With Two Weeks Left, 23 Workers Downtown Have Put in for 40 New ‘Commercial’ Parking Permits

One week after officials started taking request forms, a total of 23 employees of downtown businesses have put in for 40 permits that will those selected through a lottery to park at one of two centrally located lots.

About 65 percent of those who have already submitted their forms are seeking a permit for the Park Street lot, while 22 percent want a permit for Morse Court and 13 percent are open to either one, according to Parking Bureau Superintendent Stacy Miltenberg.

The bureau will accept “Downtown Parking Permit Request Forms” —available for download here—through May 26, making 20 permits available each in lot during an initial trial year.

Miltenberg said she was “a little bit surprised” that more people hadn’t put in for the new permits, though “maybe just people they know they have until the 26^th to get it in, without any repercussions of when it is coming in, so maybe they have not done it yet.”

“As I have seen in the past with permit requests, a lot of times people will wait until the very end and then everything will come in,” Miltenberg said.

The new permits—in reality, no physical “permit” will be issued (rather, the license plates of those selected will be registered with the bureau)—will cost $429 and will be valid for a 12-month period ending June 30, 2018. The Parking Bureau is located on the second floor of the New Canaan Police Department.

Conceived by parking officials and the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, and designed to get those who work downtown off of the free, 90-minute spaces on Main and Elm Streets—parking spots designed to serve those who would shop or dine in New Canaan—the permits will be awarded through a lottery system. How the bureau handles the issuance of the new permits after this year—for example, whether an entirely new lottery will take place for next summer or whether the program is expanded in any way—will depend on demand, officials have said.