Grand Avenue Zone Change Gains Ground

With a proposed zoning change to Grand Avenue, Gabriela Campos-Matteson hopes to put in place some ​“New Urbanist” principles — the kind that built city centers a century ago.

Campos-Matteson (pictured), the head of the Grand Avenue Village Association, was one of several speakers who encouraged city zoning officials on Wednesday night to create a new zone for Grand Avenue. Her comments came at the monthly meeting of the City Plan Commission. Commissioners then unanimously approved a proposal that would change Fair Haven’s main business corridor from a BA zone to a BA‑1 zone.

The matter now moves to the Board of Aldermen’s Legislation Committee, where it will be subject to a public hearing on Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Fair Haven Middle School.

Campos-Matteson, who has been working on the proposal for months with City Plan Department staff and Fair Haven’s aldermen, described the plan as a move towards New Urbanism. That movement promotes walkable city centers, density and mixed-use development over cars and big-box chain stores.

Those principles are not new, Campos-Matteson said. They’re the same ideas that (as old ​“urbanism” a century ago) made Grand Avenue into a vibrant, walkable neighborhood with mixed-use buildings close to the sidewalk.

The zoning change is intended to preserve what made the avenue function well as a pedestrian friendly center, Campos-Matteson said. It’s also intended to prevent Grand Avenue from becoming home to any more single-story businesses with huge parking lots out front.

Tom Talbot, the city’s deputy director of zoning, began Wednesday’s meeting by explaining to commissioners how Grand Avenue has developed through the years — from buildings directly off the sidewalk to those big parking lots.

There have been three distinct eras of Grand Avenue development, Talbot explained. He used photographs of existing Grand Avenue buildings to demonstrate the three epochs.

The first, the ​“Traditional Neighborhood Center” predates World War One. Construction from that time is characterized by first floor commercial use, with residential or offices above. Grand Avenue built banks, churches, and schools, as well as single family residences close together on the street.

The second phase Talbot dubbed, ​“The Early Automotive Era,” roughly between the first and second world wars. Buildings were constructed farther back from the street. Automotive uses, like gas stations, were introduced. Single-story commercial spaces were constructed.

Then came the third epoch, ​“The Late Automotive Period.” That’s when Grand Avenue began to ​“lose urban scale completely,” Talbot said. Drive-through restaurants appeared, buildings were placed even farther from the street, and curb cuts proliferated.

The move away from a ​“Traditional Neighborhood Center” towards the Early and Late Automotive Periods was made possible by the zoning on Grand Avenue, Talbot said. ​“The existing BA zone encourages the last two types at the expense of the first.”

A BA zone enables an ​“almost suburban-type strip development,” Talbot said. It also encourages ​“separation of uses,” meaning commercial and residential buildings are kept away from each other. That leads to fewer eyes on the street after business hours, and thus more crime, Talbot said.

A BA‑1 zone will encourage mixed-use of buildings, construction close to the sidewalk, and shared parking lots and access points, minimizing curb cuts, Talbot said.

The change would prevent hotels and automotive businesses from opening on Grand Avenue, Talbot said. It would also make it more difficult for convenience stores and businesses over 5,000 square feet to open. Such businesses would require a special zoning exception.

Fair Haven Aldermen Joey Rodriguez, Migdalia Castro, and Stephanie Bauer spoke in support of the zone change. So did Fair Haven developers Angelo Reyes and Alejandro De Frutos.

The commission voted unanimously to recommend the proposed zoning change. Chair Ed Mattison dubbed it ​“a really remarkable achievement.”

After the vote, Campos-Matteson put her finger on what she hopes the zone change will preserve about Grand Avenue.

“It’s the village look and feel,” she said. ​“People greet you on the street. They hold the door for you.”

At lunchtime on Grand Avenue, people say ​“Buen provecho” (Bon appetit, enjoy your meal) to each other, Castro said. ​“People will say it to strangers,” note Campos-Matteson.

That kind of neighborhood friendliness is supported by the design and architecture of Grand Avenue, Castro and Campos-Matteson said. It’s threatened by areas like the corner of Grand Avenue and Ferry Street, or Grand Avenue and East Pearl Street, where big parking lots occupy the corners. With no lighting and no pedestrians, those areas can be scary, Castro said.

The new zone will help Grand Avenue to develop the way it did a hundred years ago, Campos-Matteson said. ​“New Urbanism is what was around in 1903.”