Drew Magratten

Town Upholds $30 Parking Ticket Issued for Obstructing Two Spaces

By |

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.

Footer Featured Widget

Town Upholds $25 Ticket Issued to Man Who Had No Money To Pay for Parking

By |

Town officials last week upheld a $25 ticket that had been issued to a motorist who didn’t pay for his parking space in the Park Street Lot. Lucia Pinho told members of the Parking Commission at their Sept. 9 meeting that her son didn’t take his own car to a dentist appointment in New Canaan because it was in the shop. Instead, he took his parents car and there was no money in it to feed the parking machine, Pinho said in appearing during an appeal hearing, held via videoconference. “He was rushing as normal to go to his dentist appointment that we tried to fit in before he went back to college,” she said.

Footer Featured Widget

Town Voids $20 Police-Issued Parking Ticket

By |

Saying there’s not enough evidence to uphold it, members of the Parking Commission voided a $20 ticket issued to a Wilton man who had parked on Locust Avenue on a Friday evening in May. Jaromir Kosar told the Commission during a July 8 appeal hearing that two signs located near each other on the south side of Locust between Forest and Cherry Streets are in conflict, since one says ‘No parking any time’ while the other says ‘Parking 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.’

Police wrongly issued Kosar a ticket at 6:40 p.m. on May 14, he said, because he was parked near the latter sign (which has arrows pointing in both directions) behind two SUVs that blocked his view of the ‘no parking’ sign. Furthermore, Kosar said during the hearing, held via videoconference, there were no street markings in the area where he parked that would’ve indicated to him that it was a no-parking zone. Told that the police officer wouldn’t have ticketed him if he was parked legally, Kosar said, “I’ve got news for you: Police officers are human and they make mistakes. And they made a mistake here.”

When enforcement officers with the New Canaan Parking Bureau ticket vehicles downtown, they capture a photo of the violation.

Footer Featured Widget

Town Voids $30 Ticket Issued to River Street Man for Leaving Vehicle in ‘No Parking’ Zone

By |

Despite neighbors’ complaints about traffic and safety problems caused by cars parked on what is already a narrow road, municipal officials last week voided a River Street man’s $30 ticket for leaving his car in a no-parking zone. There have always been no-parking signs at either end of River Street on the west side of the road, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. However, the signs were far apart and residents mistakenly thought they could park in the middle section of River Street on the west side, she said. When the town installed sidewalks along that side of the street several months ago, public works officials put up temporary no-parking signs that became permanent once the sidewalks were in, she said. The town for many months has received complaints from residents “that it’s been difficult for buses and two cars” to go down River Street with vehicles parked on the side of it, though enforcement has been difficult in the past, Miltenberg said during a regular meeting of the Parking Commission, held July 8 via videoconference.

Chris Schipper

‘We Are Lagging Behind’: Parking Officials Recommend Creation of More Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Downtown

By |

The New Canaan Parking Commission is recommending that the town install a second electric vehicle charging station at Morse Court and at least one more in the Town Hall lot. Officials also should consider updating the New Canaan Zoning Regulations to require developers in creating multi-unit housing to set aside a percentage of attendant spaces for electric vehicles, or ‘EVs,’ with charging units provided, according to Commission Chair Keith Richey. “We look kind of pathetic now because these other towns have got them, have got more charging stations,” Richey said during the appointed body’s regular meeting, held May 6 via videoconference. 

“We are lagging behind,” he said. Richey and Commissioners Laura Budd, Jennifer Donovan, Drew Magratten and Peter Ogilvie voted 5-0 to make the recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. The selectmen are expected to take it up at their regular meeting Tuesday.