NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/tag/parking-commission/page/10)
The New Canaan Parking Commission recently received the following appeals letters from ticketed motorists.
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“Put a loading zone in front of our store. I have pictures sent you pictures. My mom was parked where we were told to park yesterday . I had stuff in her car and did not want to leave open. I had 14 pairs of skis and boot.
Demand for commuter parking lots near the Metro-North Railroad line is still in flux and remains low overall compared to pre-COVID figures, officials say, as New Canaan residents try to figure out whether it makes sense to purchase an annual permit or use daily pay spaces as needed. On a given Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, lots such as the Lumberyard downtown are at least two-thirds full—less so on Mondays and Fridays, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. Yet renewals for permits are down this year as increasing number of permit-holders ask to be listed on a “deferral list” that allows them to put off a decision until next summer, Miltenberg told members of the Parking Commission at their regular meeting last week. It’s unclear “how often people are commuting,” Miltenberg said at the Oct. 6 meeting, held via videoconference.
Town officials this month voided a $30 fine issued to a restaurant worker who had been ticketed for parking too close to a fire hydrant on Main Street. Edith Mendoza told members of the Parking Commission during her Aug. 4 appeal hearing that a police officer working early that Sunday morning had instructed her on where to park, due to a shortage of available spots during a popular car show downtown.
According to Mendoza, some of those who attended Caffeine & Carburetors on April 24 kept Spiga Restaurant very busy, and she was unable to get back outside from about 8:30 a.m. to past 11 p.m.
“We were busy all day,” Mendoza said during the hearing, held via videoconference.
Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said, “It seems like one of the police officers directed her to park in a certain area, and that area happened to be a fire hydrant. She parked there and went to work and it got very busy. What happened in the meantime, the police officer’s shift changed and other officers came on, she was unable to move her car because the restaurant was very busy and she was ticketed for blocking a fire hydrant.”
The ticket was issued at 5:35 p.m., records show, at Main and Cherry Streets.
Town officials last week voted unanimously to uphold a $150 ticket that had been issued June 27 to a New Canaan woman for parking in a disabled space. In a written appeal submitted to the Parking Commission, Angelique Pesce said she had been “blocked” in the disabled space by a parking enforcement officer at the time the ticket was written, at 9:20 a.m. that Monday. “Falsely trapping a vehicle in a spot handicap or otherwise is unacceptable while I am still present to wait for a spot to open,” Pesce said in the written appeal. “No criminal restraining like blocking my vehicle is appropriate for parking tickets.”
Yet she wasn’t in the car at the time the violation was cited, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. “She was not in the car at the time the ticket was issued, and you can see that by the picture,” Miltenberg said during the Commission’s Aug.
The New Canaan Parking Commission recently received the following appeals letters from ticketed motorists.
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“Ticket says 15 minute parking zone but sign says 30 min parking. Also was previously a 2 hour zone.”
—$25 for overtime parking in 30-minute space on Locust Avenue, at 11:07 a.m. on June 23 (Wilton resident)
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“I went to go pay a dollar in quarters in parking space 155 around 9:20 a.m. to buy me some time because all I had was a dollar in coins on me at the time machine was jammed so I was not able to pay I ran inside my job over at Lepain Quotidian to get 3 dollars in charge to park at the back spots where it is 3.00 dollars for 6 hours at 9:23 a.m. my ticket was issued. I did not have time to resolve call and complain about the machine or to even pay but I had all intentions to pay.”
—$25 for unpaid space in Playhouse Lot at 9:23 a.m. on July 15
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“Dear Court: Badge 304 blocked my vehicle not permit me to exit a handicap spot that I wanted to enter to clear traffic on Elm Street while waiting for a spot to open. I was forced to remain in the spot and physically blocked by the officer on the street. This is the second time this officer has used her body, words, vehicle and badge in an unprofessional manner.