New Haven Independent

posted by: concernedwestvilleres on January 13, 2012  11:12am

The area already has several gas stations that are reasonably priced.  The PowerGas at 1 Whalley and Best Gas further up Whalley.  Also the ExxonMobil has lowered prices to become more competitive.  If it will help keep Stop and Shop in the plaza it may be worth it, but it may cost the other gas providers nearby.  If Stop & Shop is willing to make the investment it may be worthwhile.  It will likely cost jobs at the other stations, but it will keep the jobs at Stop & Shop and use a lot that is problematic at this point.

posted by: anon on January 13, 2012  11:21am

Huge mistake. This is right next to housing where many children live. 

Should we write off a few cases of cancer in our kids, in order to “create” 5 jobs?

Living near a petrol station is ‘bad for your health’ as fuel pollutants found to travel 100m
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1354430/Petrol-station-Living-100m-garage-bad-health.html

Is It Safe to Live Near a Gas Station?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-it-safe-to-live-near-gas-station

“Despite all the modern health and safety guidelines they must follow, gas stations can still pose significant hazards to neighbors, especially children.”

Fuelling health risks: Petrol pumps near homes cause cancer
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-07/uk/28359814_1_petrol-pumps-petrol-stations-cancer-risk

Gas Stations Pollute Their Immediate Surroundings, Spanish Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110204130315.htm

Also, I doubt the neighbors love the idea of huge trucks pulling out in front of their homes on Elm Street, or the crime that may be generated.

New Haven Owner: Gas station robbed 100 times in 30 years
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/crime/gas-station-robbed-100-times-in-30-years

“Katz says he’s had employees tied up and shot. There’s even a bullet hole from one of the incidents.  “Every single employee has had at one point, a gun to the head,” Katz said”

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 13, 2012  11:32am

This is EXCELLENT!!! Great news for the area! BRAVO!

posted by: Threefifths on January 13, 2012  11:35am

This is what happens when you deal with corporate vampires.

posted by: davecoon on January 13, 2012  11:50am

discount gas station is an oxymoron, in my opinion.  What are we talking about, a couple of pennies less per gallon?
I can tell you from experience that the existing gas stations in town ARE magnets for drug dealing and panhandling.  Hang out at the Shell station on Willow or the ever-changing station at Howe and Crown and you’ll know what I mean.  5 jobs and 2 cents off on Tuesdays ain’t worth it.
Whalley needs another gas station like it needs another hole in the head.

posted by: juli on January 13, 2012  12:05pm

why is stop & shop considered a flight risk?
i agree this area has beyond enough gas stations already. we should find a better use for this land.

posted by: Yair on January 13, 2012  12:21pm

Sounds like a good idea to me. In spite of the importance of walkability, a few gas stations are still a good thing.
As for the discount: I imagine they would have the same system as at the Amity store, where accumulated purchases in the store produce savings at their pump. This is actually substantial depending on how much food your family buys. It can sometimes be 20c, 30c or more per gallon. Could actually be helpful to people.

On another matter, this is the third headline in about a week that uses the verb “eyed”. Is there some kind of journalism award for the largest number of occurrences? Not that I have anything against eyes.

posted by: Stephen Harris on January 13, 2012  12:32pm

Has S&S made noise about leaving? How’s business?

That corner has been dead for years. I don’t see a down side to a gas station even though there are others nearby. It was an auto related use before so I doubt anyone will put up a house due to clean up costs. Sometimes something is better than nothing.

posted by: davecoon on January 13, 2012  1:05pm

@Yair,
I believe that ‘discount’ gas from Stop & Shop is a shell game.  Customers are offered 20cents off on gas, but that cost is made up for in the cost of food inside the store.  Due to intense competition and it being a low margin business, the large grocery store chains use heavy duty algorithms to squeeze every penny they can from their customers.  In the end, the gas is not really discounted and the rest of us get to look at one more trash scape on Whalley Ave. 
We should have higher aspirations than the proliferation of gas stations selling dead dinosaurs at an un-discount.

posted by: Carl Goldfield on January 13, 2012  1:07pm

I think the gas station is a good idea. However why should the property be given to the GDDC to rent to S&S?  Why can’t the City rent the property directly to S&S and use the income to relieve stressed taxpayers citywide?

posted by: Sparky Lyle on January 13, 2012  1:26pm

If you accumulate any gas points at Stop n Shop you can redeem them at the gas station at 1 Whalley Ave. -Please use your accumulated points before the month’s end or you will lose them

posted by: Noteworthy on January 13, 2012  1:27pm

Just a note of caution - SS doesn’t sell discount gas. Most of the time, their gas is more expensive than competitors. The only way it becomes less expensive after you pay more for it, is if you buy groceries from them and accumulate points on your card. Once you’ve accumulated enough points, it finally turns into a discount but not a big one.

posted by: Mister Jones on January 13, 2012  1:30pm

I’m waiting for the usual suspects to post about cars as a dying form of transportation, and how they should put a trolley station and some bike lanes there instead…

Seriously, this lot has been vacant for as long as I can remember, and I’m 52. I vaguely remember a gas station there many years ago. Perhaps our local historians can weigh in, and if I am correct, this will restore a historical use!

This seems to be a win-win by converting vacant city land to a taxable use, and eliminating an orphan lot—the rest of the block is parking lot and shopping—so this improvement makes sense.

Sure, there are other gas stations on Whalley but a little low-priced competition can’t hurt.  For example, the Mobil on the corner of the Post Road and Racebrook Road has cheaper gas than other Mobil stations in the area, presumably because of price pressure from the Cumberland Farms [f/k/a Thornton] nearby.

I buy gas regularly at other Stop and Shops.  Don’t scoff at saving 5 or 10 cents a gallon: it adds up.  And the discounts are tied to the loyalty card, so you essentially redeem grocery frequent flier miles when you gas up.  I’ve saved 40 cents or more at times.

As far as crime goes, I doubt they will be selling blunts from the little kiosk, and they tend to close by 10pm.  The increased traffic and visibility should have a positive effect.  Frankly, I’d be more concerned about the effect on neighborhood aesthetics from walling off that corner, but I can’t really tell from the sketch.

posted by: mm on January 13, 2012  1:41pm

There is no comparison between a possible decision by Stop and Shop to “pull up stakes” and close an individual store and Shaw’s pulling up stakes and closing ALL locations in the state of Connecticut.  Closing an individual store that is unprofitable happens frequently, an operator closing every store is a state is not such a frequent decision and is made based many factors besides the profitability of one location.  Stop and Shop supplies many location in and around New Haven, for Shaw’s, Connecticut was at the far end of its supply chain and it was not cost effective to advertise here when most of its stores were served by Boston area media.

AND as a reply to Sparky Lyle and Noteworthy:  Your points do not expire at the end of the month, they expire 30 days after you earn them. I typically get about 80 cents off per gallon with my points and fill at the Stop and Shop gas station on Amity Road in New Haven.
Holiday time I bought assorted Gift cards at Stop and Shop for iTunes and other stores and got $2.20 off per gallon.  The gift cards cost the same amount everywhere so this was great choice of where to buy them

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on January 13, 2012  1:45pm

This parking lot has never once been full. Is there anywhere else on the existing site that a gas station could go without developing a new lot?
There are also many existing gas stations directly on Whalley, so it seems hard to believe that one on Elm Street is really needed, especially considering it’s a residential street.
While the existing vacant lot isn’t attractive, it could support a much higher land use than a gas station.
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2012/1/2/the-cost-of-auto-orientation.html

Also, gas stations don’t “anchor” corners. In order to anchor a corner, space must be defined by continuous walls of a height that, when combined with facing buildings across the street, form a spatial proportion that does not exceed 6:1 (length:height). Gas stations are very porous and transparent, therefore they do not define space nor can they “anchor” anything. All that asphalt is also going to cause a lot of stormwater runoff. In the rendering, where are the sidewalks, and why is there a proposal for an additional entrance just a few feet from the intersection and the existing entrance? I hate renderings like this because they are so dishonest. They just paint everything that isn’t asphalt green. This is not going to look like a forest, it’s going to look like an asphalt ocean with a bunch of signs, wires, oil stains, and metal cladded boxes.

posted by: anon on January 13, 2012  1:48pm

“The only way it becomes less expensive after you pay more for it, is if you buy groceries from them and accumulate points on your card.”

Agree.  Is a wave of cancer in the neighborhood worth a few points on someone’s fake discount card?

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 13, 2012  2:52pm

anon, You will be the first to bitch when it closes and those they employ are out of a job.

The lot was always gas station. And it was pre environmental laws. The price of clean up would be amazing. That is why it has been off the grand list for so long.

posted by: anon on January 13, 2012  5:29pm

Cedarhill: The property next to yours was always a toxic lead processing smelter. So even though it has been closed and the neighborhood has long stated their preference for a use that contributes more to the area (as Hopkins suggests), it has every right to reopen as a lead smelter again. How many dead children are enough before we learn?

posted by: anon on January 13, 2012  5:37pm

Mister Jones wrote “this improvement makes sense.”

Easy to say when your kids don’t have to live within the bounds of cancer “hot zone” of the station.

I wonder how many folks pushing for this development actually live within 50-100 feet of the site.

Classic.

posted by: Olivia Martson on January 13, 2012  7:00pm

This is not the best and highest use for the plaza it would be better to support the local business that exist already in the Plaza. A 2 story mixed use building flanking the corner would be in keeping with the residential character of Elm St. Let’s revisit the neighborhood plans that were recently completed in 2007 and 2010. Let’s do something positive for the neighborhood.
If we need market share why not make an arrangement with one of the existing gas stations in the area for reduced gas similar to the one on the corner of Skiff and Whitney.

posted by: pat on January 13, 2012  7:39pm

This is an extremely busy corner and drawing traffic to it will create a hazard.

There are many gas stations in the area and this will intrude on the residential neighborhood that abuts the corner.

How about a small park? Or a neighborhood coffee shop? Or something that adds to the feeling of place. How interesting is an empty gas station at night?

This is such a bad idea. Making money cannot be the only goal when you’re trying to create an environment for human beings.

Take a long range view and add something of value on this spot.

We do NOT need another gas station!

posted by: HhE on January 13, 2012  11:35pm

Well said, Jonathan Hopkins. 

As much as I think it is very good to have the supermarket here, I rather take a pass on one more gas station.  I too think a better use could be found, and is worth waiting for.  Perhaps it could be something that works well with Harbor Freight?  How about something that ties in the various restaurants and stores on lower Whalley Ave?  I think an ideal solution would be something that local residents and Yale students would find appealing, rather than one more reason to treat Whalley like the keep driving highway that it is.

posted by: Charles Marohn on January 14, 2012  1:34am

Thanks for the link, @Jonathan Hopkins.

Just from the one photo I can see that this neighborhood has good bones. There is so much that could be done here. This article and the comments reveal more than a tinge of desperation. Good long-term decisions require long-term thinking.

It would be very sad to believe that the highest and best use of this property is a gas station. The amount of revenue created from a gas station will not come near to justifying the amount of public infrastructure in place here, and that is before you take into account how it would devalue the neighborhood.

It should also be noted that a “food desert” is not a naturally occurring phenomenon but a byproduct of an unproductive and warped land use approach. Doing further damage with a gas station is not going to be the long-term answer. Restoring the traditional development pattern that this neighborhood was built to prosper with is a more sophisticated and complex approach, but will ultimately be more successful.

I wish you all the best of fortune.

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 14, 2012  9:43am

anon
You know I luv ya and most times I agree with you. But the drama of dead children just seems a bit much. I would love to see Cedar Hill open up again. Times have changed thing are done far different. Job creation and a draw for other companys to want to do business in this city is so important right now.
This reminds me of the star building on state street. Were community meant well but they ended up losing the development of that building and again it will sit there for another 20 years in hopes someone is willing to take on the clean up.
Say you get your way. Stop and shop does not do it. It stay empty, because no developer to date wants the site because of the clean up on that lot. The lack of draw to stop and shop contiunes and it closes. The chances of getting another store to fill that space any time soon will not happen. I believe sometimes we spite ourselves when we become over anti development. This type of reaction is what also contributes to green sprawl. I am wandering if part of your reasoning has to do with the co-op. People that go to stop and shop are not really the target shoppers for the co=op. They will just go to go to suburban stores and walmart. The people that go to stop and shop are not going to go to the co op. If that is your line of thinking.  This is a commercial strip, in the city. And could be developed as a draw to come to the city. But the basics are needed for this to happen. Lets not cock block it.

posted by: Ben Berkowitz on January 14, 2012  2:07pm

Sell the land to a residential developer. We do not need more gas stations. We need more people who live near stop and shop not drive to it.

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 14, 2012  8:44pm

ben ideally that would be a solution but you do know the size of the lot? And the fact that it may have underground tank from when it was a gas station. The development of this small lot would cost a tidy penny. Not sure a few family home would be worth it for any one to invest is such an under taken. But the idea that more residents is a good one.

posted by: Snoopy on January 14, 2012  8:57pm

To Mister Jones > Stop & Shop NO longer gives the 5 & 10 cents off gal / gas. I have stopped buying their gas since this started.  No incentive, I buy else where.

To those concerned about health risks I beleive gas was sold at that site years ago. In ‘50s ‘60s and not sure when it stopped as I moved. Not familiar with risks but gas locations are near other homes in New Haven, Hamden etc. without these concerns.  What empirical data does anyone have re: health risks?

posted by: Seth Godfrey on January 15, 2012  4:11pm

I would like to propose this space be utilized for cultural purposes. The location is ideal as it would draw folks from all parts of the city, young and old, and it is perfect in terms of access whether by bus, walking or auto. To borrow an idea from the Soviet Union, why not a Peoples House of Culture. One idea that comes to mind could be a focus on Chess. It is incredible the amount of folks who are chess players in this city and would like a place to come together to play chess. Just think of all the business that could be diverted to Stop & Shop from all those individuals who partake of activities in this newly formed cultural institution. Stop & Shop should realize that a wonderful symbiotic relationship will be formed. Who knows maybe the corner of Elm and Orchard could launch the venue for some top notch World Chess Tournament. Possibly New Haven could recreate the excitement of Moscow in 1960:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54299
Peace, Solidarity and an End to Street Violence in New Haven!
Seth Godfrey
Commissioner on the City of New Haven Peace Commission

posted by: Concerned Neighbor on January 15, 2012  5:21pm

I think we have to really look at the negative health benefits. I counted at at least 6 gas stations between the park and Stop and Shop. How will it effect property values in the area is another question!I just drove down Whalley and I noticed a two story building called Whalley Commons,which I thought was very attractive, Why not put something that is useful to the community and that looks nice.

posted by: Concerned neighbor on January 15, 2012  5:26pm

This is not a commercial strip on Elm St.  We should do a RFP to see what happens. The city did not do an RFP for the parcel.

posted by: HewNaven?? on January 15, 2012  7:06pm

Whalley has two gas stations on that side of the street within 1/4 mile. This vacant lot should be a park. You can create at least one job by getting someone to keep Dwight Plaza clean all the time, including the would-be park.

posted by: HhE on January 15, 2012  10:07pm

Seth Godfrey, I rather like your idea.  I have no idea how it would be funded, but I think it could be a great asset.

Charles Marohn, I went to your web site, and I was very impressed.  I recommend that everyone takes a look.

posted by: matt short on January 16, 2012  3:35am

Greater Dwight Development Corporation has posed the argument that establishing the Stop & Shop gas station would help anchor Stop & Shop as a tenant in that plaza for the longer term.

I have sat in the community meetings that are held 1x per month at the store and it is clear to me that they are working hard to manage the store well, but that by itself does not achieve profitability and according to them there is more ground to cover to become profitable.

It stands to reason that a store that is not specifically profitable has incentive to leave. I was very sad to see that store go dark when Shaw’s, and was ecstatic when Stop & Shop was brought in (thank you so much to all of the people involved in making that happen).

I abhor the idea of the gas station on that corner. I really don’t like it. But I like even less the idea that we would not do everything in our power to make this grocery store successful.

I am torn. I support GDDC & Linda Townsend and want the store to stay. Meanwhile I agree that it would be very bad for the residential across the street and diagonal (Alderman Frank Douglass lives on the corner opposite this site, so he should absolutely be weighing in on this with his opinion) and that the best outcome would be one in which the gas station was brought on site, but not on that corner and that corner was developed later in a manner more friendly and appropriately in keeping with that intersection. Some good suggestions have been made in other comments here.

I note that in the Stop & Shop Plaza in Amity, the gas station is not at the periphery of the parcel. Perhaps there is an answer to this question that involves rolling this Taylor Garage parcel into the stop & shop parcel to create one parcel and giving S&S another location within the property in exchange for remediation of the Taylor garage site which would open up GDDC to another development there streetside?

Working against that idea, the parcel is not all that big and there may be restrictions established by the commercial leases that make this less feasible, but perhaps you eliminate the parking area up against whalley between S&S & Autozone and remediate Taylor, etc.. That causes the loss of another potential Pad site which is not good either, but at least solves this problem. 

This project is important to get right, but at the end of the day, I think this is a better problem to have than not having Stop & Shop.

On that note, anyone interested in getting behind an accessibly priced gym like planet fitness for the dark parcels at Whalley & Dwight? There are a lot of good arguments for this type of use and they have been dark long enough to be of concern.

Anyone?

posted by: Snoopy on January 16, 2012  10:29am

I think the gas station is an excellent idea.  Would be even better if corner of Whalley and Orchard was available for greater visibility on well traveled Whalley Ave.
Health risks so many are concerned with has not been a problem in any areas that has been documented with validity. If proximity to gas is such a risk, would not that same risk exist from cars parked on streets?  Re: comment of gym use like Planet Fitness, a gym would last less time than a snow ball in hell.

posted by: anon on January 16, 2012  3:22pm

Snoopy: Read the study posted above.

Gas stations = cancer.

Cars are different than massive, toxic fuel depots.

This area will never improve if it has gas stations. Focus should be on removing some of the existing stations, as the city’s current plans recommend (see posts above), not adding more.

posted by: Concerned neighbor on January 16, 2012  6:27pm

The next Store Council meeting next Monday January 23, at the conference room second floor. At 6:00pm . I think we can do better than a gas station. They have a ten year lease why are we talking about them leaving?
Let’s be more positive. Also 5 part time jobs is not enough to warrant this
Gas station.

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 17, 2012  9:46am

City owns this land right now. Stop and shop is willing to develop it for a gas station. Or it will sit empty. A ten year lease does not mean they will not leave. Shaws had a lease they left. They paid the rent and the property remained empty with no community grocery store. Just because a company has a lease (especially a big one)does not mean they will not close a store. For Shaws it was financially better to pay the rent and leave the store closed because it was losing money keeping it stocked.
Not slamming but facts do have to be presented.

posted by: anon on January 17, 2012  11:20am

“Stop and shop is willing to develop it for a gas station. Or it will sit empty.”

Not quite.  Or it can be developed as new housing, designed well and accessible to moderate income middle class families.  This is what residents in that are have said they wanted for at least a decade now.

Residents have specifically said they want fewer gas stations, and that they do NOT want more cancer hubs.

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 17, 2012  12:50pm

All of the below = cancer

Acetaldehyde, acrylamide, acrylonitril, abortion, agent orange, alar, alcohol, air pollution, aldrin, alfatoxin, arsenic, arsine, asbestos, asphalt fumes, atrazine, AZT, baby food, barbequed meat, benzene, benzidine, benzopyrene, beryllium, beta-carotene, betel nuts, birth control pills, bottled water, bracken, bread, breasts, bus stations, calcium channel blockers, cadmium, captan, carbon black, carbon tetrachloride, careers for women, casual sex, car fumes, celery, charred foods, chewing gum, Chinese food, Chinese herbal supplements, chips, chloramphenicol, chlordane, chlorinated camphene, chlorinated water, chlorodiphenyl, chloroform, cholesterol, low cholesterol, chromium, coal tar, coffee, coke ovens,  crackers, creosote, cyclamates, dairy products, deodorants, depleted uranium, depression, dichloryacetylene,  DDT, dieldrin, diesel exhaust, diet soda, dimethyl sulphate, dinitrotouluene, dioxin, dioxane, epichlorhydrin, ethyle acrilate, ethylene, ethilene dibromide, ethnic beliefs,ethylene dichloride, Ex-Lax, fat, fluoridation, flying, formaldehyde, free radicals, french fries, fruit, gasoline, genes, gingerbread, global warming, gluteraldehyde, granite, grilled meat, Gulf war, hair dyes, hamburgers, heliobacter pylori, hepatitis B virus,  hexachlorbutadiene, hexachlorethane, high bone mass, HPMA, HRT, hydrazine, hydrogen peroxide, incense, infertility, jewellery, Kepone, kissing, lack of exercise, laxatives, lead, left handedness, Lindane, Listerine, low fibre diet, magnetic fields, malonaldehyde, mammograms, manganese, marijuana, methyl bromide, methylene chloride,  menopause, microwave ovens, milk hormones, mixed spices, mobile phones, MTBE, nickel, night lighting, night shifts, nitrates, not breast feeding, not having a twin, nuclear power plants, Nutrasweet, obesity, oestrogen, olestra, olive oil, orange juice, oxygenated gasoline, oyster sauce, ozone, ozone depletion, passive smoking, PCBs, peanuts, pesticides, pet birds, plastic IV bags, polio vaccine, potato crisps (chips), power lines, proteins, Prozac, PVC, radio masts, radon, railway sleepers, red meat, Roundup, saccharin, salt, selenium,  semiconductor plants, shellfish, sick buildings, soy sauce, stress, strontium, styrene, sulphuric acid, sun beds, sunlight, sunscreen, talc, tetrachloroethylene, testosterone, tight bras, toast, toasters, tobacco, tooth fillings, toothpaste (with fluoride or bleach), train stations, trichloroethylene, under-arm shaving, unvented stoves, uranium, UV radiation, vegetables, vinyl bromide, vinyl chloride,  vinyl fluoride, vinyl toys, vitamins, vitreous fibres, wallpaper, weedkiller (2-4 D), welding fumes, well water, weight gain, winter, wood dust, work, x-rays.

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 17, 2012  1:01pm

anon
Take it easy. I am sure a developer is out there willing to do the clean up for your project.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on January 17, 2012  2:10pm

The city should put out an RFP for this lot, if they haven’t already. See what kind of proposals come back.

Here’s what this corner lot looked like c. 1950:

http://tinyurl.com/7dykana

posted by: anon on January 17, 2012  2:11pm

CHR- Nobody has proven a link between living next to stores selling toys and Child cancer.

posted by: HhE on January 17, 2012  2:20pm

Life causes cancer, it is just that gas stations do a better job.

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 17, 2012  3:01pm

JH I think that is across the street from that lot from the looks of it…but cool site!

posted by: HhE on January 17, 2012  3:36pm

anon, Chinese made toys, maybe.

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on January 17, 2012  4:25pm

CHR,
I’m 100% sure it’s the correct corner.
http://tinyurl.com/8396qdj

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 17, 2012  5:35pm

Yeah it is sorry JH :) Still love the photos!

Well I am packing it in for the night.
Think I will go grab a cup of cancer causing coffee with a shot of milk from a steroid pumped up cow, and a dash of sugar harvested by slave farm workers in South America. I may even grab a pizza with some more steroid pumped up cow product on it, and some produce picked by abused migrant farm workers and maybe a little cancer causing meat on it and a glass of cancer causing wine. Might even have a slice of cheese cake with some red dye cherrys on them. YUMMY :) oh and I will have to drive that car to get it all. :)
thanks for the great thread guys. I still support it. But I love your commitment in your cause to make New Haven what you want it to be. Is there room for everyone in it?

posted by: anon on January 17, 2012  5:44pm

Jonathan & CHR:

Returning the building to something like what it looked like in the 1950s would increase property values much more than a cancer-causing gas station would. Yale brought Shaw’s here, wouldn’t it pay to help subsidize a nicer street corner near their campus? Their architecture program recently helped subsidize the construction of a beautiful new multi-family house just two doors down from this site.

I have nothing against gas stations - its just that building them right next to housing with dozens of children is a stupid idea, and in fact would be ILLEGAL in many countries.

posted by: anon on January 17, 2012  7:11pm

Hate to point out the obvious - but if this cancer station had been proposed next to buildings full of white kids, the corporation/agency proposing it would have long been run out of this city for good.

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 17, 2012  9:17pm

anon,
why did I know you were going to go there. Baiting, sad stunt. I think the minority community is far more savy than that.
I am not going to post what I really want to say. Anon when you get your bikes and boutiques in this area will there really be room for everyone?

posted by: Jonathan Hopkins on January 18, 2012  1:26am

I am not totally against a gas station here. However, I think it’s a last resort that should be put on the back burner until the city puts out a Request For Proposals for this property to see what kind of market response we can get from it and then pursue one of the proposals, of use the market study from one of the RFPs to create a city sponsored framework for development through the City Plan and Economic Development Departments. If none of that works, maybe a gas station is the best that we can do. I personally wouldn’t want a gas station built across the street from my house, but I’m sure some people would have use for it, even though the immediate area is saturated with gas stations.
I would actually be opposed to a park because its too expensive to maintain, would cost a lot to create initially and there is a large school playground across the street already at Troop School. A residential use perhaps will a commercial component seems to make the most sense to me.

posted by: anon on January 18, 2012  9:09am

Really, CHR? The national black environmental justice network seems pretty savvy to me.
http://www.nbejn.org/factsheets/CancerNBEJN-05.pdf. Race, not class, is the reason why gas stations are heavily clustered next to black children.

posted by: Seth Godfrey on January 19, 2012  10:17pm

The Dwight Neighborhood and the City of New Haven deserve the best in terms of a cultural institiution.Lets bring all of New Haven together at the Plaza for a game of chess or a film or any other cultural activity. Whalley Avenue has gas stations coming out of the wazoo!As I mentioned in an earlier post why not take the iconoclastic approach and start at the corner of Elm and Orchard and make it a beacon of hope for an enlightened New Haven. Check out the link to what can be possible in New Haven:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Culture

posted by: anon on January 24, 2012  5:48pm

CHR—the site was cleaned-up a few years ago, but the city has not sent out an RFP. It’s important to do this, and reach out to all local developers. The RFP should give priority to plans that conform to the 2007 neighborhood plan, and to uses that do not add health and quality of life burdens to the adjacent residential community.