Town officials last week upheld a parking ticket issued to a Norwalk woman who’d overstayed in a two-hour spot on Main Street this summer.
The Parking Commission voted 5-0 to uphold the $25 ticket issued to Cornelia Henning.
In making her appeal to the Commission during its regular meeting Thursday night, Henning conceded that she was “definitely guilty” of exceeding two hours, yet also said she was “shocked when I came back out, because I thought my hair appointment was going to be under two hours.”
“But you never know,” Henning said during her appeal hearing, held via videoconference. “For those of us who have blonde hair, sometimes it takes longer. It definitely took longer. I think it was two hours and 25 minutes or something. But I was surprised.”
As noted in her written appeal to the Commission, Henning said she parked “right there” in front of Jafar Tazi salon “because it’s like, I mean, I don’t know, I felt like it was still in the middle of the pandemic.”
“I thought it would be easy,” Henning said. “Go straight to the salon, then do my hair, then leave. So I didn’t go eat lunch at Rosie—I do love Rosie—I didn’t buy a lot of other things in town that day.”
Asked by Commission Chair Keith Richey whether she did anything else downtown that Frida afternoon, Henning said, “When you go in there, it takes forever to get your hair done. So I did not do anything else. I literally like went into the salon and sat there for probably two hours and a half and then came back out and then got my ticket and went back home. I also have three kids, so I had to get home anyway. But yes, no I did not. But I do love your town. I always go there. And it’s pretty empty, too. That’s also why I was surprised. This was the end of July and I was there the other day and there’s a lot more activity and energy in the air now, and so I was surprised that the parking meter maids were out. The other thing, too, I think, just so you know, I do work in the city, and so I have been driving into the city since June 22nd and at that time, all the parking rules were suspended in the city so I guess I just assumed that like everywhere else, if New York City was doing it, then therefore everywhere else would be doing it. Wrong decision to make.”
Having just adjudicated a similar ticket, the Commission spent 46 seconds discussing the city woman’s appeal.
Richey noted that Henning had admitted she overstayed the time limit.
“But remember, she really likes New Canaan,” Commissioner Peter Ogilvie said. “She really, really likes New Canaan.”
Richey responded, “So do we all.”
Richey, Ogilvie, Commissioners Pam Crum, Chris Hering and Laura Budd voted in favor of upholding the ticket.