nothin Loose Truce Struck In Fair Haven | New Haven Independent

Loose Truce Struck In Fair Haven

Markeshia Ricks Photo

Bekhrad pitches revised plan Wednesday night.

A riverfront developer who wants to turn her vacant Front Street lot into storage space for boats has won over some of her neighbors — but still needs to convince some others as well as the City Plan Commission.

She has another 30 days to prove that she will not only make good on agreements to work with neighbors to resolve problems around a deteriorated seawall, but also submit an application for a coastal site plan and special permit that commission staff might recommend for approval.

The developer, Fereshteh Bekhrad, and her attorney John Lambert asked the City Plan Commission during an inconclusive public hearing at City Hall Wednesday evening for an extension on a plan that would allow Bekhrad to temporarily store 24 boats on her vacant property at 213 Front St. on the banks of the Quinnipiac River.

It was a scaled-back plan from the one that Bekhrad presented last month that called for the temporary storage of not only 12 boats, but also 12 RVs on the riverfront property. Neighbors opposed to the plan packed the City Hall meeting last month and nearly a dozen spoke against it.

But Wednesday night about half that many neighbors attended the hearing in a show of conditional support of the revised plan. Their caveat: that Bekrard be limited to storing only boats on the property and that she repair a seawall at the corner of the property.

That compromise emerged from recent meetings between Bekhrad and neighbors. The meetings were facilitated in part by Fair Haven Alders Ernie Santiago and Santiago Berrios-Bones, Lee Cruz of the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association and Mary Wade President & CEO David Hunter. Attorneys representing Bekhrad and the Oyster Cove Condominium Association apparently were deliberately shut out of those meeting so that people could speak freely and air their concerns.

One of the meetings was held last Wednesday at the Mary Wade Home. Another, held specifically to address the concerns of Oyster Cove condo owners, took place Tuesday.

A letter from the Chatham Square Association, read aloud Wednesday night by neighbor Mary Ann Moran, backed up Bekhrad’s assertion that common ground had been found. According to the letter, Chatham Square neighbors heard the details of the revised plan and ultimately believed assurances from Bekhrad that only boats would be stored on the lot; that there would be no boat repair or living on those boats on the site; and that proper precautions would be taken to protect the land and the river.

We further request that the city do everything in it’s power to expedite the process whereby Ms. Bekhrad may present to the community her proposal for the long term use of the property so we may consider it and work with her to develop our neighborhood to her benefit as the property owner, for the benefit of the community and to the benefit of New Haven,” the letter read.

Yeske: No new seawall is a no go.

James Yeske, a board members for the Oyster Cove condo association, confirmed Wednesday that the meeting with association members was positive but that rebuilding the seawall remains a sticking point.

I can only speak for myself, but I’m opposed to it without a bulkhead there,” he said. Nicole Micklick, an attorney for Oyster Cove, told City Plan commissioners that Bekhrad and her clients appeared to be willing to come to terms over rebuilding the seawall. She also reminded them that they have the power to impose conditions that require the facility to be rebuilt as part of any approval of a coastal site plan review.

In draft reports, City Plan staff had recommended that commissioners either table or deny approval of a coastal site plan review and an application for a special permit for the project to allow for the mediation of the concerns of neighbors around the seawall, and to allow the applicant to address deficiencies in the application for the coastal site plan including a proper stormwater management plan, proper exterior lighting, and the failing seawall.

Bekhrad with Lambert.

Bekhrad and attorney Lambert took issue with some of the concerns raised by City Plan staff and the overall recommendation to deny both applications. They agreed to having the hearing left open another month so those concerns could be addressed in detail.

I’m willing to do whatever I can to save their property and mine,” Bekhrad told commissioners. Let’s not jump and decide before we know what the facts are.”

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