New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Development on city’s Coliseum site tabled for a public hearing
NEW HAVEN — After an hour of discussion, the City Plan Commission Monday agreed to table a decision on the first phase of a major development on the site of the former Coliseum and to hold a public hearing in two weeks, given the significance of the project to New Haven.
It also voted to table a request from Murphy Road Recycling to add household garbage to the material it would accept at its transfer station at 19 Wheeler St. in the Annex neighborhood since staff had not yet received a technical review of those plans by engineering consultant CDM Smith.
The hearing on a Spinnaker Real Estate Partners proposal to develop the five acres at 275 South Orange St., once home to the Coliseum but for years now the site of a large parking lot, will be Oct.7, while the recycling center review is set for Oct. 21. Both plans have generated considerable opposition.
Spinnaker is proposing to build 200 units of housing, 20 percent of which will be affordable on the prime property at the entrance to the city off two major highways downtown,
as well as retail space and a public plaza in the initial phase of a development that will take years to complete.
The requests for a public hearing came from the Downtown Wooster Square and the Hill South management teams, as well as several alders, who said more discussion was needed given the proposal’s impact on the city’s transportation system, street safety, affordable housing, construction and permanent jobs.
“Our purpose and goal is to advocate on behalf of its residents to ensure the development projects match their needs and vision for their communities,” Sarah Mclver and Caroline Smith wrote.
There was no disagreement on tabling Murphy Road Recycling, a project that has been discussed over several years, but the commission voted 4-1 to hold a public hearing on Spinnaker, with Commissioner Leslie Radcliffe arguing the developer has “extended themselves significantly” for multiple discussions on his plans already.
Radcliffe said, in her opinion, there was very detailed response to the questions posed over time at six meetings. Aside from that, Radcliffe said those seeking a public hearing were not specific as to their concerns.
There seems to have been opportunity for meaningful community input, she said. Whether or not the community feels it was responsive is a whole different matter and is not something the commission can decide, she said.
Radcliffe added that the decisions on affordable housing and jobs are not within their purview. Rather than being part of the zoning code, they are part of an an economic development agreement with the city. They commission can only consider zoning code matters.
Those issues, particularly affordable housing, dominated at the public sessions sponsored by the community management teams.
“... I don’t see a merit in having a public hearing,” Radcliffe said. She said input from the community “is a
courtesy and not a right.”
Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, a commission member, told the board that as laudable as the community management team members and the alders’ concerns are about the amount of affordable housing and the degree of discount, as well as labor considerations, they cannot be the basis for a decision on the site plan, although he was in favor of a public hearing.
He said there is enough back and forth on traffic concerns and some of the site plan details to justify hearing from the public.
Commission Chairman Edward Mattison also weighed in.
“This is probably the most significant and among the largest projects that will ever happen in the city of New Haven,” he said. Having been vacant land for a long period of time, Mattison said this plan by Spinnaker seems to be “plausible for development.”
He said changes have been made in discussions with staff and more are likely. Mattison felt the commission “would be abdicating our responsibilities” if it failed to give the public a chance to speak about it.
Spinnaker Real Estate Partners recently modified the income range of tenants who would qualify for the affordable units in the development.
It is mandated to offer 20 percent of the units as affordable, but Frank Caico, vice president for development at Spinnaker, has said “we hope to do better” and they hired a consultant on the affordable component.
At the full build-out, there would be 140 units of affordable housing, with 40 in the first phase of 200 apartments.
Other partners working with Spinnaker include the Fieber Group and KDP. They took over the large project from Live Work Learn Play of Montreal when it could not advance the project after five years given complications on a proposed hotel and potential relocation of utilities.