It’s gotten a little crazy with the parking.

The 16 parking spaces in front of the Addessi Block — from Deborah Ann’s Chocolates to Neumann Real Estate — have gone from all one-hour parking, to half 30-minute and half one-hour parking, to half 30-minute and half two-hour parking, then back to all one-hour parking.

And that’s all since last summer.

The Parking Authority — theoretically a five-member agency — has had three resignations since the start of the year and was down to two members.

And now state officials have said the town Parking Authority doesn’t have the power to set parking times on state highways — including Main Street, which is state Route 35 — without state approval.

The state was brought in by Wayne Addessi, a Main Street businessman and property owner long frustrated with the town’s parking enforcement.

“This Parking Authority system has been running the same way for 25, 30 years,” Addessi said. “It’s gotta change.”

There are more than 1,100 parking spaces in the village, and there has long been debate about how to keep parking near to businesses available for customers.

At the heart of Addessi’s frustration is the town’s parking enforcement program, in which cars that overstay posted parking times in posted areas of the village are given $15 tickets.

“Ticketing our customers is wrong. The whole system needs to be revisited,” he said.

Interviews with two candidates for Parking Authority vacancies — Ancient Mariner proprietor Jessica Wilmot and former Norwalk Mayor Richard A. Moccia, who moved to Ridgefield in 2014 — were on the selectmen’s agenda for Wednesday night, Feb. 17, too late for this issue of The Press.

By Feb. 12 the town had brought in $18,680 in parking fine revenue from ticketing in the village since the start of the fiscal year, July 1, 2015. It had made another $7,015 from tickets at the Branchville train station.

For the last complete fiscal year, 2014-15, the totals were $35,935 from tickets in the village and just over $11,000 in Branchville.

Recently, between the the village and Branchville, the town’s been giving out about 3,000 or 4,000 tickets a year, and generating about $50,000 in annual revenue:

• 2014-15 — 4,005 tickets, over $47,000 in revenue.
• 2013-14 — 3,497 tickets, just under $50,000 in revenue.
• 2012-13 — 4,681 tickets, over $58,000 in revenue.
• 2011-12 — 3,118 tickets, nearly $34,000 in revenue.

The town’s salary cost for parking enforcement runs about $28,000 a year, according to Town Personnel Director Laurie Fernandez, but she said there are other costs — signs, line-painting — making the operation “closer to a break-even than a moneymaker of any kind.”

There are parking ticket appeals hearings the second Thursday of every month, starting at 7:30 in the town hall conference room.

Sharon Dornfeld, the local attorney who is the hearing officer for parking violation appeals, says she hears from three or four to more than 20 appeals in a given month.

“The statute requires that people show up,” she said.

Most of the appeals are of $15 tickets for overstaying time limits in the village, she said, but some are for various other violations — daily parking in Branchville ($5), parking in handicapped spaces ($150), in fire lanes ($92), across more than one space or in places that aren’t designated parking spots ($15).

About half the appeals are from people who work in town, but others are from people in town on errands — presumably patronizing businesses.

“A lot of my appeals are from people who come to shop in town and meet friends for lunch, and all of sudden it’s more than a couple of hours,” Dornfeld said.

“I get some from people at beauty shops. Apparently it’s not possible to have your hair cut and colored in under two hours.”

Appeals can become emotional.

“You’d be amazed at how exercised people get over a $15 parking ticket. I’m amazed,” she said.

The whole ticketing operation is counterproductive, from Addessi’s perspective as a village businessman.

“With the competition we all have, with the Internet, the last thing we should be doing is ticketing our customers,” he said.

Tempers have run high.

“We know we’ve had some animosity,” Selectwoman Maureen Kozlark said.

Kozlark spoke at the selectmen’s Jan. 20 meeting, when the board learned of the resignation of two Parking Authority members. A third, Parking Authority Chairman Matt Hicks, resigned a few days later.

“The long and short of it is that you can’t have commissions like the Parking Authority be interfered with, and that’s the reason that I decided to leave,” Hicks told The Press.

He made a point of saying he didn’t have problems with First Selectman Rudy Marconi.

“Far too much interference from the Board of Selectmen —  not Rudy,” Hicks said.

“It’s such a shame. You want people to be involved, and they’re happy to do so. Then there’s interference and it negates being there,” he said.

“It’s the nature of government in small towns.”

The selectmen were scheduled to do annual reappointments of some Parking Authority members in January, but decided to hold off. They’d consider the reappointments, but also thought they’d like to see if there are any people who want to join the authority.

“Maybe it’s time for some new folks on the board,” said Selectman Steve Zemo.

Changing times

Marconi agreed to attempt to summarize for The Press the recent history of changing parking times for the 16 spaces in front of the Main Street block between St. Stephen’s and Catoonah Street, the “Addessi block.”

Before the flurry of recent changes, the entire block had long been one-hour parking while the rest of Main Street was two-hour parking.

In the fall, the Parking Authority changed times for the spaces in front of Deborah Ann’s and Ridgefield Hardware, but not for the spaces in front of the four storefronts from Addessi Jewelers to Neumann Real Estate.

“The Parking Authority changed the spots at Deborah Ann’s and Ridgefield Hardware to 30-minute parking,” Marconi said.

As owner of Addessi Jewelers and the building the store is in, Wayne Addessi protested the change to the shorter, half-hour times. He felt a change should go the other way — toward longer parking — with the entire block going to two-hour parking, in keeping with the rest of Main Street.

“Mr. Addessi sent members of the Board of Selectmen an email, making them aware of his feelings and his request that the block be two hours,” Marconi said.

The selectmen responded, initiating a change to the spaces from Addessi’s north to Neumann’s.

“We fully discussed it, and at the end of the discussion I was asked to send a letter to the Parking Authority requesting that they consider the eight spots, the balance of the 16, be changed from one hour to two hours to meet with Mr. Addessi’s request. The Parking Authority subsequently approved, and the signs were ordered. Upon delivery, signs were installed,” Marconi said.

The new signs making the Addessi-to-Neumann part of the block two hours arrived and went up during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, Marconi said, Dec. 29 or 30.

“They were put up immediately, the next day,” Marconi said.

But there was more.

“Mr. Addessi had sent a letter of inquiry to the state traffic administration asking who has jurisdiction over parking times on a state highway,” Marconi said.

And it turned out the state said the local Parking Authority doesn’t have authority over parking along a state highway — such as Main Street, which is state Route 35.

“To make a long story short,” Marconi said, “the process that needs to be followed: The Parking Authority, for any modification for parking time on Main Street, must send that request to the local traffic authority, which is the Police Commission. The Police Commission, upon a favorable vote, if there is one, then forwards the request on to the state traffic administration, for their approval. Once that approval is made, we can then change the times.”

This, in effect, made the recent changes to the Addessi block improper.

“So we have been instructed now to return everything to the previous one hour,” Marconi said. “And if there are any changes requested for Main Street  — a state highway — then that request must go through our local traffic authority, the Police Commission, and then on to the state traffic administration.

“There was much more in terms of debate and conversation that went on,” Marconi added, “but this is an overview of what took place for that particular area, relative to parking.”

New members

The two Parking Authority members who decided not to seek reappointment at the Jan. 20 meeting were Cora Grace Harkins, whose work history includes time with a firm that builds parking facilities, and Larry Hoyt, the authority’s longest serving member.

Neither raised political issues in their resignation letters. “Less than a year ago I started a new job and I am finding it more and more difficult to find the time,” said Harkins.

Hoyt said, “I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to be a member of this team for many years and I hope I gave back some value to this wonderful town — I thank you.”

The selectmen generally reappoint boards and committees in January for the new year — but at the Jan. 20 meeting they decided not to act on the Parking Authority.

“So we don’t have anyone on the Parking Authority?” asked Selectman Bob Hebert, who joined the board after the November election.

“If we do not reappoint we will not,” the first selectman replied.

By taking a little extra time with what are generally routine reappointments, Marconi later told The Press, the selectmen were responding to the realities and doing their homework.

“It’s my belief the reason why Connecticut statutes has the Board of Selectmen appointing and reappointing members to various commissions and boards is that it gives local authorities an opportunity to review the actions and issues that are confronting the individual board or commission,” Marconi said.

“We’re not just there to rubber-stamp and appoint and reappoint someone.

“So in reviewing the appointments to the Parking Authority, the Board of Selectmen said, Why don’t we start from the beginning and interview everyone who’d like to be reappointed as well as anyone interested in serving our town?

“With the resignation of Mr. Hicks, and previously the resignation of Cora Harkins and the resignation of Larry Hoyt, the commission has been left with just two members — hence the reason to interview the remaining two who’d like to be reappointed and any new people who’d like to apply to the Parking Authority.

“Given that this is a downtown authority,” Marconi added, “we would really appreciate and like for some of those who are either employed, own real estate, or are merchants in the downtown area to become a stakeholder and become involved in an issue that has direct impact on their business.”

People interested may call his office at 203-431-2774 or email selectman@ridgefieldct.org.

Marconi noted that all the Parking Authority members were volunteers, and expressed gratitude to those who’d served.

“I’d like to definitely extend the Board of Selectmen’s and, personally, my thanks to Matt Hicks for his incredible dedication and effort put into the responsibilities of the Parking Authority, to Cora Harkins for her expertise that she brought to the table relative to parking,

and definitely a huge thank-you to Mr. Larry Hoyt, the last remaining original member of the Parking Authority, for his long length of service and dedication to making Ridgefield a better place — thank you, Larry,” Marconi said.

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