Markeshia Ricks file photo
City Plan Commission Chair Radcliffe, set for another term.
Hill community advocate, civic volunteer extraordinaire, and City Plan Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe won another three and a half years on the local land-use body during a continued remaking of New Haven’s landscape, thanks to a unanimous reappointment vote by the Board of Alders.
Local legislators took that vote during the latest regular full Board of Alders meeting on Sept. 6. The meeting was held in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall.
The alders voted unanimously in support of the mayor’s reappointment of Radcliffe to the City Plan Commission for a term that ends Feb. 1, 2026.
For the past few years, Radcliffe has served as the chair of the commission, which reviews and votes on proposed new developments’ compliance with a host of city zoning requirements around parking, building height, stormwater management, and the size and density of apartments.
As landlords, developers, and their attorneys continue to rush to build primarily new market-rate apartments across the city, the City Plan Commission has often met twice a month, with each meeting stretching on for hours and hours as commissioners review plans for dozens, sometimes hundreds, of new apartments in a single night. The commission’s meetings have also emerged as a venue for commissioners and members of the public to weigh in on zoning changes, such as the recently passed inclusionary zoning ordinance.
Newhallville Alder Devin Avshalom-Smith at Tuesday's meeting.
Radcliffe is a “valuable leader in the community,” Newhallville Alder Devin Avshalom-Smith said during the Sept. 6 meeting in support of her reappointment. She is “an invaluable source of knowledge on the City Plan Commission.”
In her June 23 application for another term on the commission, Radcliffe shed light on why she thinks her perspective as a long-time Hill neighborhood leader and New Haven citizen activist is a boon for the City Plan Commission.
“As an active and engaged member of the New Haven community, I have found that serving on the City Plan Commission allows me to bring the voice of the residents to the table where land use decisions are made,” she wrote in that application. There is more to land use than the placement of bricks & mortar, roads, water runoff, site plan reviews, etc. These decisions have direct and indirect impact on the lives of the residents and business in this city and the services the city provides to its residents and businesses. I believe that I can bring a unique viewpoint from the perspective of a resident, while also taking consideration of the effects our decisions have on the future sustainable development of this city.”
In response to the question about why she believes she is a good fit for the commission, Radcliffe wrote, “I am a life long resident who has a servant’s heart, is devoted to my community, who has developed skills and acquired tools that allow me to actively engage in almost any setting, whether on a local small group level of taking assignments in a community garden or street cleanup, to facilitating workshops or learning models in and with large groups. The level of compassion I have for my community does not wane. My 8 years of service on this commission has allowed me to serve my community in a manner that not only positively affects this community, but the entire city in making decisions that will allow New Haven to be the best City it can be, not just in terms of its economic growth and development, but for its consideration and compassion for its citizenry and our needs to be able to successfully thrive … IN New Haven.”
In addition to approving Radcliffe’s reappointment to the City Plan Commission, the Board of Alders on Sept. 6 unanimously approved:
• The appointment of Edward Mattison to the Commission on Equal Opportunities through Jan. 8, 2025;
• The appointment of Melissa Singleton to the Commission on Equal Opportunities through Jan. 8, 2025;
• The appointment of Jeanette Sykes to the Library Board of Directors through Jan. 1, 2025;
• The appointment of Richard Munday to the Historic District Commission through Jan. 1, 2025;
• The appointment of Kenya Adams Martin to the Board of Park Commissioners through Feb. 1, 2024;
• The appointment of Sean Buskey to the Peace Commission through Feb. 1, 2024;
• The appointment of Sal Punzo to the Port Authority Board of Commissioners, as the Board of Alders Representative, through Dec. 31, 2023;
• The reappointment of Giovanni Zinn to the Port Authority Board of Commissioners through May 1, 2025.
• The reappointment of Linda Townsend Maier to the New Haven Redevelopment Agency through Dec. 11, 2027.
Congratulations Radcliffe. Let me share with the ones who don’t know. Her commitment to her community and the city is priceless. She can’t be brought, lease or rented. Motivated by serving the people.