New Haven Independent

The Westville/West Hills Management Team, once defunct, boomed with attendance Tuesday evening at the Valley Street police substation.

Car Thieves Nabbed

Sgt. Bernie Somers, who heads the district, had good news in the world of crime. The police department’s auto theft task force solved, in part, the question of who’d been lifting idling cars off Westville streets.

After a spike of car thefts in January — 15 were stolen, seven of which had the keys in the car, presumably idling on a cold morning — the task force examined the area, he said. Cars were disappearing and ending up around Crescent Street, near Southern and Hillhouse High School. Who was taking them? Cops surveyed the area and traced the thefts to three young men all living at the same home in upper Westville.

Each school morning, the suspects — two were brothers aged 15 and 16, students at Hillhouse — would start walking until they found a convenient car. “If it was running, they jumped in and took it,” then ditched it outside school, said Somers.

The brothers and a 22-year-old man who lives with them were all arrested at the end of January. All three had track records — drugs, gun possession, trespass.

After their arrest, car thefts dropped, said Somers: Only four in February, four in March, three in April.

Citywide Block Watch

Westville neighbors are among the growing ranks getting interested in reviving a Citywide Block Watch Association, “so that block watches can reach block watches,” said Somers. He’s getting “overwhelming” interest in the group, which meets Wednesday night at the police headquarters at 1 Union Ave., 4th Floor, at 7 p.m.

What’s Next for the Valley?

Over seven years after 128-unit elderly housing was proposed for Whalley Avenue, the plans appear to have fallen flat, reported LCI neighborhood specialist Elaine Braffman. The plan, which first gained Site Plan Review approval from the city in 1999, had been to build the complex at the edge of a steep wooded area at 1101-1105 Whalley Ave. The site (explored on this tour), a 3.43-acre lot, bordering a little-known wooded valley, used to be the Parker paper mill.

As of the end of March, developers West Rock Views, LLC still hadn’t raised money to build the project, reported Braffman. Site Plan Review approval expires in November.

A Certified Main Street

Seeking to guide economic development of Westville Village, members of the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance (such as Gabriel DaSilva and Kate Bradley, pictured above at center and right, with Westville Alderwoman Michelle Edmonds-Sepulveda at left), are working hard to apply for “Main Street” status for the historic downtown strip. Goals include unified opening and closing hours, a coordinated marketing effort, and a staff person to guide the process. Click here for more.

ArtWalk

Westville’s 10th annual ArtWalk celebration is being planned for May 11-12. Click here for details.

The Westville/West Hills Management Team, which will soon vote on a new executive board, meets every third Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Valley Street police substation.