Allan Appel Photo
The Ferry/Saltonstall lot looking east.
The city plans to sell four vacant lots to a not-for-profit in town at $1,000 a pop so affordable houses can be erected on three of them and an open community space maintained on the fourth.
The city turned around and became a purchaser, buying yet another vacant lot, for a buck. The plan is to sell it for a modest amount so another affordable house can be erected on it in the not too distant future.
All that planning for $4,001 covering five properties took place Wednesday night as the City Plan commissioners approved the planned sale of three vacant lots around town to Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven and one lot to a local minister and his church.
The proposed sales now go before the Board of Alders for full approval.
Habitat is buying 186-192 Ferry St., right at the corner of Saltonstall Avenue; another corner lot at 13-15 Rock Creek Rd.; and another vacant lot at 119 Davenport Ave.
Pastor Michael Clyburn, of Greater Deliverance Tabernacle Church in Newhallville, is purchasing 261-265 Starr St., also for $1,000, for use by the church as a site for parking and recreational activities.
According to the City Plan staff report, “While this property has previously been considered for sale [directly] to the Greater Deliverance Tabernacle Church . . . private ownership of the property provides the best current option for maintenance and security.”
The city, through its Livable City Initiative office, wanted to pursue another site for an affordable house to be built in partnership with a not-for-profit.
The location in question, 384 Blatchley St., is owned by the Corporation for Urban Homeownership (CUHO), which sold it to the city for one dollar.
Unlike at the other sites, the city is still looking for an owner-partner to whom to sell this property for the purpose of building an affordable house.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven has built nearly 100 homes in the area since the early 1980s.
All the purchases are subject to a five-year owner-occupancy requirement, said City Plan staffer Anne Hartjen.