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.

Drew Magratten

Parking Officials Seek To Re-Designate Loading Zone at South and Elm as ‘24/7’

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Saying it will ease congestion on Elm Street, parking officials are seeking to re-designate a loading zone just off the main drag downtown as 24 hours. The loading zone on the west side of South Avenue, just below Elm, currently is in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. But “people don’t read the signs that say ‘loading zone’ and they’re constantly using it as a parking spot,” she told members of the Parking Commission during their regular meeting, held Wednesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So it’s a recommendation that we make it a loading zone 24/7, technically, because we want to mark the street,” she continued. “If you mark the street, then it can’t go back to a regular parking spot at 3 o’clock.

Business

Local Holiday Shopping Boost: Town Designates Free Parking in Municipal Lots Through Dec. 27

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The town has designated free parking in all municipal lots through Dec. 27, officials say. Members of New Canaan’s Parking Department are placing signs on meters in town to let shoppers know they don’t need to pay. Carl Franco of Francos Wine Merchants on Elm Street said he was “very happy that the Chamber of Commerce worked out with the town free parking for all municipal lots.”

“I think that will be very inviting for the shoppers to give one last boost to all the merchants in town,” Franco said. The designation, which took effect Monday, follows an unexpected loss of some parking and traffic difficulties late last week due to utilities work on Elm. 

Laura Budd, executive director of the Chamber, said the “last few days before Christmas are very important to our retailers.”

“The Chamber and the municipality wanted to remove all barriers to our residents and visitors who are shopping local for all their last-minute holiday gifts,” Budd said.

Government

Parking Commission Voids $25 Ticket Issued to Elm Street Motorist

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Saying it had been a long time since parking enforcement officers issued their last verbal warning to her, town officials last week voided a $25 ticket issued to a woman who overstayed her time on Elm Street. 

Under New Canaan’s parking regulations, motorists approaching what is now a 2-hour time limit for the free spaces downtown cannot simply move their vehicle to a different area of the same street to reset that timer. If someone is not aware of the rule, “we try to educate them, usually the first ticket around, because it is not posted anywhere other than in the town ordinance,” according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. Yet in the case of Lara Tiramani of Bridgeport, she was made aware of that when she similarly overstayed a space in 2016, Miltenberg said during the Dec. 8 regular meeting of the Parking Commissioner. Tucker Murphy, administrative officer for the town and a guest at the meeting, said the purpose of the rule is to ensure the free spaces serve those who wish to patronize downtown business and restaurants rather than those who work in those places.

Government

Town: Parking Permit Renewals Down As Commuters Wait-and-See

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Demand for commuter parking lots near the Metro-North Railroad line is still in flux and remains low overall compared to pre-COVID figures, officials say, as New Canaan residents try to figure out whether it makes sense to purchase an annual permit or use daily pay spaces as needed. On a given Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, lots such as the Lumberyard downtown are at least two-thirds full—less so on Mondays and Fridays, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. Yet renewals for permits are down this year as increasing number of permit-holders ask to be listed on a “deferral list” that allows them to put off a decision until next summer, Miltenberg told members of the Parking Commission at their regular meeting last week. It’s unclear “how often people are commuting,” Miltenberg said at the Oct. 6 meeting, held via videoconference.