New Haven Independent

The setting was a meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Committee of Whole at Betsy Ross School. Since all aldermen serve on that committee, last night’s vote signals that the full board will likely approve next and the zoning change become law.

The new plan creates BD-2 business/medical district for building the tall, dense project. The new district will include the controversial “Lot E,” a block bounded by Legion Avenue, Frontage Road, and Dwight and Howe streets, but removes “Lot 1” and “Lot X,” where the hospital originally also talked of garages.

The vote, however, does not settle the question of whether a garage ends up on Lot E with the full 1,300 spaces envisioned by the hospital when the city sells it to Yale-New Haven. It merely places that property in the zone.

“We’re not selling it today and we’re not selling it tomorrow, so it doesn’t matter what zone it’s in,” said Alderman Jorge Perez.

City Plan Chief Karyn Gilvarg said she was comfortable recommending the zoning map ammendment, especially after traffic-easing easements like underground loading and parking beneath the Air Rights garage and a pedestrian bridge from the garage to the cancer center.

Gilvarg said she isn’t worried about a Lot E garage, either, which she called better than nothing. “Hypothetically, without a garage, the people would come anyway. We’d see people flooding into the Hill and the neighborhood.” Better to combine a residential parking plan all around the hospital with a well-sited, “right-sized” garage, she said, and better the city-owned Lot E than one of the other, multiply owned sites a Mayor’s Task Force had considered back in 2003.

“Either someone’s got to look at spending a lot of money, or the city’s got to look at eminent domain — and then there’s Lot E,” she said.

“We consider this a consensus recommendation,” said Norman Roth, the senior vice president of administration for the hospital, which gained in the agreement a hospital-only lane on Park Street for radiation patients during treatment hours. He promised continued responsiveness to community concerns about traffic and added air pollution, and assured that any movement toward sale of “Lot E” for a garage would mean more public discussion.

More Cars — No More Pollution?

A taste of that discussion came when scientist Mitchell Wurmbrand (in photo at top of story) stepped up to offer “expert testimony on behalf of Yale-New Haven Hospital” on the environmental impact of the proposed cancer center.

“How much more pollution, traffic, and congestion would result from a new cancer center?” asked Wurmbrand. “The short answer is, none.”

Aldermen were not satisfied by the short answer, or by Wurmbrand’s data evidence, which they suggested didn’t include the right comparisons.

On the issue of high ozone concentrations, Alderwoman Joyce Chen wanted figures for New Haven as compared to other places, not New Haven now compared to New Haven in the past, as Wurmbrand supplied.

“Your report doesn’t include our relative ozone as you did with other levels, with nitrogen dioxide and emissions. Days of high ozone concentration do exceed the rest of the state in New Haven,” said Chen.

On the issue of air pollution from extra cars, Alderman Alex Rhodeen wanted data for the Hill neighborhood with a cancer center versus the Hill without a cancer center, not Greater New Haven now versus Greater New Haven when car technology is cleaner.

“Even with a 3 to 6 percent increase in traffic at peak times, resultant vehicular emissions will decrease thanks to federal air control programs,” testified Wurmbrand.

“There will be an increase in what there otherwise would be if there were less vehicles, is that accurate?” asked Alderman Rhodeen. “What produces more pollution: one car or two cars?”

“What we know is the Hill has the highest asthma rates in New Haven, and New Haven has the highest asthma rates in the state, and the state is number four for asthma is U.S. That’s what we’re concerned about,” said Alderman Edward Mattison.

Hospital attorney Susan Bryson stepped in to remind aldermen that there would be later forums to discuss the issue, designating Thursday a night for talk of zoning and the “exciting status” of the project. On air quality, Bryson said, “We think it will be improved, but we’re not saying that yet. Improved traffic flow will help.”

More than one alderman thanked the hospital for its efforts to address traffic concerns, welcoming proposed initiatives such as subsidized mass transit, shuttle services to outlying lots, preferential parking for car-poolers, and promotion of bike use.

The hospital’s Stephen Merz presented the goal of 10 percent of the cancer center workforce enrolled in these programs.

The Public Speaks

Urban Design League’s Anstress Farwell took advantage of the time allotted for public testimony to urge the Board of Aldermen to build in protections as its proceeds with a new “district of density.”

“There are a lot of firm regulations about junkyards with just a few dozen cars,” said Farwell. “It’s an odd analogy, but when you have 55,000 moving vehicles— you need to really look at a regulatory process at this point in time. “

But others previously tough on the cancer center project like Gwen Mills (pictured)of Citizens Organized for Responsible Development (CORD) had positive messages now. “We’re excited that so many of the proposals developed by community members in this room a year ago” about issues of traffic and parking “have been taken into account,” said Mills, who said she considered the rezoning and likely sale of Lot E an opportunity to win more community benefits through the Land Disposition Act. “Transfer of Lot E from the city to the hospital should not happen without significant conditions on it,” she said.

Hesitation before the final vote was to assure that the amendments didn’t automatically mean paving the old zoning map and putting up a parking lot.

“If it turns out they’re pulling our leg, we won’t sell it to them,” said Alderman Perez (pictured with Hill Alderwoman Andrea Jackson-Brooks).

“And withholding it from the zone doesn’t make it not a parking lot,” Alderman Ed Mattison reminded.

“We’re only talking about zoning it to BD-2 and I believe that we’ll be able to address concerns heard from constituents about air quality and traffic before moving forward,” reiterated Joyce Chen.

“We’re only talking about applying all the brown on the map to the new BD-2 zone. Nothing in front of us is asking us to sell,” reiterated Perez.

Only then came the aldermanic “Ay.”