Government

Parking Officials Void Ticket for Town Woman Who Overstayed at Morse Court

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A split vote among members of the Parking Commission at a special meeting Tuesday night voided a $25 ticket issued to a New Canaan woman for overtime parking at Morse Court. Sarah Spadaccini told the Commission that on July 27, after she clocked out of her shift at Kiwanis Park, she parked her at Morse Court in a 15-minute zone so that she could pick up her takeout order from Spiga restaurant. She said that her order had already been prepared when she arrived at the restaurant, so all she had to do was pay and then leave. 

“As I was walking out to my car—because I was in the spot closest to Main Street—I could see the man ticketing my car,” she said. “It couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes. I was in and then I was out.

Government

‘Ludicrous’: Parking Officials Uphold $75 Ticket for Fairfield Woman Parked in a Crosswalk 

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The Parking Commission on Tuesday night voted unanimously to uphold a $75 ticket issued to a Fairfield woman who was parked in a crosswalk on Elm Street. 

Patricia Hessel told members of the Commission at a special meeting that on July 6, she parked in downtown New Canaan just before noon to go shopping for her business and when she returned to her vehicle 10 minutes later, she found a ticket on her car. 

“Apparently, I parked in a crosswalk and I did not realize I did,” she told the Commission at its meeting, held in Town Hall. “I’m not from this town. Our town has big white lines [marking the crosswalk]. I did hesitate a bit, but then I got out of the car, I saw the sign and said to myself, ‘I guess it must be OK because [the arrow on the sign] is pointing both ways… But sure enough, I got a ticket.”

Hessel said that she didn’t take a photo of where her car was parked at the time the ticket was issued but went back at a later date and took a photo “to prove my case.” She presented the photo to the Commission as evidence. 

“The big white lines and red bricks [at the crosswalk] didn’t trigger any thoughts?” Commissioner Peter Ogilvie asked. 

Hessel replied “no” and reiterated that she was looking for large, white lines similar to what she’s used to seeing at crosswalks in Fairfield. 

“The [arrow on the] sign looked like it was pointing both ways, so I’m fighting it,” she said. “Believe me, I will never park there again.

Government

Town Upholds $30 Ticket for Woman Who Parks in Loading Zone on Forest Street

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Officials this month upheld a $30 ticket for a woman visiting family in New Canaan who had inadvertently parked in a loading zone on Forest Street. Jennifer Gubilaro told members of the Parking Commission at their most recent meeting that she had been going to Embody Fitness Gourmet for healthy drinks each morning, and found herself parking on either side of the street as close to the business as possible. Though she noticed the striping directly outside of Heritage Square, Gubilaro said during her appeal hearing, she only noticed the white lines on Forest Street designating the various parallel parking spaces and not the signage indicating a loading zone. “I just parked on the left and I looked on the street,” she said during the hearing, held at Town Hall. “I noticed those white things you park inside of and I thought it was a regular parking spot.”

It is, though for a few hours in the morning it’s a loading zone, according to a sign.

Government

Man on Crutches Gets Town To Void $150 Ticket for Parking in Handicapped Space

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Town officials last week voided a $150 ticket issued to a man who parked in a handicapped space at the New Canaan Post Office though he had no such permit at the time. Gordon Thurber told members of the Parking Commission during a public hearing that he circled the Post Office three times trying to find a parking spot on the afternoon of Tuesday April 17 but “there wasn’t a place to park within three-quarters of a mile.”

Thurber needed to drop into the Post Office to file his taxes that day, and said he’s been unable to walk without crutches since having an accident (a hip replacement is needed, he said) “so I pulled into the handicapped spot” and “and less than five minutes later” there was a ticket on the windshield, he said at the May 10 appeal hearing, held in Town Hall. The ticket for parking illegally in a handicapped zone is by far the most severe in New Canaan and the commission in the past has never voided it, as a rule. Yet in this case, Chairman Keith Richey and Commissioners Stuart Stringfellow and Chris Hering voted to void. Commissioners Pam Crum and Peter Ogilvie voted to uphold, making it a 3-2 vote in Thurber’s favor.

Government

Parking Commission Votes 3-2 To Uphold $30 Ticket for New Canaan Man Who Parked in Loading Zone

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Town officials last week voted 3-2 to uphold a $30 ticket for a man who admitted that he parked in a designated loading zone but said it was an honest mistake and he didn’t know about the rule there. Bob Landeck identified himself to members of the Parking Commission as a town resident for 22 years, and said he had parked out front of the former Thali building on Main Street on a Saturday to run into the People’s Bank for a few minutes. “I went to use the ATM machine and when I got back, he wrote me up,” Landeck told the Commission during a May 10 hearing on the ticket, held at Town Hall. “Now I think since it’s a brand new sign, I think maybe they should put a yellow thing on the curb, because now i notice the sign, but I did not notice a sign when I parked there.”

Ultimately, Commissioners Pam Crum, Chris Hering and Peter Ogilvie voted to uphold the ticket, while Chairman Keith Richey and Stuart Stringfellow voted to void. During deliberations, Ogilvie said: “I think all parking violations are honest mistakes and that is what [Parking Manager] Stacy [Miltenberg] makes her business out of.”

He added: “It’s not as though the sign was hiding behind something.”

Crum said: “There was no reason not to see it.”

The area directly in front of Thali, or the old “bank building” as many New Canaanites know it, has been a designated loading zone for more than two years.