Parking Exception Sought For Retail Space Next To L.L. Bean

Yale is adding a little more retail space next door to the new L.L. Bean store on Elm Street, and is asking for permission to add fewer than the required number of parking spaces.

It has filed a request for a special exception. The BZA public hearing on whether to grant that parking exception for the other retail space is scheduled for July 24.

The request grows out of new retail space Yale is creating on the first two floors of a building at 272 – 310 Elm St. Most of that space will be occupied by a new L.L. Bean store , which opens next month.

The special exception is needed for approximately 690 gross square feet of additional space on the second floor of the new Elm Street building, adjacent to the new L.L .Bean store. (The Independent previously reported, incorrectly, that the request was for the L.L. Bean space itself. We apologize for the error.)

Yale is requesting a modification to a special exception that it had previously been granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals in connection with the new six-story building at 272 – 310 Elm. That exception allowed the university to have zero onsite parking where originally 101 spaces would have been required. Parking requirements have since been amended by the city and the new standard requires 50 spaces.

A change in the design for the Elm Street building has triggered the need for two more parking spaces to meet the new standard. The university is now asking for relief under the new parking standard to accommodate the changed design.

“This space, which is located in the north portion of the building fronting Elm Street was originally designated as part of a residential common room in the original approved plan,” according to a narrative provided by the university to the BZA. ​“Upon further design review, a modification was made to orient the common room solely toward the courtyard that fronts Davenport College.”

“The proposed additional retail space will provide a contiguous flow of retail space on the busier street frontage side and provide adequate space for a future retail/restaurant tenant,” according to the narrative.

That said L.L. Bean is still planning an August opening. It is scheduled to be a three-day event, Aug. 3 – 5, according to this report from the New Haven Register’s Mary O’Leary.