News

Paid Parking on Elm Street on Track for End of August

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The previously purchased parking machines—part of a plan to transition Elm Street and sections of South Avenue to a pay-for-parking system—should be installed by the end of August, officials say. The Parking Commission received an update on the new paid parking initiative at its Aug. 6 meeting. Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg told the Commission that “the machines are scheduled to arrive in late August” and “the hope is to have them installed by the end of the month.”

“Right now, we are working on preparing the concrete bases so everything will be ready for installation when the machines arrive,” Miltenberg told the Commission at its regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We are also working on updating the signage on the streets and lots.

Business

Town To Focus on Ridding Elm Street of Double-Parking Trucks

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Once the oversized dumpsters in the parking lot behind The Playhouse are moved to a better area, and there’s also a new ramp connecting that lot with the alley that runs alongside Le Pain Quotidien, enforcement officers will focus on getting double-parking delivery trucks off New Canaan’s main drag downtown. As it is, delivery trucks exacerbate congestion on the one-way stretch of Elm Street throughout the day. That segment of Elm and the commercial block of South Avenue both will change to paid parking later this summer, reversing a decades-old system. (When that happens, the town will convert the paid spots in the Park Street Lot to free.)

“We are going to be trying to push them, and we do that now,” Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said Tuesday during a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

She continued: “We try to move them. We try to direct them where we can.

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‘It’s Never Been Like This’: Vanishing Waitlist for Once-Coveted ‘Lumberyard Lot’ Parking Permits

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For the first time in at least two decades, town officials are expecting to see zero waitlist for what traditionally has been the most coveted commuter parking permit in New Canaan. As of last week, there were just 25 people left on the waitlist for the “Lumberyard Lot,” according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. The 298-space lot abuts the train station on Elm Street downtown, a far more desirable location for commuters than “outer” municipal lots such as Center School and Locust Avenue. “It’s so surprising, it’s never been like this,” Miltenberg told members of the Parking Commission during their regular meeting, held March 5 at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

On recent afternoons, Miltenberg said, parking officials counted 40 to 60 open spaces in the Lumberyard. 

There’s “a very  good chance” that the waitlist vanishes entirely, she said. “I will let all those 25 people know and see how many people take it and then after that, I don’t know,” Miltenberg said.

Government

Town Voids Ticket Issued to Local Woman for Parking in Town Hall Lot

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The New Canaanite 2024 Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates. In what was deemed a misread of the situation, town officials this month voided a ticket issued to a local woman for parking in the Town Hall lot. Members of the Parking Commission during their July 10 meeting voted 3-0 to void a ticket that had been issued to Marnie Miller for parking in the lot behind the municipal building while appearing to have no Town Hall business. During her appeal hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference, Miller said she had come to register her dogs at Town Hall but stopped in Greenology for a drink beforehand. During that small timeframe, she had been issued the ticket, with the officer believing she was using the lot for other business. 

“I came to register my dogs and it was hot so I popped across the street,” Miller said.

Government

Commission Forgives $75 Ticket Issued to Man for Parking in Front of Fire Hydrant

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Town officials this month voided a $75 ticket that had been issued to a delivery driver who parked in front of a fire hydrant. The Parking Commission voted 4-0 during its Jan. 3 meeting to void the ticket issued to Claudio Pila of Danbury. During an appeal hearing held at Town Hall and via videoconference, Pila told the appointed body that he was dropping off some boxes at That Personal Touch on Main Street when he was issued the ticket at 10:18 a.m. on Nov. 28 (a Tuesday).