Taco Truck Owner Prevails In Zoning Quest

Taco truck owner Carlos Rodriguez is further along the way to converting a vacant city-owned lot into a commercial kitchen with apartments on top after clearing a legislative hurdle.

He cleared that hurdle Monday night as the Board of Alders unanimously voted to rezone the Hill property to support his redevelopment plans.

Local legislators took that vote during their latest, regular full board meeting, which was held online via Zoom and YouTube Live.

The Board of Alders unanimously backed amending the city’s zoning map to designate the 7,500 square-foot lot at 455 Greenwich Ave. as part of the General Business BA District. That vacant lot formerly fell within the High-Middle Density Residential RM‑2 District.

That seemingly arcane zoning code switch represents a critical milestone for Rodriguez’s plans to build out a commercial kitchen to support his food truck business, Tacos La Patrona.

The Hill entrepreneur came to the U.S. from Mexico. He has lived in New Haven for 22 years and has run his Long Wharf-based food truck for a decade. He also heads a construction contracting firm called Affordable Glass based out of his First Street home.

To complete his plan, he still needs to purchase the 0.17-acre grassy plot from the city for $15,000.

And he still needs to invest an estimated $300,000 into the construction effort itself, which should result in a ground-floor commercial kitchen and two two-bedroom apartments on the floor above.

He has been working on this vision since the summer of 2018. Standing on the sidewalk outside of the fenced-in lot this week, Rodriguez breathed a sigh of relief that the most abstruse and legally demanding part of the plan seems to be over: Convincing the city to change local zoning law to allow him to grow his business on that lot.

“I’m happy because all that time has paid off at the end,” he said. He praised city staff, alders, and a supportive community management team for helping him navigate the rezoning process, as arduous as it was. ​“It would have been nice if it was quicker. Six months. Even a year. It would have been lot better.”

But now it’s done. And he can move on to closing on the purchase of the property and actually building it out.

“It is what it is.”

Zoning Director: ​“Highest & Best Use”

During a late October aldermanic Legislation Committee hearing, then-city Zoning Director Jenna Montesano (pictured) and local attorney Bernie Pellegrino explained why Rodriguez needed the zoning map change at all.

Montesano explained that the RM‑2 zoning designation ​“doesn’t have as much development potential” as the desired BA district. ​“He can’t do the density he needs. He can’t do the commercial first floor that he needs. And he can’t do setbacks” he needs in order to be compliant with the zoning code.

Instead of seeking out a slew of variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals, she said, the city advised Rodriguez and his attorney to push for a zoning map change instead. That’s because the lot is right on the border of the more business-friendly district, and just happens to be on a side of the street that falls under the more residential heading. Montesano said she’s not worried about ​“spot zoning” because of the proximity of the BA district. Instead, the zoning map change would nudge this property into the ​“central business area in this community.”

“This is really in my opinion the highest and best use of a parcel like this,” she continued, ​“and we’re unlocking the potential by changing the zone.”

So how exactly do you plan on using this new mixed-use building? Fair Haven Heights Alder Rosa Ferraro-Santana asked Rodriguez during the committee hearing. To prepare food? To store food? To sell food on premises?

Rodriguez said the new space would be ​“the home of the business” for Tacos La Patrona, which currently has one food truck stationed on Long Wharf. He would prepare food in the building’s commercial kitchen, as opposed to doing all of that food prep work in the truck itself, which is currently the case. And he would store the truck on site within a garage, as opposed to his current setup of renting a parking space offisite.

Rodriguez said he does not plan on selling food directly from the planned new Greenwich Avenue building.

And what about the upstairs housing component? asked Dwight Alder Frank Douglass.

Rodriguez said he initially planned to build just a commercial kitchen. But after talking with neighbors and the community management team about what they wanted to see on the site, he decided to add a second floor to his plans, with that upper level consisting of two two-bedroom apartments.

Hill Alder Kampton Singh (pictured) threw his support behind the project, and noted how long Rodriguez has been working to redevelop this site. He said that, if Rodriguez or some future owner of the site decides to change the redevelopment plans from a two-story building with a kitchen and apartments, the community would like Rodriguez or whoever to come back to the management team and present those plans again.

At the end of the hearing, Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison congratulated Rodriguez on making it this far in the redevelopment process — and for sticking with his plans despite the bureaucratic hurdles.

“Dealing with the red tape of city government or state government, that’s a lot,” she said. ​“That’s enough to make a person say, ​‘Maybe I don’t want to do this.’ I’m so thankful to Mr. Rodriguez for sticking with it.”