Neighbors voice concerns

Stony Creek resident Jim Fiora maintains that had the Legacy Theatre followed the proper zoning procedures and sought approval for a special exception, the safety issues being negotiated in court would have been addressed at a public hearing.

“All the public safety issues that any other business would be required to address, like parking and traffic, hours of operation, lighting and noise, were largely made moot when they granted that permit,” said Fiora, who is a member of the nonprofit organization Friends & Neighbors of Stony Creek Inc.

However, there are no specific performance standards in the zoning regulations that govern theaters, the hours of operation and number of performances, according to a Zoning Board of Appeals staff report.

But in order for the Legacy Theatre to survive in an area populated with theaters — the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, the Shubert Theatre, the Yale Repertory Theatre and the Long Wharf Theatre — the business will have to focus on raising enough funds to support productions, said Stony Creek resident Amy Bloom. Yet, the theater’s fund-raising efforts — such as concerts and galas — cannot be at the expense of the immediate neighbors, she said.

The theater “leapfrogged from something that could work in the neighborhood to something that will overwhelm the neighborhood,” Bloom said. “In order to survive, they were going to have to turn their efforts to fund-raising . ... It seems like a wonderful theater. I hope it succeeds. But it is certainly not the right place for a full-time theater that rents out and fund-raises all year-round.”