Town officials now are publishing online the waiting lists for the three commuter parking lots most in demand in New Canaan, at the Lumberyard, Richmond Hill and Talmadge Hill.
The Lumberyard Lot in downtown New Canaan is the most coveted commuter parking lot in town, with a 6.5-year waiting list. Credit: Michael Dinan
The lists (they can be found here) will be updated monthly, according to Stacy Miltenberg, superintendent of the New Canaan Parking Bureau.
Their publication follows a major effort undertaken by the bureau to “clean up” the waiting lists. Prompted by the Parking Commission, the town last year instituted a $10 annual fee to stay on the lists, and Miltenberg and her department spent several months reaching out to applicants to ensure they still were actively waiting.
“When we cleaned up the waitlists back in September, the Parking Commission felt it was a good idea to publish them, because people constantly called to find out where they are,” Miltenberg told NewCanaanite.com.
“They [Commissioners] thought it would be a good idea to put the lists out there so that people could find out their status themselves.”
As of July 17, beyond a couple of outliers, applicants are waiting on the list or a Lumberyard Lot permit for about 6.5 years, Richmond Hill for about four years and Talmadge Hill for about 1.5 years.
Lots such as Center School are not included because they generally do not serve commuters and there are no waitlists for them, Miltenberg said.
Thank you for publishing these lists. Very informative. The waits are shorter than I thought based on what some candidates said in the recent Republican caucus debates and they are shorter than they were when I applied in 1983 (nine plus years)! It’s also interesting that many people who are waiting are on more than one list and it appears that two people from the same household (same surnames) apply on the same date. It’s reasonable to conclude that the problem is not as bad as it has been portrayed. There are many potential ways to improve this and we should not make rash decisions to spend millions on parking without an understanding that is not clouded by misinformation and political opportunism. A free and inquisitive press in vital to the health of the community!
Totally disagree! A wait list this long for a town this wealthy is a disgrace. In any event, enough voters..most likely many commuters who are tired of being neglected..have spoken and I suspect there is renewed momentum to finally do something about increased , convenient commuter parking.It’s way past due.
Just glancing at this list, there’s a lot of people who have moved out of state and/or have left the work force several years ago. I think the town needs to do some homework to clear off some names that clearly no longer need a permit
It is in the interest of all New Canaanites that the commuter parking problem is addressed. The folks heading to the City to bring back significant salaries to spend here, is vital to the local economy, our tax base, and general mix of our twon – – not exclusively dependent, but significant. It is not too hard to understand that it is limiting the potential income stream for our town, by having dilapidated commuter facilities, poor parking allocation/management, extensive waiting lists, and disparaging commentary towards the burden the commuters take on, to bring back wealth to our small town. It’d really be much wiser for the town to collectively support commuters, as it also is a rather easy unique selling point (if done well) to families looking to re-locate to Fairfield county or Westchester, thus increasing demand in our houses and desirability to live here (each New Canaan tax-paying household assured one commuter parking spot?). Unsolved parking problems for commuters will further discourage a key segment to want to live here, have meaningful negative impact on our towns well-being, income and prosperity. It’s in our collective interest to better the situation, same as we collectively look to better our schools, downtown’s viability, and ensure a high quality of town experience – – regardless of what you do day-to-day. The solution isn’t binary or to take extreme positions, but rather acknowledge the impact it has on you if the New Canaan commuter community is neglected, and support ways to allow development. Clearly, to any objective review, a well off community like ours, should not have such sub-standard commuter/parking experiences, and it simply is very discouraging to put up with it, or to think about considering it as potential new arrival.
Dear Mr. McMurtry,
Your “glance” has deceived you. Everyone on the lists applied for a permit within the last few months, is a New Canaan resident, and paid a $10 fee to be on the waiting list. Thus, if they moved out of state since then (which is highly unlikely), their name will remain on the lists until next year when they either won’t qualify or won’t re-up and pay the $10 fee. This won’t affect the waiting list process or anyone’s wait to get a permit. Please don’t contribute to the negativity in town without knowing the facts. The “homework” that you refer to has already been done.
Dear Mike
I would like to voice my objection to this article. While I am comfortable enough with the facts, a tiered Lumberyard Lot was a major bullet point in Mr. (Kevin) Moynihan’s narrow, but victorious campaign to be the Republican nominee for First Selectman which culminated last week. His opponent, the incumbent Mr. (Robert) Mallozzi announced two days ago he would not bring the caucus to a primary despite the extremely tight victory by Mr. Moynihan. He made this announcement like a gentleman and didn’t just thank his supporters, he thanked the town as a whole for allowing him to serve. I find him to be a very much stand up person and in turn thank him for his labors.
In my opinion this article could have been withheld for a week or even until the commencement of the fall election when Ms. (Kit)Devereaux (my side of the aisle) faces Mr. Moynihan.
Thank you,
Rick
Rick, Thank you for posting the comment. I am a little confused. There may be a connection you are making here that I’m not seeing. This article is only about the town’s publication last week of waiting lists for commuter parking permits. Getting the word out is something I was asked to help do, as this is a resource for those eager to get one of these coveted permits. I agree with your characterization of Rob’s announcement, though I also do not understand how withholding this article would serve our readers or—more to your point—just what it has to do with the caucus or general election in November.
Mike
thanks for asking. My point is that is was a major campaign issue and therefore out of respect for Rob’s stand up handling of his loss perhaps the topic could have laid fallow for a bit. Just my thought, that’s all.
If you were prompted to clarify the news as chapter two then maybe I can give a soft ok.
R.
I’m not seeing the connection between this informative news article and Mr. Mallozzi’s primary loss. I also do not see how a legitimate news organization could be expected to hold up on reporting news. It would seem a bit manipulative of the readership.