Town Upholds $30 Ticket Issued to New Canaan Resident, Local Worker

Town officials this month upheld a $30 ticket issued to a New Canaan woman who works in The Whitney Shop on Elm Street.

Kristina Ancker said during her appeal hearing before the Parking Commission that she normally is able to park off-street behind the store, but can’t do that right now while her regular car is in the shop.

On the day in question (Jan. 20, a Tuesday), Ancker parked on Cherry Street and walked to the store where she “was with a client,” she said.

“I ended up running a little late,” Ancker told the Commission during its Feb. 4 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

She added: “So that’s why I ended up getting the ticket, which as soon as I got in my car, I went into Town Hall, it wasn’t even 10 minutes from time I got the ticket.”

Ancker noted that she was born in 1976 (the Bicentennial) and grew up in town, and has worked at The Whitney Shop for 30 years, and in all that time she’s never received a parking ticket.

Ancker added that as a retail shop worker on Elm Street, she’s seen “many customers and many people coming in using these devices [parking kiosks] that are now on the street and not a lot of customers know how to use them.”

“And I have seen the lines of people trying to use them for minimal things, getting in and out of their cars to do something very small that takes twice as long because they have to use the parking tolls or whatever they’re called,” she said. “So from the perspective of someone who works in town—and I got a ticket, this is a lot on top of seeing customers come in and they don’t know how to navigate them to be honest with you.”

Ancker said she has distributed the town-issued “pamphlets” designed to help motorists find parking they’re not helpful.

“It’s all fine and dandy if you want to park up behind the movie theater but not a lot of customers want to do that,” she said. “They don’t want to navigate down the hill and do something very responsive.”

Customers have come into The Whitney Shop saying they got a ticket for not paying for parking and they “didn’t even know there was a terminal.”

“You can’t tell someone who hasn’t lived here their entire life that you should know there’s a terminal to pay, it’s not noticeable,” Ancker said. “I’m telling you that. Even though there’s a terminal outside the door, nobody knows it’s there.”

Commissioners and Parking Bureau staff asked Ancker whether she knew there were specific parking permits for employees at downtown businesses (yes), whether The Whitney Shop owners have made her aware that the store has those permits for Richmond Hill Lot (yes, though it’s not connected to her temporary car) and whether she regularly parks on the street (no, normally behind the store).

“I have never parked there [on the street] all day,” Ancker said, adding that she sometimes can park in the lot behind Bank of America. 

Asked whether she has downloaded any of the parking apps, Ancker said yes and that she knows how to use them.

“But I am telling you, my customers that come into my job, they’re like I don’t know how to do this,” Ancker said. “I give them the pamphlet that you guys gave us and they’re like I still don’t understand it. And a lot of them are elderly, they don’t want to walk into the store any more. They say, ‘I cannot go in sporadically to pick something up.’ I’m just telling you my experience. This has nothing to do with my ticket. The customers coming in, they get a negative vibe and they don’t want to shop in town any more. It’s kind of sad, because you can’t do something very quickly.”

Ancker said that a parking enforcement officer had approached her that very day while her car was illegally parked outside Dunkin’ while she ran in that “they [town officials] want me to give you a ticket” for parking at South and Elm without paying for it.

Tucker Murphy, a staffer in the first selectman’s office who attends Parking Commission meetings, said that the enforcement officer “should not have said that.”

Commissioner Katie O’Neill thanked Ancker for the information, saying, “I know it’s frustrating.”

“I know you are not alone,” O’Neill said. “We on the Commission have been hearing it. You are heard, you are validated, and we appreciate your feedback.”

Ancker responded, “Appreciate you. Thank you so much.”

During deliberations, commissioners said they were sympathetic to Ancker though there was no clear reason to void a ticket for overtime parking.

“I am sympathetic to her but she should really get a town permit,” O’Neill said. 

O’Neill wondered whether businesses are getting the information to their workers about free parking permits at the Center School, Locust Avenue and Richmond Hill Lots.

She voted to uphold as well as Commissioners Kevin Karl (secretary) and Marley Thackray. Commissioners Nancy Bemis (chair) and John Clarke were absent.