With a vote by lawmakers Thursday evening, developers moved a step closer to converting Wooster Square’s Comcast building into 200 luxury apartments.
The Board of Alders Legislation Committee voted to recommend a change of zoning for the building, to make it part of a BD‑1 district. The matter now moves to the full board for a final vote.
The new zoning would allow for denser development and for mixed-use development, clearing the way for a company called Spinnaker Residential to replace the existing building with 200 apartments in two buildings with retail on the first floor. Spinnaker’s plan reflects a trend to more housing being built downtown and in Wooster Square, and, in this case, the underdeveloped stretch connecting downtown with Wooster Square.
Thursday evening’s vote came after approval from the City Plan Commission, where the proposal saw push-back from people concerned about “spot zoning.”
“Adding another new, mixed use space will bring even more vibrancy to the city and will be great news for the residents of New Haven,” city economic development chief Matthew Nemerson said in a written statement.
Others were not so sanguine.
“This area of the city is poised for a major zone change, but the BD‑1 zone, a Central Business District zone, is not appropriate, even with the height of buildings limited to 70 feet, in this neighborhood area,” said New Haven Urban Design League head Anstress Farwell, in submitted testimony. “We have, from the first public discussion of this project in November 2013, advocated for the creation of a residential “transition zone” — one which would support a mid-scale, mixed-use residential area.”
“We also object to the plan to re-zone just one property at a time. This piecemeal approach does not support the public interest in establishing, through zoning, a stable environment.”
Anstress is correct. A piecemeal approach to zoning reform is short-sited. Serving the interests of whatever project that's on the front burner is a bad habit we need to break.
I would like to see the Harp administration spend some money on comprehensive zoning reform so we can shape development in an orderly, predictable manner that serves the interests of the City as a whole instead of the developer-of-the-day.