New Haven Independent

“It’s pretty cut and dry here,” Smart, Ward 8’s alderman, told his colleagues at a meeting of the Municipal Services Committee. His proposal recommends that the even side of Olive Street to DePalma Court become residential parking. DePalma to Chestnut would change from two-hour parking to six. The even side of Chestnut to Franklin would be residential, the odd side new six-hour spots. “I hope this will be suitable for both the residents and the restaurants,” Smart said. The nearly dozen Wooster Square reps seated in the back of the chamber nodded in agreement.
Newhallville Alderman Charles Blango said it’s become nearly impossible for people to even walk in the historic neighborhood. “There’s constantly an overload of people because of Pepe’s Pizza, the funeral home, the pastry shop. People who’ve been there 30 or 40 years can’t even get to their homes. Why is it so difficult to accommodate them?”
Paul Wessel, the city’s director of traffic and parking, said the issue right now is time. “I haven’t had time to look at the proposal. I’m just not ready to make a recommendation. We need some time to sit down, talk to Alderman Smart and figure out what’s best.”
Committee Chair Rosa Santana of Fair Haven Heights didn’t agree. Talks for the Wooster Square proposal had been underway since March, she said. In April, Smart held a meeting with city officials. Santana noted that when a similar proposal surfaced for the Hill neighborhood, Wessel met with the appropriate folks, put together a plan and had it swiftly approved. So why was this so different?
“When something takes this long, I sense something is out of the ordinary.”
Traffic officials agreed that this was an atypical situation, and Wessel called for a recommendation to be in place for the Jan. 14 City Plan Commission meeting. The Municipal Services Committee then unanimously approved the recommendations and moved to the next round of items on the agenda.