Thomas Breen photos
Neighbor Anthony Germe: Too many parked cars, terrible sightlines.
The view from Germe's front door.
Should on-street parking right across from Tweed’s entrance be reserved for the block’s four residents?
Or will a “residential parking zone” on that stretch of Burr Street — for homes that already have driveways — do nothing to address the true traffic problems caused by the airport?
City Plan Commission members debated those questions during their latest monthly online meeting, held on April 16.
The cause for the debate was a proposal by Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola to designate a residential parking zone, or RPZ, for one block of Burr Street between Hall Street and Fort Hale Road.
The four single-family houses on the western side of the road stand directly across from the main entrance to Tweed New Haven Airport.
Ultimately, the commissioners voted 3 to 1 — with Leslie Radcliffe casting the sole dissenting vote — to send the matter with a positive recommendation on to the full Board of Alders for further review and a potential final vote.
The residential parking zone proposal and debate raised just the latest question about how to address an increase in car traffic in Morris Cove due to the airport. Just this week, the city began construction on a roundabout at Burr and Dean Streets with the goal of redirecting some airport traffic away from Fort Hale and towards Townsend Avenue.
DeCola laid out the argument for the proposed new residential parking zone in a March 14 letter written to the Board of Alders’ president. He wrote about his concerns as well as those of the residents of 250 – 274 Burr St. in regards to “the increased traffic and parking congestion due to changes at Tweed New Haven Airport. With increased flights, there has been a significant increase in the number of motor vehicles parked in front of homes for extended periods of time, leaving no space for residential cars or visitors.”
This has made it difficult for residents to find parking, he continued.
“During evening hours residents may not find adequate parking nearby and are required to walk longer distances, while children getting on and off school buses are at a disadvantage as well trying to avoid a dangerous situation.”
DeCola wrote that the parked vehicles often leave behind a considerable amount of garbage, “creating an unsightly and unhygienic environment.”
So he and the residents have requested the installation of a “Permit Parking Only” sign in front of their homes.
During his opening presentation on the matter to the commissioners, Deputy Economic Development Administrator Carlos Eyzaguirre said that the city implemented similar residential parking zones on Fort Hale Road and on Hall Street in recent years as commercial airfare service at Tweed has grown.
“Folks often do park their cars there” to take a place, he said about this stretch of Burr Street, “which is obviously very problematic.” He urged the commissioners to vote in support.
Radcliffe noted that all four houses on this block of Burr “have substantial driveways, probably enough to hold four cars.” There appears to be sufficient off-street parking for the residents, she said.
Meanwhile, based on her recent experience flying out of Tweed, the big traffic problem on that block stems from all of the cars that lined up on Burr Street waiting to get in to the airport to pick up passengers. Those cars weren’t parked, she said; they were “standing,” waiting in line. “I don’t know how that would be regulated by having residential parking zones for that area.”
Which ultimately gets at the question: “What exactly is the problem and how would the problem be addressed by having this designated as residential parking only?”
If the main problem is instead “150 cars that are slowing moving” in front of someone’s property, she said, “it doesn’t seem like [a residential parking zone is] going to really address the problem.”
After all, adding another residential parking zone to the city means that’s one more block that city traffic-enforcement officers have to travel to on a regular basis to check permits and issue fines.
That’s a good point, Eyzaguirre conceded. These houses do appear to have pretty long driveways. But, he repeated, there are a number of nearby streets — Fort Hale and Hall among them — where residential parking zones have succeeded in cutting down on non-residents parking on the block for airport-related reasons.
“I think the volume can get pretty bad right now, and as much as we’re supportive of the airport expansion, we’re really sympathetic to the residents that have to live there.”
Westville Alder and City Plan Commissioner Adam Marchand acknowledged that adding another residential parking zone would represent an “incremental increase” for city traffic-enforcement workers. But, he said, because there are nearby residential parking zones, these workers already have to travel to this part of the city to check on permits.
He continued that this street is “in very close proximity to one of the most heavily used facilities” in all of New Haven: the airport. “It’s about as busy a place as we can get in the city.” That should inform the commission’s decision, too, on whether or not to recommend approval of a residential parking zone.
Even though these houses appear to have long driveways, he said, “it’s not a normal amount of parking” going on at the airport.
“I think it’s appropriate to have a residential parking zone across the street from the airport, given the sheer amount of stuff going on there,” Marchand said.
Radcliffe disagreed. Ultimately, Marchand, Commission Chair Ernest Pagan, and Commission Vice Chair Joshua Van Hoesen all voted in support of the new residential parking zone, while Radcliffe voted against.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday at noon, one of the residents of that four-house stretch of Burr — a truck driver named Anthony Germe — said he’s wholeheartedly in support of a residential parking zone on the block.
He said that the block is usually full of cars parked by people using the airport. Drivers often park so close to the Hall Street intersection that anyone turning from Hall onto Burr can’t see oncoming traffic.
When asked about how he and his neighbors have sizeable driveways that would appear to allow for residents to park off-street, Germe said that it’s often difficult for visitors to his house or to his neighbors’ houses to find on-street parking.
How else is it living right across the street from the airport?
Germe said that his house vibrates when Avelo Airlines flights take off. “It’s very annoying,” he said. “I wish Avelo would go away.”
The four houses on Burr between Fort Hale and Hall.
Looking south on Burr from Hall.