Government

Town Upholds $150 Ticket Issued to Driver Who Illegally Used Disabled Space in Private Lot

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Parking officials last week upheld a $150 ticket issued to a delivery driver using a disabled space in a private lot on Pine Street. The Parking Commission during its regular meeting April 7 voted 4-0 to uphold the ticket, given to a driver in the heavily used Pine Street Concessions lot. Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said at the meeting that disabled spaces fall under state statutes, including those in private lots “so we are allowed to go in there and ticket anybody who dos not have a handicapped permit and is parked in a handicapped space in a private lot.”

“And in addition, that particular area we get several complaints that people just utilize that spot as a regular spot and do not leave it open for people who need it, so it’s monitored on a regular basis,” Miltenberg said at the meeting, held via videoconference. 

Chair Laura Budd and Commissioners Nancy Bemis, Drew Magratten and Marley Thackray voted to uphold the ticket. The driver himself did not appear at the hearing. He said in a written appeal that he’d only been in the space for five minutes, the Commission said.

Government

Town Upholds $75 Parking Ticket Issued to Woman Who Obstructed Fire Hydrant

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Town officials last week upheld a $75 ticket issued to a West Haven woman who’d parked in front of a fire hydrant on Cherry Street. Mary Chegwidden told members of the Parking Commission during a March 10 appeal hearing that she had only parked by the fire hydrant in the area of 111 Cherry St. for about five minutes “so I could deliver to a client, DB Fine Wines.”

“I had some heavy boxes because I had some marketing materials and some heavy papers,” Chegwidden said during the hearing, held via videoconference. “So I wanted to drop it off to them quickly.”

The ticket had been issued at about 1:20 p.m. on Jan. 26, a Wednesday. 

The Commission voted 4-1 to uphold it.

Government

Parking Officials: Commuter Lot by Train Station Remains 60% to 75% Empty on Weekdays

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Saying demand for commuter parking remains down, town officials are in the process of issuing 100 additional permits for the large lot right next to the train station. On a given weekday, the Lumberyard Lot remains somewhere between 60% and 75% empty, parking officials say. In November, the appointed body that oversees the town’s municipal lots asked Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg to start issuing an additional 100 permits. As of the Parking Commission’s Feb. 7 meeting, Miltenberg had moved down 137 names on the list, she said—39 people wanted permits, 64 wanted to be added to a “priority list” where they reserve the right to pay for a permit in the future, nine didn’t want a permit and 25 never responded.

Government

Town Upholds $25 Ticket Issued for an Unpaid Space in Morse Court

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The Parking Commission at its most recent meeting voted unanimously to uphold a $25 ticket issued to a Ridgefield woman for an unpaid space downtown. Caroline Whelan told the Commission during a Sept. 9 appeal hearing that she tried to use the meter machine at Morse Court but that each time she pressed the ‘Start’ button “the screen just flashed ‘action forbidden.’ ”

“I inserted my card probably five or six times, pressing start and I saw a couple of other people around me who seemed like they were facing the same situation that had been trying to pay but just didn’t,” Whelan said during the hearing, held via videoconference. “And I was also late for a meeting, so I just kind of gave up. And would also like to note that the next time I parked there was on Aug.

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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.