City Angels Baseball Academy players and coaches in the dugout this summer.
Contributed photo
A view of what the prospective indoor batting cage at 31 Fulton St. will look like.
A Fair Haven-based youth baseball league plans to build indoor batting cages in an Annex warehouse to offer needed after-school activities for young New Haveners.
Supporters of the City Angels Baseball Academy (CABA) pitched that plan Tuesday night during the latest monthly meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
The four-hour virtual meeting took place online via Zoom.
CABA is a youth baseball league founded in 2019 by Wilbur Cross High School baseball coach Angel Ramos. It uses Clinton Avenue Field in Fair Haven for games and practices.
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Tuesday night’s BZA virtual hearing.
The group plans to build up to four new batting cages, a bathroom, and a small administrative area in roughly 3,430 square feet of a 17,275 square-foot existing warehouse building at 31 Fulton St.
Before they can make that indoor field of dreams a reality, the group needs a use variance from the BZA to permit a baseball practice facility with a batting cage at the industrial site, which is also home to car storage and welding.
Coach Ramos (right) with one of CABA’s star pitchers this summer.
“The goal is to get the kids out of the streets of New Haven,” Ramos said in a follow-up interview about the impetus behind the batting cages in particular and CABA more broadly. “The schools are closed right now, and they don’t have anything to do. That’s why I think we have high crime in the city of New Haven. Kids don’t have anything to do.”
He said that this would be the first indoor baseball practice facility in the city, if ultimately approved by the BZA.
The zoning commissioners heard public testimony on the matter Tuesday night before referring it to the City Plan Commission for a coastal site plan review. The BZA is slated to vote on the use variance application during its next regular meeting in February. (The board does not plan to meet in January.)
“Our goal is to have a facility where our kids can practice baseball throughout the year, but especially during the winter months where outdoor activities are not feasible,” Ramos wrote in CABA’s written zoning relief application. “The vision of the academy is not just to coach baseball where kids can harness their athletic skills, but to also instill character and encourage high academic achievement of all the children that attend the academy.”
Ramos said that the league currently includes roughly 60 kids, ages 9 through 18, from across New Haven. His goal is to build that number of young participants up to 100.
He said that the league plans to abide by the state’s Covid-19 public health restrictions if and when it can open the new indoor batting cages. Under the current state guidelines, that would mean limiting indoor capacity at such a facility to no more than four people at a time.
“We play baseball in the summer and the fall, and we follow all the guidance from the state. That’s the same thing that we’re going to do when we open the facility,” he said. “We’re going to have the same guidance. Checking the temperatures, using masks, maintaining six feet. We don’t want to be like some facilities that are open that don’t care about Covid-19. We want to follow the guidance.”
Representing the baseball league in its batting-cage bid Tuesday night, local attorney Ben Trachten (pictured) said that the indoor baseball facility will have “no impact on the character of the neighborhood,” and he asked the zoning commissioners to consider the current “lack of constructive outlets for New Haven youth” when considering whether or not to allow the legal change-of-use.
“Weigh the harm against the good,” he said. “Our regulations are outdated. A use like this indoor batting cage is absolutely at home in a district like this,” an industrial area on the edge of a residential zone.
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31 Fulton St.
Also, he said, “take note of the community support and the community need.” He showed a list of dozens of signatures of support gathered for the indoor baseball project. “And take notice of all the cute kids in City Angels outfits” on the BZA Zoom call.
Looking out from square after square of the virtual meeting, children dressed in purple City Angels uniforms waved out from the screen alongside their parents.
Supporters: “We’ve Got To Give Opportunities To Our Kids”
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The batting cage proposal received overwhelming support Tuesday night during the public hearing section of the meeting.
Fair Haven Alder Jose Crespo said that he, fellow Fair Haven Alder Ernie Santiago, and Annex Alder Jody Ortiz — who represents the ward that includes 31 Fulton St. — are all very much in support of the project.
“Our community desperately needs such a facility,” Crespo said. “The need is even more dramatic during the pandemic,” as city groups like CABA try to “keep youth out of the streets and focused” on constructive activities. Not only would this facility allow young New Haveners “use their energy,” he said, “it would also allow a coach, a peer coordinator, someone could speak to them and guide them” to connect with them in a safe space.
Local pastors Javier Diaz and Abraham Hernandez (pictured) agreed.
“In the time we’re living in right now, we’ve got to give opportunities to our kids for them to be somewhere, and to mentor them,” Diaz said. “I think this program is going to be great for them.”
Hernandez said he remembers when baseball in Fair Haven and various other neighborhoods across the city was one of the pastimes he and his friends most looked forward to growing up. “As a lifelong resident of the city, I see how that blessing that we have has dissipated throughout the years.” Groups like CABA are working towards restoring baseball as a cherished pastime in the city, he said.
Rosanna Leon, sitting next to her son Marcus (pictured), said that her son currently plays baseball with CABA and that “this program means the world to him.”
She said he has learning disabilities and has struggled in school. “The one thing he’s always had confidence in is baseball,” she said. She praised Ramos for “never giving up on my son and the other children. He’s been a light for Marcus and a light for many others.”
She said that CABA has “given him a sense of family and a safe haven.”
CABA players dropping off food for seniors at Casa Otonal this summer.
Seth Poole, writing in in the comments section of Zoom, threw his support behind the indoor batting cage proposal as well. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said alongside the public testimony. “Let’s play ball!”
Fair Haven resident Mark Firla asked if this indoor batting cage facility would be open just to CABA members, or if other New Haveners not affiliated with the youth league could also rent the space for practice.
“Anybody can enjoy to practice over there,” Ramos replied. He said they’ll have to call in advance to reserve a spot for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour. “But we’ve got to follow the Covid-19 rules,” he said.
Awesome idea! As long as covid preventions and proper air circulation are out in place, this will be a wonderful way for children and teens to have socially distanced activities. After the pandemic is over, or maybe once the majority of people are vaccinated, they can increase capacity and become even more helpful to the community. I'm so glad people are seeing a need, stepping up, and trying to find constructive and positive ways to keep young people busy and engaged. We need more people to creatively problem solve and create more solutions to problems in this manner.