Thomas MacMillan Photo
As the housing authority moves closer to replacing the troubled Farnam Courts public housing project, Alderman Ernie Santiago said he fears the plan may create a new drug-dealing spot on Chatham Street.
Santiago (at right in photo), who represents part of Fair Haven, raised that concern as new details of the Farnam Courts plan were presented last week at a briefing in City Hall. He was one of a handful of aldermen who met with staff from the Housing Authority of New Haven to discuss plans for rebuilding Farnam Courts, a World War II-era 244-unit public-housing complex at Grand Avenue and Hamilton Street.
The plan calls for Farnam Courts to come down and be rebuilt as a 177-unit complex of “townhouses” and two six-story “mid-rise” apartment buildings. The plan also calls for a new 30-unit complex to be built at the old Cott soda factory at Chatham and Ferry streets in Fair Haven, and for more housing at Eastview Terrace.
The briefing this past Wednesday eveningwas the third to be convened between the housing authority and aldermen affected by the Farnam Courts re-do. Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez said aldermen approached him to organize the meetings. Aldermen have convinced the housing authority to include bike lanes on Grand Avenue in the plans, among other tweaks. The plan includes a park, a “landscape buffer,” and open space that could be used for community gardens.
The housing authority’s Jimmy Miller said all the funding is in place to go ahead with the project except a commitment of $8 million over three years from the city. Tax credits were approved in March that will generate about $15 million, Miller said. The housing authority is putting up $25 million, and $39 million will come from bonds, he said.
The plan requires a zoning change and permission from the Board of Aldermen. If all goes as planned, construction will start in January 2014.
Santiago said he is worried about crime at the Chatham and Ferry site (pictured). He said the parking lot behind the planned buildings would be hidden from the sight of passing police, allowing people to sell drugs there. The area is already a hot spot for prostitution and drug-dealing, he said. “This corner is prostitution alley.”
Santiago asked the housing authority to move a planned building on Chatham Street back from the street, behind a parking lot.
“In an urban area, we don’t normally put buildings back from the street,” said Miller.
“This whole corner is on fire,” Santiago said. It would be better if the parking lot were more visible, he said.
Failing that, what about installing fencing so that drug dealers won’t have an escape route? Santiago asked. “You’ve got to think like a criminal.”
Alderman Perez cautioned against isolating the housing project behind fences.
Miller promised to talk to the local police district manager and see about a way to design the area to make it easier to patrol.
As the plan stands, the neighbors won’t stand for it, Santiago said after the meeting. He said it would be best to have fences with some kind of keycard access. Asked about the danger of the project then feeling like a prison, Santiago said, “Better to feel like a prison” than to be too open to crime.