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‘I Acted in Good Faith’: Parking Ticket Appeals 

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The New Canaan Parking Commission recently received the following written appeals from ticketed motorists. Where provided, we have included some specifics regarding the violations cited. ***

“I had to park in a handicap spot because I get bad gout to the point I can barely walk. there were not close spots other than the handicap spot, otherwise I would have been walking so gar and that the pain would have been unbearable. It says on the ticket that ‘Citation may be appealed before the parking Commission by giving written notice of intent to the Parking Bureau within 10 days.’ This is my notification so that I can appeal the ticket.

Government

Town Forgives $150 Ticket Issued for Parking in Disabled Space

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Town officials last week voided a $150 ticket that had been issued to a New Canaan woman who parked in a disabled space on Elm Street. Shohah Drakos told members of the Parking Commission during her Nov. 4 appeal hearing that the sign indicating a “handicapped” space on Elm just above the intersection with Main Street was obscured by a hanging basket, and that she didn’t see the blue-painted symbol in the road because she backed into the space while parallel parking. 

In addition, a blue line painted in the street marking out the spot did not “look like an official” line, Drakos said during the hearing, held via videoconference. “I parallel-parked into the space and saw that I had a two-hour parking OK, what I assumed was OK, and went on way and did a few errands and came back to find that I inadvertently had a ticket because I’d parked in a handicapped parking space which I would generally obviously never do,” she said. “I work with the elderly and I know what it’s like when you are counting on having a handicapped space that’s available and it’s not and it’s being taken up by somebody else.

Drew Magratten

Town Upholds $30 Parking Ticket Issued for Obstructing Two Spaces

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Officials last week upheld a $30 ticket that had been issued to a New Canaan woman on a Friday afternoon in October for parking in two spaces at a lot downtown. The driver, Eryuan Huang, told members of the Parking Commission at her appeal hearing that when she first tried to pull into space number 152 in the Playhouse Lot around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 15, a big SUV to the right was already so close to the line that her passenger—a friend from Greenwich—couldn’t get out. “I felt like the other driver, if he opened the door, he could potentially just touch my car,” Huang said during the hearing, held Thursday night via videoconference. 

“I actually backed out several times just to think about it, and then I went in,” she said. Huang added, “I would not take another space if I could, this truly went through my mind.”

Yet she did not take a photo of the offending SUV, commissioners noted before voting 3-1 to uphold the ticket.

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‘I Don’t Live in This Town’: Parking Ticket Appeals 

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The following appeals were filed recently by and on behalf of motorists ticketed in New Canaan. Where provided, we are including information about individual tickets. ***

“I received a ticket for parking in a handicapped space. The town’s beautiful potted plant obscured the handicapped sign (I have a photo). My approach was a parallel parking so I did not see the painted sign on the street.

Government

Town Upholds $25 Ticket Issued for an Unpaid Space in Morse Court

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The Parking Commission at its most recent meeting voted unanimously to uphold a $25 ticket issued to a Ridgefield woman for an unpaid space downtown. Caroline Whelan told the Commission during a Sept. 9 appeal hearing that she tried to use the meter machine at Morse Court but that each time she pressed the ‘Start’ button “the screen just flashed ‘action forbidden.’ ”

“I inserted my card probably five or six times, pressing start and I saw a couple of other people around me who seemed like they were facing the same situation that had been trying to pay but just didn’t,” Whelan said during the hearing, held via videoconference. “And I was also late for a meeting, so I just kind of gave up. And would also like to note that the next time I parked there was on Aug.