Zoners Approve Duncan Lawsuit Settlement

The Board of Zoning Appeals has reversed its prior denial of parking relief requested by the new owners of the Hotel Duncan, thereby removing the last administrative obstacle to the full plan for a long-in-the-works downtown boutique hotel.

The board made that decision Tuesday afternoon during a special meeting held in the fifth floor City Plan Department conference room at City Hall.

BZA Chair Mildred Melendez and fellow board members Sarah Locke, Anne Stone, and Shirl Wilkins unanimously voted to accept the terms of a proposed settlement to a lawsuit filed by the Chicago-based hotel developers who are looking to convert the former Hotel Duncan rooming house at 1151 Chapel St. into a 72-room college-themed boutique hotel..

Click here to read the full terms of the agreed-upon settlement.

The Duncan’s owner had sued the city after the zoning board turned down his request for permission to serve liquor on the first floor and park cars nearby. The city’s lawyers came to a court settlement but then the zoning board had failed to ratify the settlement on the first try: BZA member Al Paolillo, Sr. scuttled the board’s opportunity to discuss and vote on the proposed settlement at last week’s regular BZA meeting by leaving the building without an explanation.

At Tuesday night’s follow-up special meeting, called to try again to approve the settlement, Paolillo did not vote in support of the settlement. Nor did he vote in opposition to it.

In fact, he didn’t show up for the meeting at all. But the presence of Wilkins at this meeting granted the body sufficient quorum to vote on the matter.

The settlement now goes to a Hartford-based land use judge for a final approval later this month.

Assistant Corporation Counsel Roderick Williams explained during the special meeting that the key term of the proposed settlement is that the BZA grant the developer’s special exception request.

The developer, New Haven Duncan Owner LLC, which is owned by the Chicago-based AJ Partners, had applied for a hotel liquor license and for a special exception to permit one on-site parking space where 59 are required.

The board had initially turned down the application, Williams said, because the developer had not presented the body with a promised valet parking agreement with Yale that would reserve a certain number of spaces for hotel guests at the nearby Chapel York Garage.

Now, Williams said, ​“the board has been provided the valet services agreement and notes that the agreement calls for 24-hour valet service.” The agreement does not have a vehicle limit, and lasts for 10 years before switching to a year-to-year arrangement. If the relationship between the Duncan owners and Yale is terminated before that initial 10-year period is up, he said, the applicant will provide the same or similar valet service ​“as long as it’s commercially reasonable.”