Marcia Chambers Photo
(L-R): Town Attorney Bill Aniskovich & Legacy attorney James R. Strub
In a unanimous vote, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) last night approved a four-way legal settlement, which, with a judge’s approval, will enable the Legacy Theatre to open for business in Stony Creek.
The agreement includes a stipulation that gives the theater and certain residents exclusive use of seven parking spaces on Thimble Island Road when the theater is in operation about 150 days a year.
The four parties included the Town of Branford, the Legacy Theatre, the Stony Creek Association (SCA), and a separate group of neighbors who hired their own attorney after deciding to seek the parking spaces.
Marcia Chambers Photo
“This is the last local approval” needed, Bill Aniskovich, town attorney, told the BOS (pictured) last night as he described the legal journey the Legacy Theatre has taken over the years. He noted that Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) had approved the four-way Legacy settlement at its June 20 meeting. In addition at its June meeting the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) voted in a 21 – 1 bi-partisan vote to approve the agreement.
Under the agreement, Thimble Island Road where the theater is located will give up its state road status to become a town road. A no-parking zone will be in effect near the theater from Wednesday to Saturday, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. from March 1 to Oct. 15 and similarly, Wednesday to Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the month of December. Signage will announce the rules.
Third Selectman Jack Ahern asked the attorneys how private enforcement would work. Aniskovich said if someone parks illegally, it will be up to the neighbor with the designated resident space to call a towing company to remove the car. Somehow the driver will have to learn which company towed the car and where it is located. Aniskovich said police will not enforce the no-parking zone on Thimble Island Road. Nor will the courts.
Attorney James R. Strub, who represents Legacy, addressed the BOS as well. He outlined the general nature of the parking agreement, which remains in effect as long as Legacy owns the theater.
Besides the parking agreement, the Stony Creek Association (SCA) and the Legacy and the group of neighbors have agreed to other conditions overseeing the theater’s use. Their memorandums of understanding, which they have signed, define the uses for the theater and the non-uses ( rap concerts and hard rock and heavy metal concerts, for example, are banned); the hours of operation, the months of operation, the noise level, traffic issues and parking, which became a thorny and divisive issue for the community. Had the final parking talks failed, the prior agreements, hammered out over the past two years would have become moot. Click here to read about it.
At one point it appeared that everyone would have to face off in Superior Court in New Haven in what was described as a protracted legal battle. The final climax, a fight over parking spaces, was resolved by the chair breaking a tie vote.
The Legacy Theatre group purchased the property, the former Puppet House, with the intent of creating a repertory theater in March 2013. The theater’s plan has virtually been on hold ever since the SCA appealed the town’s decision approving an open-ended permit for the theater to Superior Court in New Haven.
Major issues concerning its operation, parking, liquor use and scheduling of outside events had not been resolved when the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a permit in 2014. These issues did not fall under the authority of the ZBA. Under the current agreement, no outside events, including private events, will be permitted.
The next step is for the attorneys to return to Superior Court in New Haven on Monday, July 10, where the settlement agreement will be presented to Superior Court Judge Thomas Corradino for review.
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