Thomas MacMillan Photo
Developer Gross: We’re still listening.
Plans for a new life for a long-vacant industrial building cleared a key hurdle, leaving the local alderwoman still pressing for a promise that Goatville won’t wake up to find a looming tower over the neighborhood and the disappearance of needed parking.
In a special meeting Thursday evening, the City Plan Commission approved the plan to convert the empty former Star Supply industrial building at the corner of Lawrence and Mechanic streets into a 268-unit apartment building with 21,000 feet of retail and commercial space. The commissioners added two conditions to the approval to addres neighbors’ parking concerns.
The proposal now heads back to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) for final approval.
East Rock Alderwoman Jessica Holmes said she’d like to have some written promises from the developer before the BZA votes on the plan. She said neighbors would like the building to be shorter than it is now planned and to have fewer units, and thus require less parking.
Ben Gross (pictured at the top of the story), the developer, said he’s committed to satisfying the neighborhood’s concerns. He said he can’t change the plans at this point in the process, but that they could still change somewhat, after BZA approval.
Grosss’ Star Supply development plans have become a flashpoint for debate about parking needs and fears of gentrification in what is described as the last working-class section of East Rock.
Neighbors are concerned that the development’s new tenants would take up all the parking spots in the area, and that the apartments will be priced only for the wealthy. New urbanist supporters of the plan call the city’s parking requirements out of date and argue that the plan could bring life to a dead spot.
Since the building is in an industrial zone, Gross needs variances to permit residential uses there, as well as permission to have smaller side yards and fewer parking spaces than otherwise required.
According to zoning regulations, the building requires 385 parking spaces. The proposed development includes 37 parking spaces for stores planned there and 161 for the apartments, a ratio of 0.6 spaces per dwelling.
City Plan Director Karyn Gilvarg (pictured) told commissioners Thursday evening that the parking ratio may be close to “the tipping point” when cars would spillover into surrounding streets for parking. To address that, the City Plan Department proposed two conditions to the commission’s approval.
First, if a restaurant wants to move into the retail space and have a full liquor permit, it will require a special exception so that city zoners can consider the parking impact. Second, residential and retail spaces will be clearly marked as such. The commission accepted both as conditions of its approval.
Gilvarg said Gross made good case for having limited parking based on the good availability of public transportation and the high number of people in the area who commute by bike all year round.
She said the applicants also cited two city planning institutes who recommend a 0.6 ratio of parking spaces to apartments in similar developments.
Other sources could probably give different recommendations, said Westville Alderman Adam Marchand (pictured), who sits on the commission. He asked if other developments in town have had such a low ratio.
Gilvarg said 360 State, the 32-story downtown tower, has a parking-to-apartment ratio of 0.67.
Star Supply presents a different situation from 360 State since it sits in a residential area, Marchand said. He asked about making the new building shorter than seven stories.
Commission Chair Ed Mattison (a former East Rock alderman, pictured) said many developers have looked to rehabilitate the Star Supply site, and many have failed. Reducing the height of the buildings could make the project economically unfeasible, he warned.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the proposal.
After the meeting, Alderwoman Holmes said she would like to see the project move forward, but she still has concerns. She said she’s looking to have a couple of promises in writing before the BZA votes on the plan: Limit the buildings to five stories tall and have no more than of 215 units, instead of 268.
Gross said he will continue to try to address neighbors’ concerns about size and parking. Asked why he hasn’t changed the plans despite several meetings with neighbors, he said, “because we have an application under consideration.”
If the BZA approves the proposal, then he will have a better sense of the “envelope” he can work within, the parameters of what’s permissible, Gross said.
Gross said it’s “totally understandable” that neighbors might be concerned they’ll lose their leverage if the BZA approves the plan. “But I hope we’ve made it clear we are listening to them.”
He said the plans “are not set in stone” and may change after BZA approval.