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

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. I don’t know what the over-under is. Maybe two, three. And I think I speak for a heck of a lot of commuters when I say that. So we talk about returning to normal, I don’t think we will ever return to what we had before, where on a Tuesday afternoon you drive by the Lumberyard, and it’s completely full.”

The comments came as the selectmen voted in favor of a Parking Commission recommendation to hold rates for commuter and commercial lot permits flat next fiscal year. Town officials already want to extend through Dec. 31 free parking permits for the Center School and Locust Avenue Lots, and have not charged for parking in commuter lots this fiscal year. The town on Jan. 1 reinstated permit fees for Morse Court and Park Street Lot permits, prorated for half a year.

Responding to Williams, Parking Commission Chair Keith Richey said he agreed about reduced usage for lots such as the popular Lumberyard Lot at the train station. The town may consider triple or even quadruple overselling the lot, or may consider reducing the price of a permit (currently $624 per year). Come the start of next fiscal year, the town may have a better idea of demand, Richey said.

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said, “I have to admit, I’m a little dubious about whether that many people are going to want to sign up for a full year on July 1st.”

He added, “We are going to go entirely electronic this year like we did with the Transfer Station permits. I think we ought to approve these [recommended permit rates] today but maybe be a little bit sensitive if people are telling us they don’t plan to go back yet.” 

New Canaan is in a “brave new world as to whether or not people are willing to pay an annual fee to park in the Lumberyard.”

Moynihan suggested that the town promise those already on a waiting list for a Lumberyard permit that they can keep their place in line if they want to defer.

Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said the town does that already.

“We have always had a program where if somebody gave up a permit because they were no longer commuting for one reason or another that it always allowed us to move down on the waitlist,” she said.

The need for holding spots has arisen most often for the Lumberyard Lot waitlist, Miltenberg said.

Williams said it would be important to let commuters know that “because I do think there will be a lot of people who [say], hey I’m not going back to work until 2022, until everybody’s vaccinated for immunity, blah blah blah.”

“And I think it’s really important that that fact, which is a great fact, is thrown out there and people understand that,” he said.

Richey noted that surrounding towns such as Darien have already gone back to charging normal rates for commuter parking. Miltenberg said when asked that she would try to find out what usage has been like in those towns.

She said her own feeling was also that “that commuting will not look the same as it did pre-COVID.”

“And we saw a trend of people using the permits less, more people working from home, even pre-COVID,” Miltenberg said. “We would see the usage of the lots, Thursday and especially Friday go down tremendously and this was even pre-COVID. So we are going to see a change in usage. And we will have to watch that, watch how many people give it up because they are not commuting at this time.”

Williams said that parking officials “have done great job during this pandemic dealing with this sea change.”

“COVID has impacted parking as much as anything else in town,” Williams said.

The selectmen asked how much the Locust Lot is used by commuters (it’s not being used at all by commuters right now) and whether people need a permit to park in Locust Lot (yes). 

Richey said that if the selectmen are considering a change in use for a lot town, they should look at Richmond Hill.

“Because it is already the less favored lot, if you have a choice between the Lumberyard Lot or the Richmond Hill Lot, everyone would take the Lumberyard Lot,” he said. “And some would even prefer the Talmadge Hill Lot, if you’re in that part of town. Of course right now I think we are lucky to have the Richmond Hill Lot, because I don’t know where Karp would be parking some of his construction vehicles during this project without that lot.”

Richey refereed to Arnold Karp of M2 Partners and The Vue complex, formerly known as Merritt Village.