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Town Voids $30 Ticket Issued to River Street Man for Leaving Vehicle in ‘No Parking’ Zone

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Despite neighbors’ complaints about traffic and safety problems caused by cars parked on what is already a narrow road, municipal officials last week voided a River Street man’s $30 ticket for leaving his car in a no-parking zone. There have always been no-parking signs at either end of River Street on the west side of the road, according to Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg. However, the signs were far apart and residents mistakenly thought they could park in the middle section of River Street on the west side, she said. When the town installed sidewalks along that side of the street several months ago, public works officials put up temporary no-parking signs that became permanent once the sidewalks were in, she said. The town for many months has received complaints from residents “that it’s been difficult for buses and two cars” to go down River Street with vehicles parked on the side of it, though enforcement has been difficult in the past, Miltenberg said during a regular meeting of the Parking Commission, held July 8 via videoconference.

David Lehman

Selectmen Push Commuter Parking Permit Renewals to Sept. 1

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Officials this week decided to push to September the date for commuter parking permit renewals in hopes that by then train service will be restored to more normal levels. During a regular Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said that he hoped that express trains would soon return to pre-COVID frequency. 

As it is, the train schedule no longer includes “the four through trains in the evening, the four through trains in the morning, which effectively cancels commuter service,” Moynihan said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. The New York City subways opened up 24 hour service recently, and Moynihan, as he has in the past, said he hoped to pressure Metro-North Railroad to return express trains to the New Canaan branch line. “Commuters are going to want to get on the train,” he said. “A number of our residents are driving to Darien stations to commute instead.”

Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted 3-0 to defer the commuter parking permit renewal date to Sept.

Around Town

‘This Is a Paradigmatic Shift’: Selectman Williams Calls on Parking Officials To Assess Post-COVID Demand for Commuter Permits

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Saying demand for commuter lot permits likely will decline post-COVID, Selectman Nick Williams this week called for parking officials to assess the “new normal” for New Canaan. During Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Williams called on the Parking Commission to “take a look at the Lumberyard, say, and determine that hey, for the foreseeable future and maybe forever, we are going to see a 20%, 30%, 40% reduction in usage.”

“Because folks just aren’t going into the city as much. I know that if you do go in twice a week or three times a week or once a week, the tendency will be to keep your commuter pass, just so you have the opportunity to use it and not face the hassle of having to find a spot. But this is a paradigmatic shift, I think, for all of us —and when I say ‘us’ I mean commuters. I myself foresee probably going into the office maybe 2.5 times per week.

Government

‘It’s Busier Than People Think’: Officials Re-Examining Main Street Loading Zone

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Municipal officials say they’re collecting data to help determine whether to change the parking rules or configuration in a long-discussed area of downtown New Canaan that’s seen a rise in recent years in service-oriented businesses. Members of the Police Commission are asking an officer assigned to the downtown beat to observe the area of Main Street just north of East Avenue in the mornings. Officer Kelly Coughlin will gather information for police and parking officials so they can better understand how heavily a 7 to 11 a.m. loading zone there is used by delivery trucks, and whether those seeking to patronize businesses in the immediate vicinity have ample on-street parking spaces further up Main Street or across it, in front of Town Hall. The main focus is a two-hour window from 9 to 11 a.m., when parking enforcement officers are patrolling downtown New Canaan and several businesses that front the loading zone—including greenology and StretchLab—are open and busy serving customers and clients. “It’s busier than people think,” Coughlin told the Commission at its Jan.

Government

Town To Bring ‘PayByPhone’ Parking App to Short-Term Municipal Lots

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Those parking in short-term lots in downtown New Canaan soon will be able to purchase and extend their time through a smartphone app. 

Members of the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously during their regular meeting Tuesday for New Canaan to enter a five-year contract with PayByPhone. 

As it is, those paying to park in lots such as Morse Court and Park Street must physically return to meter machines to add time. With the PayByPhone app, which already is in use at New Canaan Train Station lots, motorists can buy their tickets at the meter machine as usual (or using the app) and then extend their time remotely, officials said at the selectmen meeting. “I expect very high usage,” Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said at the meeting, held via videoconference. 

“It was something that a lot of people, even pre-COVID, were asking for. Because a lot of the surrounding towns have this option available to park there. So it has been something that I have been requesting for a while, and I think that the usage will be extremely high, as it was at the train station.