Town officials last month upheld an $80 ticket issued to a Pound Ridge, N.Y. man who parked in a Main Street crosswalk.
The 15 minute parking sign on the light post. 7/12/2023
Credit: Connor Markey
David Rosenbloom received the ticket outside of Greenology at the corner of East Avenue at 1:54 p.m. on April 26 (a Wednesday).
Saying he’s a frequent visitor to New Canaan, Rosenbloom claimed that the signage did not properly indicate where parking was permitted. During his June 14 appeal hearing before the Parking Commission, said that at the time, an arrow indicating the direction of a nearby 15-minute parking zone was not present on the sign, and had only been added after he received a ticket.
He also told the Commission that he was only parked for a short period.
Seconds later, parking enforcement appears. 7/12/2023. Credit: Connor Markey
“I was there for five minutes,” Rosenbloom said during his hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “I don’t think I should be paying for a ticket.”
In photos that Rosenbloom brought to the hearing, taken the day before his appeal, it can be seen that one of the posts for the 15-minute parking signs has been taken out of the ground, although he later acknowledged that the sign was there when he received the ticket.
Stacy Miltenberg, the town’s parking manager, denied that the position of the posts had been moved subsequently to the ticket being issued, although she did acknowledge that the arrows on the signs had been a recent addition.
The 15 minute parking sign, more visible after lifting up the plants blocking the top half. 7/12/2023
Credit: Connor Markey
“There’s a sign at the beginning of the 15-minute zone and a sign at the end of the 15-minute zone,” she said.
Ultimately, the Commission voted 4-0 in favor of upholding the ticket.
Commissioners Drew Magratten, Nancy Bemis, Kevin Karl and Marley Thackray voted. Chair Jennifer Donovan was absent.
The commissioners noted during their deliberations that Rosenbloom appeared to be in violation of “no parking” signage as well as parking in a crosswalk.
Miltenberg said, “So the picture that we have showing you right next to the sign that says ‘no parking,’ and halfway into the crosswalk, you consider that to be the 15-minute zone?”
Rosenbloom responded that he considered “the 15-minute zone directly behind the sign there, which is very clearly delineated right here.”
Miltenberg then pointed out to him that an angled line, running from the “no parking” sign almost to the crosswalk, indicates the no parking area.
Rosenbloom attempted to counter this claim, stating: “I hear you, however when I did that, that was brand new—”
Miltenberg interjected: “That line is not brand new.”
“He could have technically gotten two tickets, because he’s in the crosswalk, and in the no parking zone,” she added.
While they ultimately voted in favor to uphold the ticket, the commissioners did acknowledge that the corner in question was “particularly problematic.”
“That entire intersection is crazy,” Karl said.
Magratten said that he thought the town’s signs were “woefully confusing.”
“This whole thing with the arrows is a bit hocus pocus to me,” he added.
The no parking zone outside of Greenology appears to cause recurring issues, possibly due to the fact that the 15-minute sign closest to the no parking area is mounted on a light post, instead of having its own post, resulting in the sign being placed slightly before the actual parking zone. Magratten acknowledged this, saying that the town “cant put up a pole in every single section of this town.”