New Haven Independent

DeLauro didn’t join the ranks of citizens pleading for backyard decks and liquor licenses before the Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday. Meeting no opposition from East Rock neighbors, no fiery oration was needed to convince the board to allow her fix-up plans.

DeLauro lives with her husband, Stanley Greenberg, in a 1907 colonial home at 49 Huntington St., a baseball’s throw away from the embattled site of the new Hooker school. She appealed to the board for a modest addition to the home, to extend the kitchen area and a sun room. She asked for a modest side yard variance — 10 feet where 12 feet are required — to allow for the addition to the rear of her house. Without controversy, the request was approved in a 5-0 BZA vote Tuesday.

Attorney Anthony “Zony Tony” Avallone (pictured), the former state senator who has made a career of representing clients at BZA meetings, had two proposals on the table.

One — a proposal by Crown Towing to relocate a towing facility to 10 Olive St. in Wooster Square — met strong opposition last month from neighbors who charged it would ruin the neighborhood’s familial, historic charm. The requests — a special exception to allow limited auto sales in a BA zone, and a use variance permitting vehicular storage — also met opposition from the area’s alderman, Mike Smart. In a divided 3-2 vote, board members denied both requests: Chairwoman Cathy Weber, Gaylord Bourne, and Regina Winters voted to deny; Maritza Padilla-Gant and Chris Vigilante voted to approve.

Avallone’s other clients’ proposal fared better, despite lobbying from Tweed-New Haven Airport seeking to block the project. His clients, William and Lisa Stone, live in a home at 409/411 Burr St., adjacent to airport property and neighboring the East Haven border.

The Stones planned to split their lot in two, making it an L-shaped “flag lot,” leaving another parcel closer to Burr Street open to be built upon. A city zoning officer signed off on the lot split, apparently prematurely, before BZA approval was sought. The couple just needed new yard and coverage variances to make the existing house conform to rules on the newly shrunken lot.

Tweed took the opportunity to sweep in with a counter-lobby opposing new construction near its runway.

“In certain locations at the end of the runway, you really have to look carefully before you allow any new development,” attorney Hugh Manke told the board. New development is not a “compatible use” with nearby airport activity, he argued.

The City Plan Department also opposed the request, arguing the Stones’ hardship was self-inflicted. The Tweed factor wasn’t part of its report, but City Plan chief Karyn Gilvarg weighed in: “There is potentially a safety issue with a new dwelling that close to the runway.”

Avallone argued the board needed to be consistent with its zoning officer’s action to split the lot. And, he noted, the building didn’t pierce the new 3-D runway protection zone designed to protect airplane’s paths from building interference. He argued the Stones do have hardship, because of the setback distance from Burr and because the city doesn’t recognize the access road as an official street.

In two separate votes, board members first unanimously rejected City Plan’s advice and sided with Avallone, then voted 4-1 to approve the plans.

In other news, Amistad Academy’s proposal to temporarily relocate to the Boulevard until it builds a new K-8 school was unanimously approved.