Darien residents could face parking fines
DARIEN — For any Darien commuters who haven’t hung up their latest parking permit in the car, now might be the time to do so — unless you want a hefty fine.
Darien officials are looking to crack down on commuters using expired parking permits in the town’s permitted parking lots after town administrator Kate Buch cited a “concerning” amount of commuters not displaying proper permit.
During the Board of Selectmen’s Monday night meeting, Buch proposed updating the town’s parking regulations to specify that using an expired permit is a punishable offense worth a $100 fine or losing a permit.
“Using an expired permit is potentially fraud because you could put your ‘23 permit on one car and give your ‘24 permit to your neighbor,” Buch said. “I thought it might be worthwhile to make it clear that this is considered abuse of a permit.”
Annual permits allow drivers to park in certain Darien parking lots before 9 a.m. with options for both resident and nonresidents. An annual permit costs $450 per year and expires each year on Dec. 31 with renewal notices going out in October.
According to Buch, Darien generally offers a brief grace period through January for drivers using expired permits in case anyone might have forgotten to switch out permits. Tickets began going out in February.
Under the proposed regulations, permit holders using an expired permit would face a $100 fine for a first violation. If it happens again, the permit would be revoked and the driver placed on the waiting list.
Other violations included in the current regulations are misrepresenting information on the permit application, misusing or copying a permit to use for more than one car or using a permit on a different car than the one that’s been issued the permit.
While the Board of Selectmen did not take a formal vote on Monday night, all five members voiced their general support for the proposal.
While sympathetic to those hit with fines for forgetting the correct permit, First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky said there is a level of personal responsibility that comes with a permit just like remembering to pay bills or taxes.
“I went through this myself and it’s annoying,” Zagrodzky said. “I learned where to put (the parking permit) so I can see it and I remember to put that tag out. So as much sympathy as I have for folks who forget things, just like a lot of things in life, if you forget, you’ll get shellacked.”
Though both Selectmen Monica McNally and Sarah Neumann noted that $100 was a steep fine, Buch said the price is high for a reason.
“We had somebody who tried to sell their permit on Facebook, we’ve had them giving them to a neighbor or actually outright selling them,” Buch said. “When we’ve got a waitlist of 600 people or so, it’s not fair… it needs to be clear to people that you can’t do this.”
While not as steep as a permanent ban, getting kicked back to the waitlist could mean waiting about five to seven years for another spot. In September, the waiting list for Leroy West lot was 587 names and for Noroton Heights train station parking, 774.
On top of the penalties, Buch’s proposal also includes putting up more signs in parking lots about displaying the proper permits and penalties for not following the rules.
“I think it’s proper to have a meaningful fine if you’re going to also give adequate notice,” Selectman Michael Burke said. “It will make it difficult if there are a couple folks out there who pass off a permit to a friend or neighbor.”
Neumann said between the letters she received in the mail as a permit holder and a sign near the parking lot exit, there was plenty of notice for drivers to display the correct permit, especially now that it’s well into March.
“I think the folks that aren’t using it, that’s a problem,” Neumann said. “If you want to add more signs, I think that’s great. But this is not an accident that people are forgetting to put that on there.”