nothin Countdown Starts To Mandy Mgt. Decision | New Haven Independent

Countdown Starts To Mandy Mgt. Decision

Aliyya Swaby Photo

Atkinson, Furlow, Williams confer at zoning board.

Upper Westville neighbors celebrated taking one step toward the end of a protracted fight against a poverty landlord — and the possibility that they convinced at least one zoning board member to see it their way.

Andrea Atkinson and Joe Adelizzi have led the fight among neighbors in Upper Westville’s Beverly Hills neighborhood to try to stop Mandy Management from converting parts of two adjacent commercial buildings — at 150 Westerleigh Rd. and 1400 Whalley Ave. — into new apartments.

This past week their persistent arguments led the Board of Zoning Appeals to start the clock ticking on making a decision on whether a city zoning staffer improperly gave Mandy the go-ahead for the conversion.

The neighbors appealed to the board for the second time since March to overturn the zoning staffer’s decision, after being stuck in public session for two months. The board closed the public session last week and now legally must make a decision by mid-July.

That means it could make a decision at either the June or the July monthly meeting.

City Deputy Director of Zoning Tom Talbot originally approved Mandy’s request to build three units in the two buildings. He ruled that, by right, Mandy can build one apartment at 150 Westerleigh Rd. and two apartments at 1400 Whalley Ave. without any zoning changes, or any need for a variance. Any more apartments, and the developer needs a variance from the zoning board. (Read about that process here.)

Atkinson filed a review of administrative order” claiming Talbot interpreted the ordinance incorrectly. (Read about that debate here.) June’s board meeting will mark three months since Atkinson first filed her appeal of Talbot’s decision.

At March 10 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, board members were unprepared to judge the appeal. They fumbled to try to understand the details of the debate. Atkinson then scolded them for taking Talbot’s advice on how to judge the appeal, arguing that the board should serve as an impartial arbitrator of the disagreement between neighbors and Talbot himself.

The board pushed the discussion to April’s meeting, to give themselves time to prepare and read through the documents.

At the beginning of April’s zoning meeting, board members did not have a quorum , so they pushed discussion on the agenda item until the next month. (One board member walked in mid-meeting, too late to help Atkinson and Adelizzi.)

So at the May meeting, this past Wednesday, four board members — including two brand-new additions Shirl Wilkins and Mildred Melendez — heard Atkinson and Adelizzi renew their appeal, with a new set of documents. Wilkins and Melendez had observed the March board meeting and so were familiar with the discussion, said Pat King, the board chair.

Talbot was not present at this portion of Wednesday’s meeting. Board member Ben Trachten recused himself from the discussion because of a personal conflict of interest.

This time Atkinson argued that the properties had been zoned for business since at least 1947. Therefore, she said, Mandy should have to apply for zoning relief to build any residential apartments there. There’s no special exception on file” asking for the property to be mixed-use, she said. Maybe that’s a new law or ordinance, but I haven’t found it.”

Neighbors have cited parking as a concern. Erika Williams (pictured at top right) said the street is already very narrow and very busy” and she worries about further congestion.

Doreen Lee, who lives at 127 Westerleigh Rd., said she is concerned” about the decision to put an apartment building across the street from a single-family house.”

But the main grievance is that Talbot made a decision without consulting neighbors who would be affected by it, said Westville Alder Richard Furlow. This time they dropped the ball,” he said last Wednesday night.

The two properties have been commercial since 1947 with no anticipation of them becoming an apartment complex,” he said. Decisions such as Talbot’s allow developers to muscle into communities” and change them as they please, he said.

In addition, Mandy has a controversial track record in town. (Mandy’s officials have not attended the zoning meetings.)

Furlow (pictured) called on the board to rescind or reverse the administrative order and bring the developer to the Board of Zoning Appeals” to discuss how its plans to build three apartments with a total of 10 bedrooms with no parking.”

But Corporation Counsel Roderick Williams said board members cannot order Mandy to appear before them because really the question in the appeal is simply: Was Tom’s decision correct or was it not?” If the board decides to support Talbot’s decision, Atkinson and Adelizzi could appeal that decision, Williams said. If they decide Talbot made the wrong decision, Mandy — as an aggrieved party” — could file an appeal, he said.

Board members again said they need more time to read through the new documents Atkinson provided. King explained to the two new board members that they were deciding whether Talbot made the correct decision in approving Mandy’s development plans as of right.”

Williams said the board has to make a decision within 65 days. Please, please, please be here next month,” he urged the four board members in attendance. To bring someone else up to speed is not impossible” but would be difficult, he said.

Wilkins and Melendez said they needed more time to understand the ordinance. Board member Walter Esdaile said he will support a reversal of the action” at this point in the discussion.

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