Aliyya Swaby Photo
The city got the nod to contract with a homeless agency to put a 75-bed overflow winter shelter in a former social club on Cedar Street — which may open as early as Monday afternoon.
The Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously Tuesday evening to grant the Columbus House Emergency Shelter a use variance to operate the 5,500-square foot overflow facility on the second floor of the former Marchegian Club at 226 Cedar St. Homeless shelters are not permitted in any zone in New Haven by right.
The shelter will be open from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days a week, said Alison Cunningham (pictured left at top), Columbus House’s executive director. Three residential staff members will run the facility from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., and two from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. A shelter coordinator and case manager will be available on site five days a week.
The city contracted with Columbus House as part of an effort to accommodate an estimated 125 or more adults who’ll need shelter this winter.
“We don’t kick people out in the middle of the night,” unless they are violent, Cunningham said. If anyone endangers the safety of others, staff will call the police, she said.
The building is in “good shape,” said Susan Odel (pictured at top at right), an architect working on the project. Its large lobby will enable people to wait for their beds inside, instead of forming a line outdoors.
Between now and Monday, Columbus House staff and city officials have to confirm that the fire alarm system is set up, she said.
Columbus House will be responsible for snow removal throughout the winter, said Carl Rodenhizer (pictured at top center), a director there.
Columbus House is leasing the space between November 2015 and April 30, 2016 — and asked the variance to apply to that time period. But zoning staff said it is impossible to establish a specific time frame that a use variance will be in effect.
Deputy Director of Zoning Tom Talbot said Columbus House will not have to return to the zoning board if it wants to use the building for a homeless shelter next winter. The use will stick with the structure as long as the facility is up and running again within a year.
“If it’s less than a year’s time that you’re not using it, you don’t have to come back,” Talbot said.
