nothin Morris Cove Neighbors Wage Photo War | New Haven Independent

Morris Cove Neighbors Wage Photo War

Aliyya Swaby Photo

Mayer: We are being “singled out.”

Chris Smarz and Diane Zorich photographed their neighbor’s front yard, gathering evidence that they were illegally parking more than two cars in their driveway.

When she found out, neighbor Lisa Mayer retaliated with photos of her own.

The dueling photographic evidence emerged at Tuesday night’s Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, as Mayer (pictured) asked for a variance and special exception to keep her front yard parking space the same, instead of reducing it.

Rather than vote on the matter, the zoning board referred it to the City Plan Commission first for a recommendation.

Over her 13 years living at 146 Townsend Ave., she has had a front-yard parking space, a garage and a paved parking and turnaround area — necessary since she has no room in the back of her house, she said. No on-street parking is allowed on the avenue. The side yard is not large enough to allow the driveway to extend into the back yard, she said. The property is relatively unchanged in structure since she moved in, she said.

In December, Smarz and Zorich — who live at 151 Townsend Ave. — asked the city to stop Mayer from parking multiple cars in front of her house. The sight is an eyesore, and is driving down the market value of their own property, they said.

Though the Mayers can park a car in the garage and one in front of the garage, they’ve turned the front of the house into a parking lot,” Zorich (pictured) said Tuesday. The couple mailed a package to the zoning board with seven photographs of two more cars parked in the parking spot and on the paved area.

I have included multiple pictures and I have plenty more,” Zorich said.

Houses on Townsend across from those with front yard parking are worth hundreds of thousands dollars less than those without it, Smarz said. The zoning staff’s report — which said traffic and neighbors would not be affected if Mayer keeps her yard as is — was wrong, she said.

There is plenty of additional parking across the street at Shoreham Road,” Zorich said. Therefore, Mayer is not facing a hardship and should not be allowed a variance, she said.

I paid $285,000 for my home,” she said, and should be able to sell it at the same price. I will be impacted” by Mayer’s front-yard parking, she said.

Mayer said she felt she was being unfairly targeted and singled out. In her rebuttal, she pulled out a few photos of her own, taken once a month since December, of cars parked in the front of Smarz and Zorich’s house.

Mayer said she uses the paved space for parking only when guests are over. But Zorich has a driveway and garage and still parks in the front regularly, Mayer said.

A few neighbors spoke out in favor of Mayer’s proposal. Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola sent a letter to the board in support of Mayer’s proposal on behalf of constituents. There is a shortage of on-street parking in this area, so this request would provide a remedy to that difficulty. Also this proposal is well-suited for the location and is an appropriate fit for the property,” he wrote in the letter.

Smarz called out another neighbor at 90 Townsend for parking illegally” on the front yard. It’s true, said Jean and Robert Castiglione (pictured), but only because the back of their property is literally falling into the New Haven Harbor. Helped by a federal grant program for repairs after Hurricane Sandy, the Castigliones have to move their house almost five feet out of the flood plain, via federal regulations. They want to move the whole structure closer to Townsend Avenue — meaning they will need to use the front yard as a parking space.

Smarz and Zorich made it sound like these homes on the waterfront are nothing but junk,” Robert said. The Castigliones have lived at 90 Townsend Ave. for 73 years.

They asked for a special exception to allow front yard parking and to allow one parking space where two are required for their house, technically a duplex. This, too, will go to the City Plan Commission before returning to the zoning board next month.

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