Thomas MacMillan Photo
Some people come to the zoning board armed with maps and blueprints to make their case. Henry Green came with his colostomy bag.
The 20-year-old held up a blue bag connected by a tube draining waste from his abdomen, to show members of the Board of Zoning Appeals the lasting effect of a gunshot wound to his stomach. Maybe he wouldn’t have been shot a year ago if his 15-year-old attacker had had a teen center to go to, Green argued.
Green’s was one of a chorus of voices that rose Tuesday night at the Hall of Records in support of a proposed new teen center at Church On The Rock at Hamilton Street. The church needs special permission for the center because it’s located in a “light industrial” zone alongside the highway between Wooster Square and Fair Haven.
The board did not vote on the matter Tuesday. It referred the matter to the City Plan Commission, which meets this week.
It’s the second time the church has sought zoning permission to open an after school program. Church On The Rock won city approval last year to open a teen center in 9,000 square feet of warehouse space recently vacated by Easter Seals/ Goodwill Industries, in the same building as the church. That decision has been appealed by Phil Bleich, a neighboring property owner with parking complaints.
The parking problems are due to the fact that a 40-foot-wide property easement allows vehicles to pass through the parking lot that separates Church On The Rock from the HVAC and electrical wholesalers nearby at 75 Hamilton St. People regularly park in the right of way, making problems for trucks delivering to the stores.
Attorney Parese and Pastor Foster.
With the first attempt mired in a legal battle, Church On The Rock’s Pastor Todd Foster came back Tuesday night with a more modest plan. He still faces parking complaints from his neighbors, despite the line of church parishioners and supporters who came out to support the teen center plan.
The new plan is for a 4,400-sqaure-foot facility, in second-floor office space recently vacated by Easter Seals. The proposal would create a “youth training center” with six classrooms and an assembly room, attorney John Parese told the board on Tuesday.
The new plan would essentially “swap” out the old one, and reduce it in size by half, Parese said.
“This is not a teen hangout center,” Parese said. There would be no basketball, not even a pool table, he said.
Parese submitted letters of support to the board from Superintendent of Schools Reggie Mayo, Mayor John DeStefano, and Esther Massie, head of LEAP youth services agency.
Pastor Foster told zoners that the new center is precisely what New Haven needs during a time of increased youth violence. He said he started the day in court supporting a young member of his church who is facing gun and drug charges.
“I’m tired of the death count,” he said. He said he wants to fight the violence with the “greatest asset” he has, the space available in his church building.
Foster said he’s aware of ongoing complaints about parking. He noted that a line has been painted down the middle of the parking lot, which he called “ridiculous.”
“It’s a little bit like 5‑year-olds in a bedroom with a line drawn,” he said.
“To the extent that someone is using parking spaces they’re not entitled to, a telephone call would solve that problem,” Parese said. “We’re trying to work it out.”
Over 20 people stood to voice their support for the teen center plan. One person after another said there’s no place for young people to go after school, that teens are afraid for their safety. Green offered the most compelling testimony on this count.
“Give us some place to go!” he said, after explaining his colostomy bag. He said the teen who shot him did it under the influence of older kids who gave him $5 to do it. “I wish he’d had a youth center to go to.”
“We need this,” he said. “If we don’t invest in our kids, we’re going to have criminals running the streets.”
Attorney Votre.
No one disputes that opening a teen center is an admirable endeavor, but Hamilton Street just isn’t the place for it, argued Ken Votre and John Acampora, attorneys for Bleich, the neighboring property owner.
Votre produced photographs showing cars parking in the easement area. It’s impossible to get trucks in and out, he said.
“I try to be as decent a guy as I can,” Votre said. But the teen program doesn’t belong there, he said.
The key issue is that the church needs to demonstrate hardship, Votre said. The church is already a non-conforming use in the light industrial area, he said. The property owner elected to open a church there anyway, which amounts to “a self-created hardship” and doesn’t justify the granting of a variance, he said.
After the evening’s testimony, Green expressed frustration in the hallway outside the meeting hall. With all the violence in the city, Church On The Rock comes with an answer “on a silver platter,” the “perfect place to help these kids,” and people can’t get beyond parking, he said. The message to the youth becomes, “We can’t shelter you because we don’t know where to park,” Green said.
In some good news, Green’s mom got the call on Tuesday telling her that he’s made it to the top of the intestinal transplant list. He could get another call at any moment now, telling him an organ donation is available and he has to rush down to Washington D.C. for an operation that will mean the end of carrying around a colostomy bag.
Green with mom Linda Marks.
Yes we need this. Yes we need this now. No this is not the area. But it does need to be easily accessible by cars, public transportation, and foot traffic. Would any of the abandoned River Street buildings work? Aren't there plenty of empty storefronts on Grand Avenue that could be used? There is no lack of need, just a lack of cooperation to get this done, and done fast.