Allan Appel Photo
The corner lot in question looking north on Olive.
The long-empty lot on the important Wooster Square corner of Olive and Greene Street will remain empty for, well, longer than planned.
That’s because the Historic District Commission (HDC) has rejected, without prejudice, a design for a recently proposed two-family brick house to be erected on the site of a former city parking lot at 109 Olive St.
Ruggiero, foreground, and Rizzo present.
The lot, which was purchased in 2013 from a cash-strapped city by then-New Haven police Capt. (now retired) Andrew Consiglio, is surrounded by a short stout brick wall. It has had at least several iterations of plans for residences.
At the HDC meeting at City Hall last Wednesday, Consiglio’s designer, Max Ruggiero, accompanied by his consultant, former city Building Official Andy Rizzo, presented, in a second appearance, schematic drawings of the two-family brick house proposed for the site.
The insufficient detail was the theme of a half hour’s intensive questioning by the commissioners.
“Your plan doesn’t show any mechanical equipment. Roof vents?”
“No,” said Ruggiero.
“We had asked about the building’s profile, its height and massing were not similar to others in the area. Has any of that changed at all?”
Ruggiero: “No, it hasn’t.”
“Does the brick [wall] go to grade?” asked Commissioner Susan Godshall. When Ruggiero answered in the affirmative, Godshall asked, “Is that typical of the area?”
“There are some.”
“Often there is an ornamental course” before it hits grade, Godshall counseled.
One of the inadequately detailed elevations presented.
“We eliminated that because someone here suggested we do that,” Ruggiero responded.
Commissioner Doug Royalty noticed that Rizzo had brought some materials samples with him.
“Are those real bricks?” Royalty asked.
“Of course,” replied Rizzo.
“I just wanted to be sure it’s not a veneer,” said Royalty.
And so it went, skepticism about an absence of a fundamental concept for the house or how it fit into the vernacular of the area, fueled by an absence of detail.
There was particular objection to the proposed cross-gabled roof, who would be unusual in the area. Royalty said a roof is the most important element to conform to the neighborhood,. Commissioner Susan Godshall asked why the designer even needed a cross gable, as it covered non-living space.
“It’s just a design,” said Ruggiero.
“A single gable gives more height, and you might like it better,” Godshall replied. “And we need to see [the level of detail in] drawings you’d give to a contractor.”
“That costs money,” replied Rizzo, who added that unless he’s forgotten, the simpler drawings presented were all that had been required during his tenure with the city.
Commissioner Susan Godshall examines documents.
Commissioner Learned concluded: “Until we have documentation so we know what we’re going to agree to, we can’t give you a certificate of appropriateness.” She then ticked off a whole list of items that were wanting.
New Haven Urban Design League President Anstress Farwell, who spoke during the public comment portion of the hearing, emphasized the importance to a neighborhood of a corner lot. She urged the applicants to work with the city and with New Haven Preservation Trust staffer Elizabeth Holt, who was also in attendance, to come up with a better plan.
“Very simple buildings can be built. There is a good solution out there, but you don’t have a complete application,” she argued.
The time of the application’s eligibility was close to expiring; 65 days are allowed from a first appearance before the HDC to obtain a certificate of appropriateness. So Rizzo asked the commissioners to let Consiglio and his team withdraw the application.
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve a motion to withdraw the application, without prejudice, which meant the team can re-apply as soon as next month.
“We’ll withdraw, and work on all these issues,” said Rizzo. “We’ll go back to the drawing board.”