Cannabis zoning map proposal; legal sales districts shaded in purple.
Should the city allow for the legal sale of cannabis on Long Wharf? Or is recreational pot not a good part of the plan for that to-be-developed waterfront district?
Local legislators grappled with those questions — among many others — as they worked through a first draft of the city’s proposed zoning regulations for where marijuana sales may and may not take place in town.
Pitching Democrats Saturday (clockwise from top left): Stephanie Thomas, Darryl Brackeen Jr., Martiza Bond, Hilda Santiago, Matt Lesser, Josh Elliott.
As soon as New Haven Health Director Maritza Bond took the stage to pitch her candidacy for secretary of the state, she asked the crowd to applaud Alder Darryl Brackeen Jr., another candidate, for his work throughout the pandemic.
When he got up to speak after her, he returned the gratitude with another round of applause, this time for her work.
That reflected the tone Saturday as six Democrats seeking the party’s nomination for the state’s top elections position gathered in person at a forum in New Haven to make their case, and try to set themselves apart from the pack.
Cannabis could be sold within the purple areas of this map.
Planners passed forward a map of suggested places to allow cannabis sales in town — while recommending that alders mellow out rather than rush to finalize rules, and that they redo the math calculating distances from dispensaries to public schools.
The City Plan Commission offered those recommendations after an hours-long debate Wednesday night.
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Thomas Breen |
Mar 25, 2022 12:34 pm
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City legislative affairs chief Kevin Alvarez at commission meeting.
New Haven-backed state bills that would allow public housing authorities to develop properties in neighboring towns and that would require an assessment of the statewide need for affordable housing have advanced out of committee.
A third City Hall-endorsed housing reform bill — designed to promote transit-oriented development across Connecticut — is still in committee, with a potential public hearing coming soon.
Consultant report: Try out guaranteed income pilot with ARPA $. Mayor Elicker: Not worth it with this pot of money.
Should the city use federal aid to send $500 per month to a small group of economically vulnerable residents?
Or would such a “guaranteed income” pilot program offer too little long-term bang for the city’s buck, and is therefore not the best use of New Haven’s limited pandemic-relief funds?
Bike lanes, or cars? Outside P&M Orange Street Market Thursday.
The city vowed to reconfigure Orange Street to stop drivers from “dooring” cyclists — while neighbors and business owners questioned whether the solution should involve removing half of the on-road parking.
Fair Haven Alder Ernie Santiago, Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter, and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers at budget workshop.
How low could the mill rate go if the mayor scraps his planned reval phase-in?
36? 32.7? Somewhere in between?
Top city budget officials and committee alders debated that question during the first “workshop” on Mayor Justin Elicker’s proposed $633 million budget.
Patricia Wallace: Seniors, renters feeling the squeeze.
Even if the city phases in higher property values over the next five years, landlords will likely pass along higher rents next year — if the mill rate doesn’t drop further.
New York-based developer Nitsan Ben-Horin offered those words of caution during a virtual “town hall” about the mayor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022 – 23 (FY23) budget. And he wasn’t alone, as landlords sounded an alarm.
Capt. Zannelli: New policy in line with state mandates.
Police commissioners unanimously signed off on a new alcohol and drug policy that adds anabolic steroids to its list of prohibited substances, and that maintains a departmental ban on marijuana use — even though the state has newly legalized recreational cannabis.
The Corsair: FY23 tax bill with phase-in: $1.1M. Full FY23 tax bill at lower mill rate without phase-in: $1.6M.
Thomas Breen photo
360 State. Phased-in FY23 tax bill: $2.2M. Full FY23 tax bill at lower mill rate: $2.4M.
Mandy-controlled four-family home at 310 W. Division. Phased-in FY23 tax bill: $6.3K. Full FY23 tax bill at lower mill rate: $7.8K.
(News analysis) A tax-assessment phase-in aimed at helping struggling homeowners would end up reaping some of the biggest bucks for two other groups in town: luxury housing developers and poverty megalandlords.
A Wooster Square developer’s altered plans for a 13-story apartment complex include more affordable housing and sidewalk improvements — drawing a mix of praise and criticism in its quest for support.
Ice cream might be pure happiness for Elena Grewal — but not completely to some of her East Rock neighbors, if it’s offered up with wine and beer.
That divide emerged Tuesday night at a Zoom-assisted meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals at which Grewal’s request for relief for a new shop was heard.
An adult “Las Vegas-style” “cabaret” with exotic dancers and late-night night drinking will bring economic revival and safety to a forlorn industrial zone.
So said the people looking to open said strip joint.
To which neighbors responded: In case you haven’t noticed, people live here. People from New Haven, not Las Vegas.
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Kimberly Wipfler |
Feb 7, 2022 4:33 pm
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Kimberly Wipfler File Photo
Brackeen: Time to try UBI.
Darryl Brackeen says New Haven has a way to help working-class families get their child tax credits back — and test out a longer-term poverty-fighting idea in the process.
Too close for Southern Comfort? Crown Street's Wine Thief.
Thomas Breen Photo
Michael Hendrix: "Doesn't bother me" if another liquor store opens.
A Crown Street “package” store is taking the city and a downtown landlord to court, in a bid to squelch new booze-dispensing competition from opening two blocks away at the corner of High Street.
Cynthia Jennings has been involved in elections with three different parties — and has concluded the state needs someone from a fourth party to oversee the vote.
Secretary of the state candidate Stephanie Thomas at WNHH FM.
“Civic engagement” was more than an abstract concept for Stephanie Thomas when she was in high school. It provided her a warm place, with lights on, to do her homework.
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Thomas Breen |
Jan 11, 2022 4:44 pm
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Couple picks up marriage license at Vital Statistics office.
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Monday night's Board of Ethics virtual meeting.
Should a city staffer whose job it is to process marriage certificates be allowed to perform weddings for pay during or after work time?
Or does that double duty as a for-hire justice of the peace create a conflict of interest — since the clerk’s City Hall job could give them an unfair advantage and a private financial incentive to use their public role to boost private clientele?
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Maya McFadden and Paul Bass |
Jan 11, 2022 1:40 pm
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More masks. More tests. The option to go remote — just for a few weeks until the Covid-19 Omicron-variant surge passes.
Teachers are pressing those requests at a statewide “wear-black” event planned for Wednesday. Some students and board members joined in those requests at Monday night’s New Haven Board of Education meeting. And New Haven teachers union President Leslie Blatteau went into depth on the issue — and its place in the current national political dialogue — during a Tuesday radio appearance.
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Nora Grace-Flood |
Jan 11, 2022 1:01 pm
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Attorney Steve Mednick addresses Hamden's Legislative Council Monday night.
Just four months after Hamden’s old Legislative Council vetoed a year’s worth of edits to a ten-year-old town charter, a new administration has unanimously appointed seven volunteers to resurrect the revision process.
The city is looking to put Whitney Avenue on a “diet” — to slim down the roadway to make it safer for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Some neighbors at the latest community meeting embraced the waist-trimming regimen; others were not so sure.
