New Haven Independent

Under the guidance of the city’s Historic District Commission (HDC), Karen Orzack-Moore (left) and Anne-Marie Foltz have been co-chairing the St. Ronan-Edgehill Local Historic District Study Committee.

The fruit of the committee’s labor thus far — a report that seeks to delineate and then preserve and protect the architectural charm, harmony, and historical character of their neighborhood where once only the Eli Whitneys and the James Hillhouses gave garden parties — has just received the blessing of the state.

But two thirds of the approximately 250 property owners from the proposed local historic district (LHD) — roughly along St. Ronan and Edgehill from Prospect to Whitney — ultimately must vote in favor of the proposal, or it does not advance. The first large public meeting to debate the pros and cons, held at the Celentano School on Monday night, attracted more than 60.

An LHD, according to Trina Learned, vice chair of the HDC, falls under the auspices of the historic commission. The commission requires a property owner to receive a Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) for all alterations to the exterior of their building if it’s in the public way — that is, visible to someone passing by. These range from window replacements to driveways to satellite dishes, but not, for example “like with like” replacements or anything interior or colors of paint. Harmonious fitting in is the idea.

Many neighbors present were quietly for the proposal Monday night. It went down in defeat once before, in 1989, with 53 percent for and 47 percent against. There were some vociferous voices raised against it again Monday night.

For some residents, such as William Reese and Dorothy Hunt, an LHD is unnecessary, and potentially expensive. “I’ve renovated several homes in New Haven, and I guarantee you,” he said, “that if we had to get approvals for everything, it would have been five times more expensive.”

Reese, who was one of the leaders of the opposition in 1989, also said that the proposed area has developed amiably and beautifully on its own. “I’m not at all against historic preservation,” said Reese, who is a rare book dealer, “but it belongs in areas like Wooster Square, with its truly distinctive architectural character, or in other areas that are marginal and need a guiding hand.”

Currently New Haven has three local historic districts: Wooster Square, created in 1970; Quinnipiac River, in 1977; and the latest, City Point, in 2001.

Other speakers offered libertarian hesitations. Don Schwartz, who lives on Edgehill, for example, said, “You’re basically seizing my property rights. I mean I’m being asked to give you the right to my taste.”

Trina Learned offered the reassurance that in nine out of ten cases in her experience, the HDC grants approval of requests for a CoA. The applicant must come prepared with photos, pictures, architect’s drawings if the project is significant, and show a thoughtfulness of neighbors and neighborhood.

“Our only tough cases,” she said, “are people who beg forgiveness [after they’ve done something without a CoA] instead of asking permission.”

Foltz and other members of the committee confided that they too were skeptics, in the beginning. They concluded that zoning, on which they had worked as members of the Ronan Edgehill Neighborhood Association, simply did not provide sufficient, if any, protection for the “look” of a renovation or a new construction, only its type and distance from the street.

Reese said the proposed district’s Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Shingle, and other architectural styles represent a kind of museum of the city’s architecture from the 1880s to the present, with a house from every decade from 1850 to the present. “Still, there’s nothing architecturally coherent there.”

Bob Gryzwacz, former chair of the HDC and a consultant to the study group, countered, “Yes, but there’s a harmony there. The buildings belong together. The area has a charm and a feeling, and that’s what an LHD can nurture, while change and development occur.”

Residents have recently struggled with and won a victory against Albertus Magnus College’s plan to asphalt over some green land and expand its parking lots. However, an LHD exempts institutions of higher learning from regulation.

Foltz and Orzack-Moore said that that aspect of the ordinance is regrettable. But they added that if the college or The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, sells some of its property, without an LHD there would be little protection against McMansions replacing them. Many property owners own second lots where inappropriate development, sometimes by outsiders for quick flip and profit, is also a concern.

The next step is for the study report to be presented before the City Plan Commission April 23. The commission’s responses, along with those of the state, which, were modest, are then incorporated into a final draft report, which is presented to the HDC. Every one of the proposed district’s 250 or so property owners receives the report in advance. That HDC public hearing is scheduled for May 12.

But it’s still not over. The final report and proposal is voted on through ballots mailed out to the LHD’s owners by the city clerk. People have two weeks to respond. Two thirds voting in favor is required for passage. If the vote rises to that level, the proposal then goes before the Board of Aldermen, which then assigns it to a committee for study and recommendation to the City Plan Commission, and then back to the BOA for final approval.

Whew!

Reese was not persuaded to buy in. His colleague in the 1989 opposition said he could see it both ways.

Foltz and Orzack-Moore pronounced it a good gathering. “Various outspoken people were here tonight,” Foltz said, “but we’ve had dozens of meetings in peoples’ living rooms preparing for this evening. Believe me, there are many who are for it who are not here. We’re very optimistic.”

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