Garcia, at right, makes her pitch.
On the corner of Adeline Street and the Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, Angela Garcia is looking to transform a vacant industrial building into a used car dealership, adding to a hub of nearby car sales and repair shops.
Garcia shared these plans at Tuesday evening’s Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, as she requested an Approval of Location certificate from the board. The board is expected to vote on the request next month.
Garcia currently owns Unique Auto Sales, a used car dealership at 392 East St. At the proposed new location at 155 Adeline St., Garcia said, she hopes to build a showroom and repair shop as well as an outdoor lot where used cars could be sold. The project would create jobs and revive a vacant warehouse, she said.
The parking lot can fit approximately 50 cars for sale, she said, in addition to four parking spaces. “There’s gonna be enough space for the customers to come and park,” she assured board members. The lot would remain entirely fenced in from the sidewalk.
The building at 155 Adeline used to belong to Shuster Mettler, a wire straightening and cutting factory.
“I have to rehab this whole building,” Garcia said. “It needs a lot of work.”
If Garcia’s plans move forward, her business would join a handful of other car repair and accessory stores in the vicinity, including S & C Tire repair, C & J Auto Sales and Services, Lyons Auto Inc, Tire Doctor, International Automotive, New Haven Auto Sports, and Lou’s Motor LLC.
Leslie Radcliffe, a Hill resident and the chair of the City Plan Commission, asked about parking spaces.
Radcliffe, who lives nearby, said that it’s currently difficult to find a place to park in the area. “A lot of vehicles — not only for residents, but other automotive places that may not be related to hers — park vehicles on the street, that are in various states of repair or disrepair,” Radcliffe said. “I would really be concerned if the amount of parking that she’s talking about is over there. As a resident who frequently tries to get home in that area, it’s very difficult to maneuver the streets because of the amount of cars.”
Garcia did not have a chance to respond to Radcliffe’s question, nor did board members have an opportunity to vote on the matter. A constituent seeking to give public testimony who was unable to make the board’s March meeting had requested a continuance on the matter, so the public portion of the hearing was left open until next month.
Vacant factory lot Garcia is looking to revive.
Good article. It's nice to see entreprenuers wanting to open up or expand to do business here in New Haven. Hopefuly they do a some type of Auto-mall wih a Cafe, internet, local desserts so area residents can paricipate with something they know and like and the occasional car show during summer months to make it a destination location.