Top Law Prof. To Look At City’s ​“Berlin Wall”

As part of his quest to tear down the fence that separates his ward from Hamden, West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson has enlisted lawyers from Quinnipiac University. They’ll be meeting at the fence on Monday, to see if the wall warrants legal action.

Goldson said that he hopes the lawyers will tell him that the fence is illegal. Then he could file suit to force Hamden to remove it.

Quinnipiac University Law Professor Jeff Meyer will meet with Goldson on Monday at the fence. They’ll be joined by another law professor and some law students, Goldson said.

They’ll be taking a look at the tall, double-layer fence that has for over a decade separated Hamden from West Rock housing projects. The prospect of legal action grew out of a readers debate sparked by an Independent story about opposition to its removal.

The town of Hamden initially put the fence up to cut down on criminal activity allegedly spilling over from the projects into Hamden. But for people living in the West Rock projects, the fence has meant isolation and inconvenience. To get to jobs or stores in Hamden, they have had to take an extended detour around the fence, involving several long bus rides.

Now that plans are underway to rebuild the West Rock housing projects, Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH) Director Karen DuBois-Walton has expressed interest in removing the fence. But Scott Jackson, the new mayor of Hamden, has said he doesn’t see that happening anytime soon.

HANH representatives recently met with Mayor Jackson. Although no resolution came out of that meeting, ​“we’re beginning a nice process,” DuBois-Walton said on Friday. She said that the housing authority will be meeting with Hamden neighbors to talk about the reconstruction of the West Rock developments and the fence issue. ​“We’re in no hurry,” she said.

But Goldson is. He said he is meeting with the Quinnipiac lawyers in effort to put pressure on Mayor Jackson. ​“I want to investigate all avenues,” he said Friday. While the housing authority is pursuing a ​“diplomatic approach,” he said he is looking into ​“other avenues.”

Goldson presented the situation as a kind of ​“good cop/bad cop” routine, with HANH playing the good cop, and him playing the bad.

Goldson said that he’s looking into the possibility of a lawsuit against the town of Hamden, he said.

That’s if the fence is illegal, Goldson said. He arranged the meeting with Professor Meyer to help answer that question.

“I’m hoping they say, ​‘This is an issue we’re interested in and want to move forward on.’” Goldson said.

Reached by phone on Friday, Meyer described Monday’s meeting as purely informational. ​“There’s no action plan,” he said.

The fence is ​“obviously a very significant issue,” Meyer said. ​“It’s a bit unusual to have a fence separating two towns in this way.”

Meyer declined to comment on whether a lawsuit might be in the works. ​“We having very early discussions. I don’t want to speculate about that.”

DuBois-Walton: Legal Action ​“Premature”

DuBois-Walton contrasted HANH’s approach to the fence issue with Goldson’s. She said the housing authority is planning to follow up on its meeting with Mayor Jackson by meeting with the Dunbar Hills Civic Association. That’s a Hamden neighborhood group comprising the area near the fence. The housing authority will be showing the plans for the new West Rock developments to the group.

Hamden residents are unlikely to support fence removal until after construction begins on the new developments, DuBois-Walton said. ​“Hamden needs to see some building,” she said.

DuBois-Walton said HANH is comfortable with taking a slower approach. Jackson is a very new mayor, and he needs time to address the fence issue, she said.

She expressed disapproval of Goldson’s pursuit of legal action. ​“We’re not looking for some litigation. To me that feels premature,” she said. ​“We owe Mayor Jackson an opportunity to get engaged on this issue.”