With two dozen neighbors standing silently by, the zoning board voted to deny a developer permission to rehab a vacant Goatville industrial building into hundreds of new apartments.
That was the scene Tuesday night in the basement of the Hall of Records, where the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) held its monthly meeting.
The BZA voted unanimously to deny an application from developer Ben Gross, who sought to renovate and add new construction to the long-abandoned Star Supply building at the corner of Lawrence and Mechanic streets in the Goatville section of East Rock. The plan called for a mixed-use, 268-apartment complex, rising in some places to a height of seven stories.
The plan required special zoning permission to allow a residential building in an industrial zone, as well as for fewer parking spaces and smaller side yards than otherwise required.
BZA members said Tuesday night that Gross had not demonstrated the necessary hardship to justify a development as tall and dense as he planned. The board denied the plan without prejudice, which means Gross can resubmit a plan for the site in the future.
Reached by phone after the vote, Gross said he and his development team need to regroup and figure out how to change the plans.
In voting against the plan, the BZA sided with concerned neighbors, who had expressed alarm at the proposed height of the building and the limited parking for the number of apartments. In the past weeks, the proposal has sparked lively public debate over just how much parking new developments in New Haven should have.
Tuesday night’s meeting was not a public hearing. Neighbors nonetheless made their message clear. When the Star Supply item came up on the agenda, two dozen people stood up to silently register their presence and their stake in the matter. The group included East Rock Alderwoman Jessica Holmes, who has been organizing concerned neighbors, as well as Alderwomen Jackie James and Dolores Colon, and Pastor Scott Marks.
The group moved to the front of the room, where they had a brief testy exchange with BZA legal counsel when he told them they could not ask any questions.
BZA Chair Pat King began deliberations by acknowledging neighbors’ concerns about density. The developer had said such density was necessary to make the project work financially, but “economic feasibility is not in our purview,” King said.
Parking, however, is with the board’s purview, said King (pictured patching in absent BZA member Ben Trachten on speakerphone). She recalled that the developer had justified the ratio of 0.6 parking spaces per apartment as similar to what exists in Brooklyn. But East Rock is not Brooklyn, she said.
“I’m not sure we meet the requirement with regard to hardship,” said BZA member Regina Winters. She said she lived in the neighborhood for 16 years. “I find it hard to believe that the number of units added would not have a residual effect on neighbors,” she said. “I believe more needs to be done to bring the parking in line with the number of units.”
Other members agreed that the threshold of hardship had not been met. The board voted unanimously to deny the application.
“I’m happy,” Andrew Rae, who lives on Mechanic Street, said after the vote. “I felt that the project was way too big. I’m hoping they will come back with something better.”
“We actually do want this development to happen,” said Alderwoman Holmes. She said it was a shame the BZA hadn’t held the public hearing open as neighbors had requested last month, since Gross would have had more time to adjust the plan to address neighbor’s concerns.
“We’re both surprised and disappointed in the board’s decision,” said Gross. “We were hoping to get an approval through. We want the project to happen. We think it would be a real shame if the couldn’t make the project happen.”
Gross said it’s time to go back to the drawing board. “Our team is going to go back and regroup and see what’s possible. It’s too early to say what the next step will be. Our goal is to make something work on the site. … I can’t guarantee that we’re going to submit another application.”
“This isn’t the vote I expected,” said the Urban Design League’s Anstress Farwell, a longtime planning activist and BZA-watcher. “It’s really good to see that they were listening to neighbors.”