Neighbors Riled By Planned DSS Move

Although officials won’t talk about it openly, neighbors have been told the state welfare office is moving from Newhallville’s Bassett Street to James Street in Fair Haven — and they’re not happy about it.

Frank Redente, co-chair of Ward 15 Fair Haven Democratic ward committee, said he met in early January at 370 James St. with Gary Letendrea, representative of Acorn, the company that owns the building; Acorn’s lawyer Mark Sklarz; architect Gerald Kagan; and Carlos Eyzaguirre of the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven. The group talked openly about the fact that the state is planning to move a Department of Social Services (DSS) office to the first floor of the building.

Other city officials said they’re under the understanding that the Bassett Street operation is moving to James Street, in part for better parking and more room for clients, who now often fill the Bassett sidewalk.

A contract has not yet been signed to seal the deal. While officials have acknowledged in public meetings that employees would move from Bassett Street to James, they have been unwilling to talk about the details of the plan on the record.

Neighbors like Redente and longtime Fair Haven community leader Norma Franceschi have decried the plan. They said the neighborhood cannot handle the increased traffic that would come with the large number of DSS clients who would visit the office every day. Those traffic and parking problems can be seen at the current New Haven DSS office on Bassett Street, where double parking is not an unusual sight.

“Our client, 370 James Street, LLC, is negotiating with a prospective tenant, and I do not feel it is appropriate to identify that party or comment further upon the negotiations at this time,” said Sklarz.

A spokesperson from the Department of Administrative Services, which is handling the deal for the state, declined to comment.

Eyzaguirre also declined to speak about the deal, and referred questions to Acorn.

A security guard outside the DSS office on Bassett Street, however, acknowledged the impending move. ​“Wow, word travels fast,” he said.

He said employees at the Bassett Street office have not been told much about the deal beyond the fact that it’s in the works..

Zoners OK

Meanwhile, two city zoning boards have helped lay the groundwork for the deal with recent planning permissions.

While the rest of the building is zoned for office use, the bottom floor of 370 James St., where DSS would move in, is not. The building owner has sought and secured city permission for office use on the ground floor.

The upper levels of the building house a variety of businesses and social service agencies, including New Haven Family Alliance, Cyclone Microsystems, and the state Department of Developmental Services. Across the street is the Amistad Academy charter school.

At Dec. 13 meeting, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved a use variance for the building to allow office use in an industrial zone. It did so with the added condition that the City Plan Commission’s required site plan review be a public hearing.

At the BZA meeting, Sklarz said that the project will include $3.5 million in improvements to the building so that 180 employees could move from Bassett Street to James Street.

A City Plan Department advisory report to the BZA stated only that the state Department of Administrative Services ​“is considering leasing the entire first floor and a portion of the second to expand their services in the New Haven area.” It does not make any reference to DSS.

The BZA approval came over the objections of Redente, Franceschi, and local Alderman Ernie Santiago, who testified at the meeting.

Redente, who’s lived nearby at the corner of Lombard and Main streets for 31 years, told zoners that the proposed use was not compatible with the density and residential character of the neighborhood.

Santiago said the owners hadn’t shown the community what the benefit to the neighborhood would be. He said he’d received numerous concerned phone calls from his constituents. He asked the board to delay a decision.

This month, the City Plan Commission unanimously approved the plan, despite testimony from Santiago and Redente about traffic concerns.

Redente said last week that he doesn’t feel he was listened to at either the BZA or the City Plan Commission meeting. ​“It was rubber stamped by the city.”

“It’s not good,” he said. ​“But they just stuffed it down our throat.”

Redente said his objection is not to the presence of DSS, but only to the traffic problems its presence would cause. He did say he has concerns about people loitering there. ​“That’s going to bring trash” like cigarette butts, he said.

Traffic Trouble?

The plan for 370 James includes the closure of a driveway on James Street across from the Amistad School that accesses a parking lot alongside the building with space for several dozen cars. A new driveway to access the lot would be created around the corner on Humphrey Street, between the highway overpass and the corner of James.

The parking lot for DSS would be separated by a fence from the much larger parking lot in the rear of the building, where there is room for hundreds of cars to park.

While he praised the closure of the James Street driveway as a way to make the street safer for Amistad students, Redente said the Humphrey Street driveway is a bad idea. Everyone coming off the highway at Exit 5 or 6 would go south on James Street, turn right on Humphrey, and then have to cut across east-bound traffic to turn left into the new DSS office, he said.

At the City Plan Commission meeting, City Plan Department Director Karyn Gilvarg said that before recommending the plan her staff also had questions about the proximity of cars emerging from the overpass area. A traffic study was done; the results satisfied City Plan staff that the distances and sight lines would not compromise safety.

The traffic plan includes a shoulder on Humphrey so that cars coming from the west can pull over to make the turn in, while vehicles continuing to James Street would stay to the center.

“We did not find any significant change in service” as a result of the plan, was the conclusion of Sharat Kalluri, the traffic engineer with SCM Smith, who was retained by James LLC

Landlord’s attorney Sklarz was at pains to say that ​“DSS is a prospective tenant,” and that no lease has yet been signed; there were several references to DSS in the discussion between the applicants and the commissioners.

City Plan Commission Chairman Ed Mattison queried how many ​“ins and outs” were likely from the proposed driveway on Humphrey.

Kagan replied that there are 20 or so parking spots at the DSS office on Bassett Street, and they are never filled. The redesigned lot with access from Humphrey will have 31 or 32 spots.

Redente said he and Santiago stayed up late into the evening on the night before the City Plan Commission to come up with an alternative traffic plan to pitch to the City Plan Commission. They came up with the idea that visitors to DSS should access 370 James St. from the other side, by way of John Murphy Drive. That would lead them into the main lot behind the building.

Architect Kagan, whose firm is located at 370 James, said Santiago’s and Redente’s plan was a non-starter because keeping that lot separate from the smaller lot adjacent to Humphrey is basic to the design.

Santiago was disappointed. ​“John Murphy Drive has no kids. It’s perfect,” he argued.

Outside the hearing room after the unanimous vote approving the plan, Fair Haven District Manager Sgt. Anthony Zona said, ​“I welcome new businesses to Fair Haven,” but he added that he worries about double parkers, ​“like on Bassett.”

“If it’s a public safety issue, we’ll address it,” Zona said.

City Plan Chief Gilvarg said while her department’s concerns had been met, or it would not have approved the plan, she intends to keep her eye on the project.

She said if there are accidents or for whatever reason someone wants to revisit the issue, any citizen can file complaint or application through the Complete Streets process. ​“It’ll have to be separate,” she said.

Redente was not mollified. He said he will speak to a lawyer. He later said he decided not to attempt a lawsuit.

“You can’t fight City Hall, he said.