New Haven Independent

Developer Andrew Consiglio’s plans were among those heard and decided upon at Wednesday night’s City Plan Commission meeting.

The Commission approved Consiglio’s request to proceed with construction of a 9,000 square foot building on John Murphy Drive. Consiglio will rent the space to EVAX, the flourishing alarm company now housed on Franklin Street.

Consiglio had some bad news for the city as well, although it did not come up at the hearing: He has decided not to proceed with his plan to lease-and-develop the historic property at 142 River St., as part of the city’s River Street Municipal Development Plan.

“I looked into it,” he said, “and the environmental clean-up risks are just too great. I’ve written to the city. I’m really sorry.”

In other news emerging from the City Plan meeting, Yale’s new Social Sciences Building, at 115 Prospect St., received the go-ahead for permits. Construction will begin in September ‘08, completion a year later. The commission was assured that any street closings will occur only at night.

Plans presented by Parking Authority Executive Director William Kilpatrick (at left in photo) for two temporary parking lots in the block bounded by Orchard, North Frontage and Legion, did not please the commissioners nearly as much. Designed to accommodate parkers, especially those from the Connecticut Mental Health Center and others displaced by the Lot E cancer center construction, the new lots would each cost a million dollars. They would be paid for eventually by parking fees. After three years they would return to green, or natural, status. The lots would also be used for Yale-New Haven Hospital cancer center construction workers’ parking.

Alderman Roland Lemar, a City Plan commissioner, said the north Hill area already has a lot of parking problems. He moved to table the request until more specific information on numbers of parkers and committed usage of the new spaces could be provided.

Finally, William Christian and his Studio ABK Architects asked the commissioners to allow him to proceed with their $1.6 million historic renovation of 804 Chapel St., on the corner of Orange (facing what will be the upcoming Shartenberg development). With retail on the first floor and five residential, rental units on floors two and three, the building’s façade, Christian said, will look as it did in photographs from 1924.

“We’ve even found the Vermont quarry that provided the stone for the columns,” he said. Other plans include putting recessed lighting in the sidewalk (“we don’t want to attach anything to the façade”) and a general wonderful sense to enhance a Ninth Square feeling. Christian’s plan received an enthusiastic go-ahead from the commissioners.