City of New Haven Rendering
A rendering of a proposed "walkable" Long Wharf.
Thomas Breen photo
Cannabis dispensary, now under construction at ex-Long Wharf Theatre site.
“Given the increasing likelihood of more frequent and severe storms, should we as a city pull back from the shoreline, or should we allow more development in coastal areas?”
Westville Alder Adam Marchand posed that question to his fellow local legislators — and successfully urged his colleagues to choose the latter vision and rezone Long Wharf to become more walkable and densely built.
On Monday, Sept. 18, the Board of Alders passed a zoning code amendment with the goal of transforming Long Wharf from a waterfront hub of industrial and storage facilities into a neighborhood where people can easily live and walk around.
The change in zoning marks a crucial step in the Elicker administration’s effort to transform Long Wharf, a neighborhood currently known for being an eclectic hub of fishermen, food trucks, warehouses, and hotels — all adjacent to the highway and the Long Island Sound.
It comes soon before a one-year moratorium on new development in Long Wharf is slated to end on Oct. 14.
On Sept. 18, alders voted to create a new zoning designation: a “mixed-use Long Wharf” (MULW) zone, which would encourage more density and retail.
That same evening, alders voted to apply the MULW zone to Long Wharf, and to allow cannabis businesses to operate in the MULW zone. One such cannabis dispensary is already underway, at the ex-Long Wharf Theatre site at 222 Sargent Dr. in the industrial Food Terminal.
As a result of the alder-approved zoning change, stores, restaurants, offices, and salons will be able to open up “as of right” in Long Wharf, without any special approvals. A “trade school” is also intrinsically permitted in the zone, in line with an Elicker administration proposal to bring Gateway Community College’s automotive training school to the neighborhood.
Other potential kinds of developments — including upper-floor residential units, childcare centers, funeral homes, hotels, rooming houses, and “recovery care centers” — may be allowed by a “special permit” granted by the City Plan Commission.
Meanwhile, under the new zone, developers will not be able to replicate many of the kinds of buildings that currently exist in Long Wharf — such as auto repair shops, gas stations, and warehouses.
At an August Legislation Committee meeting, alders initially expressed concern about whether Long Wharf’s proximity to the highway — and vulnerability to flooding as sea levels rise — will prevent it from becoming the walkable haven that city planners envision.
Laura Glesby Photo
Westville Alder Adam Marchand: Pull back or invest in the coast?
After pushback from local door security manufacturer Assa Abloy, alders amended the new legislation to allow that company to expand within the bounds of its current parcel (as long as it conforms to the flood-related provisions in the new zoning.)
Ultimately, a majority of alders voted in favor of reclassifying Long Wharf under a new “MULW” zone.
Advocating for this change during the meeting, Marchand praised the “rigorous standards for this special flood area designed to protect life and property,” referring to flood safety requirements included in the zoning amendment.
Legislation Committee Chair and Wooster Square Alder Ellen Cupo heralded the amendment as critical to a “more walkable and livable environment” in Long Wharf.
Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez, whose ward includes Long Wharf, reflected after the meeting that Long Wharf is a “gem of the city,” noting that the waterfront is the first glimpse of New Haven that northbound drivers see from the highway.
Rodriguez stressed that the new zone change would not “displace” any current businesses. It will, she said, “bring more housing into the area” and ensure that “those that live in this area can live there safely.”
The only alders to oppose the rezoning effort were Majority Leader/Westville Alder Richard Furlow and Fair Haven Alder Jose Crespo, who both typically vote against legislation that will allow for cannabis-related businesses in the city.
After the meeting, Furlow confirmed that he opposed the zoning changes because of the cannabis provisions, noting that he worries about the long-term health effects of cannabis use.
Thomas Breen photos
Outside, and inside, the former Long Wharf Theatre on Sargent Drive.
Meanwhile, at 222 Sargent Dr., the longtime former home of the now-itinerant Long Wharf Theatre, the Massachusetts-based cannabis company INSA appears to be getting ready to begin construction of a new dispensary.
That dispensary proposal won site plan and special permit approval from the City Plan Commission in July.
Two signs taped to the former theater’s front doors show the word “INSA,” which is the name of the ten-year-old cannabis company with 15 establishments across Massachusetts, Ohio, and Florida that will be running the ex-Long Wharf Theatre site. Those signs also show the words “Mosaic Construction,”
The city’s online building permit database also shows that, on Sept. 18, the property’s owner, the New Haven Food Terminal, and a New Britain-based contractor named Leonard Markese, pulled a permit for roughly $60,000 in work to “remove stadium seating, counters, cabinets, doors, frames, bathroom flooring and fixtures at the old Long Wharf Theatre. Nothing structural.” That permit states that any other work will require additional permits.
Thomas Breen contributed to this report.