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Safety Concerns Prompt Town To Move Large Trucks Out of Parking Space at Main and Maple

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Town officials say they’re monitoring use of a parking space at an increasingly busy intersection downtown, following safety concerns about blocked sight lines. 

Motorists approaching Maple and Main Streets, near the new main entrance to New Canaan Library, often are prevented from seeing northbound traffic on Main due to large vehicles parking in a spot on the southwest corner of the intersection, according to Parking Commissioner Marley Thackray. Thackray said during the Parking Commission’s most recent meeting that residents have spoken to her personally about the safety concern—one that she shares as someone who travels through the area multiple times per day—and that it came up on New Canaan Moms in June.  

“This comes on the heels of how nobody wants to lose any more parking space, but I literally say a Hail Mary every time I go through this intersection, because I can’t see anything,” Thackray said during the Commission’s Aug. 2 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said she did reach out to those parking large trucks in the space to ensure they try to leave it for regularly sized vehicles and continue to abide by the two-hour limit.

Drew Magratten

Town Upholds $80 Ticket for Parking in Crosswalk

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Town officials last month upheld an $80 ticket issued to a Pound Ridge, N.Y. man who parked in a Main Street crosswalk. David Rosenbloom received the ticket outside of Greenology at the corner of East Avenue at 1:54 p.m. on April 26 (a Wednesday). Saying he’s a frequent visitor to New Canaan, Rosenbloom claimed that the signage did not properly indicate where parking was permitted. During his June 14 appeal hearing before the Parking Commission, said that at the time, an arrow indicating the direction of a nearby 15-minute parking zone was not present on the sign, and had only been added after he received a ticket. He also told the Commission that he was only parked for a short period.

Government

Town To Increase Parking Meter Rates Downtown

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Town officials say they plan to increase parking meter rates in downtown New Canaan, as well as the amount of money that motorists will pay for eight types of violations. 

The meter rate increases follow from a state sales tax of 6.35% that “the town has been eating” since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. The town has not increased the meter rates in many years, she told members of the Parking Commission at their March 1 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. The rates will change as follows, she said: 15 minutes (25 to 30 cents), 30 minutes (50 to 55 cents), 45 minutes (75 to 80 cents) and one hour ($1 to $1.25). The six-hour flat rates for parking in three business lots—Playhouse, Park Street and Morse Court—will increase from $3 to $3.50, while two lots on the edge of the downtown, at Center School and Locust, will go from 50 cents to 55 cents per hour, she said. The increased rates will go into effect April 1, Miltenberg said.

Government

Parking Commission Forgives $25 Ticket Issued to Salon Customer 

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The Parking Commission during its most recent meeting voided a $25 ticket that had been issued to a Stamford woman who overstayed a two-hour time limit on Burtis Avenue. Sandra Francese told members of the Commission during their Feb. 1 meeting that the morning of Dec. 9 (a Friday) was only her second visit to The Vault salon on Burtis. “My first time was at night, so part of parking where I did, I either didn’t realize that there were parking restrictions at the time, or maybe when I came at night the restrictions were a little bit different,” Francese said during her appeal hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

Parking Commission Voids $30 Ticket Issued to Local Commuter

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Parking officials last week voted to void a $30 ticket issued in January to a local commuter. Matt Miller had paid for his parking in the Railroad Lot on Monday, Jan. 23 and Tuesday, Jan. 24, officials said at the Parking Commission meeting, held last Wednesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. But he had inadvertently entered wrong space numbers each time, Miller told the commissioners during an appeal at the meeting.