Government

Public Works To Extend Setback for Problematic Parking Space at Main and Maple

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Town officials are extending the setback between a parking space and corner downtown, in hopes that it improves sightlines for motorists. Flagged recently by the Parking Commission, cars approaching Main Street from Maple Street often have an obstructed view of northbound traffic. 

As a result, Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg recently asked Public Works officials to review the area, she told members of the Commission during an update at their Sept. 6 meeting. “They did find that the setback was only 15 feet instead of the 25 foot setback that it should be, so they are going out and they will make it a 25-foot setback,” Miltenberg said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We will unfortunately lose a parking spot,” Miltenberg continued.

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Town Voids $30 Ticket Issued to Local Man Who Parked in No-Parking Zone

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Saying the space wasn’t sufficiently marked, parking officials this month voided a $30 ticket issued to a New Canaan man who’d pulled into a no-parking zone downtown. Members of the Parking Commission during their Aug. 2 meeting voted 4-0 to void a ticket that had been issued to Edward Neugeboren for pulling into a space in front of the Mobil station on South Avenue that had been a legal spot in the past. During his appeal hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference, Neugeboren said he’s lived in town for 25 years and didn’t realize that the striping had changed in the spot between the South Avenue curb cuts to the gas station. “There was no sign and I’ve been parking in that spot obviously previously for upwards of 25 years,” he told the Commission.

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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.