Olivia Gross Photo
Coming next -- gas and EV?
A Hartford-based company is seeking to turn this grassy expanse on Whitney Avenue in northern Hamden into a new development with a gas and electric vehicle (EV) charging station alongside 12 apartments and a convenience store.
The builder, Noble Energy Real Estate Holdings LLC, is requesting the final approval from Hamden Planning and Zoning Commission to build the 20,000 square-foot development at 3311 Whitney.
The project is set to include a convenience store, 12 residential apartments, and the fueling station with six gas pumps and four EV charging ports.
The site used to include single-family homes but is currently five vacant lots containing wooded and wetland areas. Quinnipiac University owns the property and has been in negotiations to sell it to Noble for the project. The Hamden Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is set to vote on June 7 on the final site plan for the project; Noble has already received needed zoning and inland wetlands approvals.
The principals of Noble Energy, Abdulghani Tammo and Michael Frisbie, have built a similar mixed-use gas station-centered project in Hartford and run seven Noble Gas sites altogether in the state.
“We’re not a big oil company. We’re a Connecticut-based company that owns and operates our facilities,” Frisbie said Wednesday.
“We’re excited to be in Hamden; I think it’s going to be really nice project for the town.”
(Click here to read a 2017 Hartford Courant interview with Tammo, who immigrated here from Syria and opened a string of gas stations. Click here to read an op-ed Frisbie co-authored about a regional climate initiative.)
The proposed building.
Floor plan of a residential floor at the proposed development.
The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) approved a variance for the project’s frontage width to exceed the minimum by 315 feet, with 415 feet bordering the road. The Connecticut Department of Transportation gave a needed approved as well (since Whitney Avenue is a state road). The town’s zoning ordinances requires that 60 percent of the frontage must be occupied by a building; the fueling station canopies do not meet these requirements, so the plan needs and will require a variance for that as well.
The town engineer has made recommendations for the project including adding a sidewalk to the property. The engineer also recommended installing a berm around the concrete dumpster pad to retain fluids. The reasoning behind the suggestion of the added sidewalk (also recommended by the town planner’s office) is to make the intersection safer for pedestrians and to support businesses on both sides of Whitney Avenue, as well as increasing access into the Farmington Canal trail. In accordance with town zoning requirements, 20 percent of the residential apartments would needed be affordable units (at or below 60 or 80 percent of area median income).
The northbound section of Whitney Avenue currently has no gas/EV stations or convenience stores between the Route 40 connector and the Cheshire town line. This was a strong factor in the Hamden planning staff has recommended approval of the project, partly because it would eliminate difficult left-hand turns on the strip of Whitney
The current status of the site with no sidewalks or gas stations.
Acting Economic Development Director and Acting Town Planner Erik Johnson said in an interview that he supports the project. He argued that Whitney Avenue, which sees 30,000 cars travel the route each day, needs the gas pumps and EV charging station.
In reflecting on the relationship between the town and Quinnipiac University, Johnson said that since Noble Energy LLC negotiated the terms with Quinnipiac to buy the property, he does not treat this as a “Quinnipiac” project.
“Someone wants to make an investment in Hamden, and we want to support those types of individuals when their plans make sense,” said Johnson.
This is a win all around. It improves Hamden’s tax base. It offloads a spite purchase by Quinnipiac’s prior leadership, and hopefully points to a saner relationship with the town in the years ahead. It gives us a northbound gas station, which will relieve some of the left-hand turn backups at Ives. It adds more housing at a time when home prices and rents are rising. And it improves the streetscape. I look forward to seeing more sidewalks as properties turn over or get redeveloped on that stretch.