Thomas Breen photo
15 Colby Ct., to be replaced by 4 new townhouse rentals.
A pair of plans to build four needed houses apiece moved ahead for underused plots of Upper Westville and Newhallville.
The City Plan Commission signed off on those two separate four-house proposals during its latest monthly online meeting.
The first site plan approval pertained to 15 Colby Court, a 0.19-acre plot that currently holds a vacant single-family house that was badly damaged by a fire in February 2020 that displaced six people.
Local attorney Ben Trachten explained to the commissioners that the property’s owner, a company controlled by Ferdinand Escoffery of Bethany, plans to demolish the burned-out house and build in its stead four new townhouse-style apartments.
In compliance with the city’s Inclusionary Zoning ordinance, one of those four new rentals will be restricted for 99 years to tenants making no more than 50 percent of the area median income (AMI). That currently translates to an annual income of $58,050 for a family of four.
Each of the four new townhouses will have its own driveway and garage as well as new sidewalks and wooden decks, he said.
Why did the builder decide to go with a three-story building instead of two-story, as is the case with most of the other multi-family buildings on the block? asked Commissioner Joshua Van Hoesen.
That was just a design decision of the developer, Trachten replied.
“I don’t find the other existing buildings particularly notable or attractive” today, he said. Hopefully these new homes will improve the neighborhood.
The commissioners voted unanimously in support of the demolition-and-redevelopment plan.
The next four-house proposal to win approval from the commission at the City Plan Commission’s May 15 meeting was for 88, 94, and 98 Hazel St.
That’s where the long-time local affordable homeownership nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven plans to construct four new two-family houses with parking.
City Assistant Director of Comprehensive Planning Esther Rose-Wilen explained that the developer has demolished the former house at 98 Hazel St. to make way for these four new two-family homes.
As Neighborhood Housing Services Executive Director Jim Paley said, each house will be sold to a first-time homebuyer making no more than 80 percent AMI, which currently translates to $92,900 for a family of four. One dwelling unit in each of the four two-family houses must be occupied by the property’s owner, while the other can be rented out to provide that first-time homeowner with a stream of rental income.
“In the Newhallville neighborhood, owner occupancy is really, really important to strengthen the fabric of the neighborhood,” Paley said. “Homeownership is becoming increasingly scarce of low and moderate-income families.”
He described the affordable homeownership initiatives that NHS pursues through projects like this on Hazel Street as one of the “last opportunities in many of the neighborhoods to be able to produce owner-occupied homes.” He also noted that it takes “an enormous amount of subsidy” to be able to develop these homes, and that Neighborhood Housing Services has secured enough financing to follow through on this Hazel Street four-house development.
Before the commissioners voted unanimously in support of the proposal, City Plan Commission Vice-Chair Ernest Pagan praised the nonprofit for its continued work in Newhallville and across the city, citing housing as “a major issue” for all of New Haven. “Keep up the good work.”