Yale Yacht Club Expansion Sparks Opposition

A proposal by Yale University to expand the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club (YCYC) to nearby residential lots Yale has purchased has sparked deep opposition in the tight-knit seaside community of Short Beach.

The university has submitted plans designed to combine two residential properties across the way from its yacht club in order to construct a large multi-use building to be used for seasonal sailboat storage, housing quarters for seasonal staff, housing for the program director and additional parking. 

The proposed development, first unveiled at a meeting of the Civic Association of Short Beach (CASB) last month, has triggered intense reaction, including a petition campaign and handmade signs all over the community that say: ​“No Yale Expansion.”

Both sides are gearing up for the public hearing to be held this Monday, July 7, at 7 p.m. at Orchard House, 421 Shore Dr. The project (and the sale) are contingent upon CASB approvals. 

Yale’s sailing club came to Short Beach nearly 50 years ago. The club, the hub of Yale’s popular sailing program for kids and adults, along with college sailing competitions called regattas, is a non-profit facility. 

Some who oppose an expansion of YCYC say Yale cannot control the impact on the community when it hosts weekend sailing competitions with other colleges. To erect yet another large structure they fear would make matters worse. Many also believe the new structure will become ​“a party house.” But neighbors acknowledge that the parties at YCYC stopped years ago. 

Chris Peterson, a Short Beach native, says ​“Yale clearly can’t control the parking; they can’t control visitors, or the families of the students. As a consequence these people park where they want to park, they open their vans on the street, they block traffic and fire hydrants and they want to now expand that and say that they are going to solve the problem when they are only going to exacerbate it.”

Yale Responds

Tom Conroy, a university’ spokesman, told the Eagle that parking problems will get better, not worse. ​“To the degree that there is parking offsite, this should be a help to the area,” he said. According to the plans, 11 parking places are outlined as off-street parking for visitors. 

He said contrary to expectations, no students will be living in the proposed new facility. Instead, the space above the boat storage will be set aside for up to four staff members.

Asked about neighbors’ charge that the club would double the number of boats in the fleet, Conroy responded, ​“No boats will be added.”

Conroy said the storage space is for dinghies that are already used by the club and will be utilized in the off-season or during a heavy storm. (Yale’s current boat storage spaces have been damaged in recent hurricanes.)
 
There will be no boats added to the existing fleet, he said. In addition,“there will be no expansion of the sailing program.”

“Sure, Yale is aware of the interest of the Short Beach community. There is an upcoming hearing. Through that process, the university is glad to discuss plans with the community and answer any questions,” Conroy said. 

Many residents said they are unhappy about the proposed size of the new facility, which unlike YCYC, is located in a residential district, at the corner of Clark and Highland Avenues. Clark Avenue is the main road in and out of the area. The two properties are owned by the estate of one family. The properties are pictured here.

The proposed Yale building is 29 feet high, just one foot below the maximum permitted; it is 76 feet wide and it is 25 feet in depth. The current two houses on the property are surrounded by tall trees, which would be cut down to make way for the new facility.

Yale says in its ​“Statement of Use” that the uses of the club ​“will not change and the intensity of existing Yacht use will not increase. Rather through the proposed plan, the existing use and area will function more efficiently and with less impact with regard to traffic, parking and access to the property, and the convenience, safety and the aesthetics of the neighborhood will also be improved.” 

Neighbors Object

In the last month, a group of neighbors started an organizing committee to oppose Yale’s plan. They have investigated the law, hired attorneys to oppose the project and started a petition campaign. In recent days black and white signs have popped up all over Short Beach. They read: ​“No Yale Expansion.” 

Click here to see Yale’s application and other documents. 

In order for Yale and the estate Barbara Davidson Bailey, the owner of the two properties, to succeed they need to obtain a special permit and a zoning permit. The zoning permit enables Yale to build on the proposed site.

The special permit may be denied by the CASB, a board of nine members, if it finds the proposed plan is ​“in conflict with the general public convenience and welfare, if it increases congestion on the streets and if it is not an appropriate, harmonious and desirable use of the land.”

It is this language that forms the basis of a petition that has been circulating in the Short Beach community.

Short Beach and Pine Orchard are two small communities in Branford with their own zoning rules and laws. As a result, the town of Branford is not involved in zoning decisions in these areas. 

Conflict of Interest Issue Raised

At the CASB’s June 2 meeting at the Short Beach Union Church, Barry Beletsky, the CASB president, told David Gibson, the attorney representing Yale, that he wanted to raise a conflict of interest issue. 

Beletsky, who is an attorney, told Gibson that eight of the nine executive board members (pictured) live next door to or up the block from the Yacht club or the proposed new facility. In fact, Beletsky lives directly across the street from the proposed facility. (He is at the center of the photo, wearing a blue jacket.) 
 
Members of the board also may have their own feelings about the project and/or may be close friends with those who oppose it or endorse it. 

Gibson (pictured in center), a leading expert on planning and zoning laws whose law practice is located in Branford, seemed aware of potential conflicts. In addressing the issue, Gibson told the board: ​“I’m sure the board can act in an unbiased manner.” Gibson submitted to the board the application for a special permit on Yale’s behalf along with initial architectural sketches and site plans.

Since the June 2 meeting, the CASB board has apparently decided to erect a Chinese wall between its members and their neighbors and friends. According to Peterson, they are not discussing the Yale issue with any of them. A Chinese wall is an information barrier typically implemented by lawyers to prevent exchanges of information that may create conflicts of interest.

“They need to pull themselves back,” David Perkins, the Short Beach zoning enforcement officer, told the Branford Eagle after the meeting, referring to the role of the board.

Perkins explained that the properties are essentially in everyone’s backyard, which is the case for most applications in the area, given the small size of the community. 

According to Perkins, the association is required to hold a hearing within 65 days after an application is submitted. In addition, after the hearing, the Association has 35 days to come to a decision, unless the applicant grants an extension. If rejected, the University will have the option of appealing the ruling to New Haven’s state Superior Court.

Prior to the June meeting, signs that declared ​“Save Short Beach!” showed up in several places around the neighborhood, instructing interested parties to attend the CASB meeting. Although the posters were taken down in a matter of days, over 50 residents piled into the Church on June 9. 

As most people learned by word of mouth, the signs referred to the University’s decision to submit an application for a special permit to renovate ​“the two properties, 27 Highland Avenue and 158 Clark Avenue, in the Residence A district of Short Beach.”

Changes Outlined

The proposed changes would involve tearing down the houses and many of the trees in order to create a new boathouse with increased storage space, which, on occasion, would double as a place for parking; the construction of a two-bedroom residential area over the boathouse for up to four seasonal staff; a renovated house for the director of the sailing program; and the conversion of an existing garage into additional office and storage space.

In addition, as outlined in its ​“Statement of Use,” the University plans to eliminate the property line between 27 Highland and 158 Clark to create one property that is 20,115 square feet, thereby allotting the required 7,500 sq. feet to each structure on the land.

The current owner of both properties, Phyllis Bailey, the Executrix of the Estate of Barbara Davidson Bailey, has submitted a letter of consent and authorization for the University’s special permit, allowing them to go forward with the application.

Past Cases

After the meeting, Perkins told the Branford Eagle, ​“The only major issues we ever have in Short Beach are with Yale.”

In the past, the University has succeeded in opposing the Association in court.

In 1996, the Association issued a cease and desist order to the University and specifically the YCYC, arguing that Yale had failed to operate according to its 1957 constitution, which stated that only members of the Yale community are eligible for membership in YCYC. This led the parties into Superior Court. 

Before Yale, the lot was occupied by ​“Johnson’s Boat Yard,” which had been granted permission to use the area for non-conforming uses prior to the formation of the Short Beach Zoning Association. In 1957, Clarence Johnson, the owner of the property, sought to formally transfer the boat yard to Yale, which he argued would be better suited to the neighborhood, citing reasons such as decreased pollution and more controlled noise levels.

By allowing Yale to start using the boat yard, the association had ruled that the YCYC would be ​“less offensive” than the non-conforming Johnson’s Boat Yard. Therefore, in 1957, the Association had granted Yale a variance and continued its non-conforming use.

In the 1996 lawsuit contesting Yale’s ability to expand membership, the judge ruled that so long as the university used the property as a boat yard, the University has the right to amend its bylaws, which include the definition of club membership.

As a result of that ruling, Yale may open its summer membership to people not formally associated with the university. This has been important in the past few decades with the development of its youth sailing program. It now offers adult lessons on weekends as well.

Public Hearing Coming Up

Most of the concerns of residents revolve around a perceived belief that their way of life will change and they plan to articulate their views at the upcoming public hearing. 

Peggy Carpenter and her husband, Greg, live across the street from YCYC. ​“There are small corners and small streets here. People are reacting to that, that this monster is going to come in and we will become a YCYC neighborhood as opposed to our home and our residential place to live. First they are here and now they are there and there.” 

Opponents of the current project, including Chris Peterson, say Yale is attempting to expand its existing non-conforming use of YCYC to the residential properties it has contracted to purchase on Clark and Highland Avenues. 

In his view, ​“that is not allowed. The special permit is for a club on that specific property. It is not meant to expand this facility to residential property,” Peterson said.

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