New Haven Independent

Developers (their lawyers, actually) showed up to the aldermanic Legislative Committee on the advice of the City Plan Commission Assistant Director Michael Piscitelli. The city has been struggling in court over a new zoning district created to give the city more control of projects. While traditional zoning districts had simpler demands, like how dense the buildings could be, the PDD, or Planned Development District, went far beyond: it laid down rules on who the developer could be and what the design could look like.

The city recently lost a court case in which a Superior Court judge ruled PDDs unconstitutional. The city has appealed to state Supreme Court, where a decision is pending. But in the meantime, Piscitelli (pictured) has been advising developers to change their zones away from PDD and move on.

That’s what he told the redevelopers of the Q Terrace public-housing project by the Quinnipiac River, Trinity New Haven Limited. That company’s lawyer, Sarah Barnat, took his advice and got the risky PDD zone changed to a traditional (RM-1) residential zone Monday, pending approval by the full aldermanic board.

The first phase of the project, with 81 units, is under construction. Barnat expects the units to be built and occupied by August. Demolition to make way for the other two phases of the project — a mixture including town houses, elderly housing and a community center — will begin in late summer, said Barnat. Plans go to the board of zoning appeals tonight.

Harbor Landing, an ambitious condominium complex begun in 1980 but never fully built, was also approved Monday to be rezoned to its original residential (RM-2) zone. After neighborhood outcry in historic harborside City Point, developers have vastly cut back the plans’ density. Instead of adding 197 units, developers the Christopher Companies have settled for adding just 54. That’s three tall, four-story buildings and a cluster of six single-family homes. Plans have gained City Plan approval and will go to the Board of Zoning Appeals on May 2.