Alders OK pause on Long Wharf development
PHOTO | NEW HAVEN BIZ
Sports Haven on Long Wharf Drive in New Haven may be demolished to build a truck lot under a new proposal.
New Haven city planners now have a year to determine how to redevelop the city’s Long Wharf District without “development pressure,” thanks to a new ordinance approved by the Board of Alders on Monday night.
The alders present at the regular meeting okayed a 12-month moratorium on submission and approval of any development activity including “building permits, site plans, variances, special exceptions, special permits, lot splits and rezoning amendments.”
Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow said, “This moratorium reduces the impact of development pressure while the city contemplates and implements strategies to achieve the highest and best use of the land corresponding with zoning and other planning principles within the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan area.”
Calling the measure a “pause,” Furlow added that the moratorium will also allow for more environmentally aware development and greater public input into the future of Long Wharf.
The city's planning commission approved the moratorium in July, citing a need to update earlier redevelopment blueprints. The Board of Alders vote makes the move official.
City Plan Director Laura Brown said, “The moratorium will allow City Plan time to align the current zoning with the frameworks that are presented in the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan,” citing a document that divides the district into activity zones to spur development.
Property owners can file written requests to the Board of Alders for special exemptions to the moratorium, planners said.
Despite the city’s ambitious plans to create a mixed-use district with residential and retail areas, industrial businesses have been seeking to build in the Long Wharf district, Brown said. Current zoning rules allow for heavy industry in the area, limiting the city’s influence on development.
Recent applicants to build on Long Wharf include a proposal for 600 Long Wharf Drive that would demolish the Sports Haven building and replace it with a 264-space trailer-truck parking lot. The proposal was submitted before the moratorium vote.
“Truck trailers will be parked on the site for short and long-term storage to support various trucking operations throughout New England,” reads the proposal, submitted by Hardik Parekh of 600 Long Wharf Drive Industrial LLC, based in Queens, N.Y.
The proposed truck lot is on the agenda for Wednesday night’s regular city planning commission meeting.
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.
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