall. “This is a completely white town.”

She added, “This is racist.” The parking enforcement officer who issued the ticket, and the commissioners, flatly rejected claims of racism—and ultimately the appointed body voted 3-0 to uphold the ticket—though not before Jafri in expletive-laden accusations and legal threats shouted at town officials and some of the other 12 people in attendance.

Government

Divided Parking Commission Upholds $30 Ticket for Local Woman Obstructing Two Spaces

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Members of the Parking Commission at their most recent meeting voted 3-2 to uphold a $30 ticket for a New Canaan woman cited for obstructing two spaces in a municipal lot downtown. 

Malia Frame during an appeal hearing before the Commission said she typically backs up her GMC Yukon “a few times before I pull into a space.”

“And then I always check the line on my side but I haven’t been on the opposite side,” Frame said during the hearing, held at Town Hall. “So ever since I got this ticket, I have been checking on the other side and I just realized that I have to be more careful when I straighten up. I’m not saying it didn’t happen—I’m happy to pay the fine. It was just an honest mistake.”

The ticket had been issued at 1:03 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, records show. Seeing a photo of her vehicle for the first time on the night of the hearing, Frame conceded that the Yukon was “ definitely askew.”

“But my problem that day is that I got—I mean I have huge car, I have a Yukon, and it’s every big,” she said.