The New Canaan Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 25 approved an 8-24 review of a Department of Public Works proposal to reconfigure and restripe the Playhouse and Park Street parking lots, add an ADA-accessible ramp and relocate the municipal compactor and dumpsters.
The approval permits the town to proceed with repaving and restriping the two municipally owned lots after the Department of Public Works completes utility work and the ramp construction. Tiger Mann, director of public works, told the commission the plan widens circulation aisles to 24 feet, enlarges parking stalls from 8-by-17 to 9-by-18 feet and increases the number of marked accessible spaces.
Mann described the existing count as “Park Street Lot currently has a 124 spaces, and the Playhouse Lot currently has 55,” and said the redesign will reduce the total number of spaces in the two lots but improve vehicle circulation and accessibility. He said the Park Street lot will have five accessible spaces and the Playhouse lot two accessible spaces, and that the plan adds an accessible route and a switchback ramp behind the Playhouse to connect to Elm Street.
The project also relocates a compactor and dumpsters into a new enclosed enclosure between the two lots; Mann said the enclosure will be block-walled on three sides, fenced and locked, and monitored by camera. He said the town’s contractor and materials are on site but the ramp construction cannot begin until a utility pole is moved off the site by the electric utility and the cable company.
Commissioners pressed staff on how lost spaces would be offset. Mann said the town will introduce three-hour free parking with a one-hour cooldown before returning, and expects new parking meters and improved turnover on Elm Street to reduce pressure on the municipal lots. Commissioner comments also emphasized pedestrian improvements and the goal of reducing truck deliveries that now block Elm Street.
The commission moved for and voted to approve the 8-24 review. Chair Dan Radman cast the first affirmative vote; the roll call recorded nine in favor (Dan Radman, Krista Nielsen, John Kriss, John Engle, Holzman, Eric Knowles, Christina Larson, Megan Menching and Bill Pratt) and no opposing votes. The item received no public comment at the hearing and, as an 8-24 review, is an advisory referral required before municipal improvements proceed.
Work described by Mann includes: slightly widening the Park Street lot into adjacent town-owned green area after the pole move, building a switchback ramp with roughly a 50-inch elevation change and about a 50-foot run, and reconfiguring the hashed area to serve as a loading zone to pull deliveries off Elm Street where feasible. Mann said some delivery trucks (tractor-trailers) cannot be accommodated; the design targets the majority of delivery vehicles currently stopping on Elm Street.
The commission’s approval included no conditions because 8-24 reviews are not subject to special-permit conditions. Commissioners recorded reasons for approval in the public record, citing improved accessibility, improved circulation and alignment with the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development priorities for community facilities.