Council refers parking meter ordinance dispute to committee
Town Council · Meeting of March 24, 2026
New Canaan Town Council reviews FY27 budget, splits over parking meter legality. Finance presenter Ryan Stacy detailed department changes including a 33.5 percent jump in tax collector spending and a 5.2 percent rise in parking costs tied to new Elm Street meters. Council members Kim Norton and Christina Ross argued the meters were installed without a required ordinance update or public hearing, with Norton saying they are "there without authorization." A town official identified as Diana defended the rollout, noting the council "unanimously approved the bonding" for the meters.
The council referred the town's 1964 parking ordinance to its Bylaws and Ordinances Committee before any Main Street expansion. Separately, Library Executive Director Ellen Cordato and board Chairman Rob Low pressed the case for a $1 million town grant toward restoring the library's 1913 Legacy Building, telling the council pledges and cash on hand, about $1.8 million, exceed the $1.7 million still owed on the library's construction loan.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 923 words
Source: the Town Council meeting of March 24, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
NEW CANAAN — March 24, 2026 — The New Canaan Town Council spent more than three hours Tuesday reviewing the town's proposed fiscal 2027 budget, hearing a request for a $1 million town grant toward restoring the New Canaan Library's historic Legacy Building and clashing over whether the Elm Street parking meters installed this year violate a 1964 town ordinance that was never updated.
No formal budget votes were taken at the session, which was devoted to line-by-line review of general government departments and the library's operating and capital requests. The council did refer the town's outdated parking ordinances to its Bylaws and Ordinances Committee after two members argued the Elm Street meter program was never properly brought before the council.
The Full Story
Ryan Stacy, who presented the town's general government budget, walked the council through department-by-department changes, including a 2.3 percent increase in finance, a 33.5 percent increase in the tax collector's office tied to combining part-time assessor and collector positions into one full-time role, and a 9.4 percent, $40,000 increase in the legal budget that covers the town's $425,000 attorney retainer plus new costs for charter revision and zoning regulation updates. Parking department spending is proposed to rise 5.2 percent, driven partly by new credit card and software fees tied to the Elm Street meters and eight new parking machines proposed for Main Street at a cost of $90,774. Stacy said the town expects a 3.4 percent increase in current tax collections, based on a Board of Finance recommendation that assumes a $5 million fund balance drawdown to be decided in June.
The parking discussion turned contentious when council members Kim Norton and Christina Ross said the Elm Street meters, installed under the administration this year, were never formally presented to the council for an ordinance amendment or public hearing, as they said past parking changes have been. A town official identified in the meeting only as Diana, who described the Elm Street rollout as her office's initiative dating to her election campaign two years ago, said the project went through last year's budget cycle and that the council unanimously approved bonding for the meters. Councilman Eric noted that the governing ordinance, Chapter 41, was adopted June 17, 1964, and said he could find nothing in the town charter or ordinance explicitly barring meters on a public street. The council agreed to refer a full ordinance review to its Bylaws and Ordinances Committee before any meters are added on Main Street.
Library Executive Director Ellen Cordato and a library colleague, Cheryl, presented a $105,500, 3.5 percent increase to the library's operating budget, most of it tied to cost-of-living salary increases. Cordato said the library's town grant, about $3.45 million, is roughly $150,000 higher than in past years because the town this year began allocating the library a share of the town's administrative, network and stop-loss insurance costs based on 9.3 percent of townwide staffing. The bulk of the discussion centered on a $1 million capital request, already earmarked in the Board of Finance's approved capital budget, to help restore the library's Legacy Building, the preserved 1913 structure moved during the library's recent construction project. Library Board Chairman Rob Low told the council the roughly $1.7 million the library still owes on a town-provided construction loan facility is more than covered by $1.8 million in cash and pledges already in hand.
"I am completely not in support of the new proposal, and I feel like the meters that are on Elm Street now are there without authorization, and I think it's a serious problem that needs to be corrected." — Kim Norton, Town Council member
"It was voted on unanimously, so I don't know if you didn't read the bond resolution, but it was in all of those places." — Diana, town official overseeing the Elm Street parking program
"We have more than the 1.7 covered. So you should feel very, very good that that 1.7 is taken care of." — Rob Low, New Canaan Library board chairman
Council members split on the library request. Penny Young questioned why the Board of Finance approved the $1 million "without any questioning," and Councilman Mike said he was concerned the Legacy Building's use as rental meeting space fell outside the library's core mission. Councilwoman Hillary and council member Jennifer both spoke in support, with Hillary noting the library has already repaid $2.3 million of its original loan facility ahead of schedule. Cordato said the town's earmark would strengthen the library's pending application for an additional $1 million state library construction grant.
Why It Matters
The council's review sets up decisions still to come: the Board of Finance's $5 million fund-balance assumption behind the FY27 tax rate is due to be finalized in June, and the library's $1 million Legacy Building earmark, already in the Board of Finance's approved capital budget, still needs Town Council action. Separately, the parking ordinance dispute means any expansion of metered parking to Main Street, currently a $90,774 placeholder in the capital budget, cannot move forward until the Bylaws and Ordinances Committee updates the 62-year-old ordinance governing where meters may legally be installed.
Key Motions & Votes
- Action: Review of the town's 1964 parking meter ordinance (Chapter 41) as it relates to Elm Street and proposed Main Street meters — Referred to the Bylaws and Ordinances Committee. - Vote: Motion to adjourn the meeting Tally: Approved unanimously
Source
Town Of New Canaan: Town Council meeting, March 24, 2026