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Town Voids $20 Police-Issued Parking Ticket

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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.

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Town Upholds $150 Ticket for Woman Who Parked in Disabled Space

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Town officials this month upheld a $150 ticket issued to a Norwalk woman who’d parked in a disabled space on Main Street on a Tuesday morning in May. Kim Scavo told members of the Parking Commission during her July 8 appeal hearing that she was confused because the disabled space outside the New Canaan Fire Department is designated by a sign affixed to a nearby railing, not a curbside post. The blue paint on the street that normally indicates a disabled space also isn’t visible as it is for other such parking spots in town, she told the Commission during the hearing, held via videoconference. “I don’t feel it’s clearly marked and I did not do it intentionally at all and I just don’t understand and I don’t think it’s fair,” Scavo said. The commissioners said the space was clearly marked by the sign and that any motorist pulling into the spot should have noticed it.

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

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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.

David Lehman

Selectmen Push Commuter Parking Permit Renewals to Sept. 1

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Officials this week decided to push to September the date for commuter parking permit renewals in hopes that by then train service will be restored to more normal levels. During a regular Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said that he hoped that express trains would soon return to pre-COVID frequency. 

As it is, the train schedule no longer includes “the four through trains in the evening, the four through trains in the morning, which effectively cancels commuter service,” Moynihan said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. The New York City subways opened up 24 hour service recently, and Moynihan, as he has in the past, said he hoped to pressure Metro-North Railroad to return express trains to the New Canaan branch line. “Commuters are going to want to get on the train,” he said. “A number of our residents are driving to Darien stations to commute instead.”

Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to defer the commuter parking permit renewal date to Sept.

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‘This Is a Paradigmatic Shift’: Selectman Williams Calls on Parking Officials To Assess Post-COVID Demand for Commuter Permits

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Saying demand for commuter lot permits likely will decline post-COVID, Selectman Nick Williams this week called for parking officials to assess the “new normal” for New Canaan. During Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Williams called on the Parking Commission to “take a look at the Lumberyard, say, and determine that hey, for the foreseeable future and maybe forever, we are going to see a 20%, 30%, 40% reduction in usage.”

“Because folks just aren’t going into the city as much. I know that if you do go in twice a week or three times a week or once a week, the tendency will be to keep your commuter pass, just so you have the opportunity to use it and not face the hassle of having to find a spot. But this is a paradigmatic shift, I think, for all of us —and when I say ‘us’ I mean commuters. I myself foresee probably going into the office maybe 2.5 times per week.