Danger: Boxing Ring, Ice Cream Parlor

Homeowners turned out in force to oppose two perceived threats to their neighborhoods: Kids learning to box and kids eating ice cream.

The showdown took place Tuesday night at the monthly meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals in the Hall of Records on Orange Street, where two items on the agenda drew the ire of neighbors concerned about crime near their houses.

One woman is looking for zoning permission to open a boxing gym for young people in Dixwell. A man wants to open an ice cream store for kids in the Hill.

Neighbors near both locations said they deal with drugs and violence on a regular basis and don’t need more activity nearby.

The Board of Zoning Appeals did not vote on the two items. They were referred to the City Plan Commission, which will consider them next week. They’ll return to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a final vote in July.

The boxing gym and the ice cream store are both being proposed in neighborhoods that struggle with crime, and both entrepreneurs presented their plans as ways to improve the area and give kids safe, productive ways to spend their time.

Neighbors didn’t see it that way.

Kelly Moye owns the building at 10 West St. (pictured) where the ice cream shop is planned. When he took the microphone to explain the idea to the Board of Zoning Appeals, he said he wants to ​“do something for the youth.”

The ice cream shop would open in the first floor of 10 West St., which houses a daycare and a couple of apartments. Moye’s son-in-law, Kevin McFarlane, lives in the building and intends to run the business.

The shop would operate during the summer months only, and would sell scooped ice cream and ​“slushees,” McFarlane said after the meeting. He told board members that the shop would create four part-time jobs for teenagers in the neighborhood.

Leslie Radcliffe (pictured) stood up to oppose the plan. She said she lives around the corner on Truman Street, near another house that Moye owns. That house is overrun by drug dealers, Radcliffe said. She said she’s had kids fighting on her front porch and her house has been struck by gunfire. She said she has seen ​“hundreds of drug deals” outside her house.

“If Mr. Moye is unaware of the activity going on at his property,” Radcliffe said. ​“I have little confidence in his monitoring activity at an ice cream shop.”

The shop will attract more than buyers of ice cream, she said.

“I’m concerned about my little kids and the traffic coming in there,” said Anne Clark, who runs the daycare and also lives in the on the building’s second floor.

Robert McCrae, a minister at a church at 4 West St., told board members that a store once occupied the spot proposed for the ice cream shop. Kids used it as an excuse for loitering, he said. ​“We do not need another store.”

Moye (pictured) sought to rebut some of the criticisms. He said he regularly walks his properties and deals with criminal behavior. ​“I don’t tolerate that stuff,” he said. ​“I don’t play that.” He said no drugs are sold out of his properties.

After the meeting, McFarlane called the neighborhood opposition misguided. An ice cream shop would bring money to the neighborhood and employ four teenagers who might otherwise be selling drugs, he said. ​“They’re completely missing that!”

Moye also dismissed the complaints. Radcliffe doesn’t even live nearby, he said. ​“She lives way around the corner. What’s she got to do with over here? She’s got some issues,” he said. ​“Where would an ice cream shop bother anybody?”

Moye said he could understand the opposition if he were proposing a pool room.

He said he plans to set aside some of the shop’s proceeds to give back to neighborhood kids in some way. He said he doesn’t have specific plans, but was inspired by the woman at the meeting who wants to start a boxing gym for kids in Dixwell.

That woman, Devonne Canady, was the other applicant at Tuesday’s meeting who faced stiff neighborhood opposition.

Canady (pictured at the top of the story) plans to open a non-profit boxing gym at the corner of Orchard and Henry Streets.

“I’m a two-time world champion boxer,” she told the board on Tuesday. She said she plans to convert an abandoned gas station into a boxing gym that will after-school training to local youth.

Four people, board members at Canady’s new non-profit, rose to express their support for the plan. They said it would provide a positive outlet for kids and be a way to address youth crime and childhood obesity.

Seven people voiced opposition to the plan.

“I have watched this dilapidated eyesore diminish,” said Melanie Moore (at right in top photo), who lives nearby on Orchard Street. It’s a ​“terrible eyesore,” she said.

Moore said she deals with crime and gunfire in front of her house. ​“It’s just too much congestion in this little area,” she said. The building ​“needs to just be torn down. … It’s us who are there after hours.”

Marvet Tam, who lives at 760 Orchard St., said she works two jobs and is a single mom to four kids. She said she can’t even sit outside because of the crime in the neighborhood. She said she wants the area to be residential only.

“This is a residential neighborhood,” said Amie Smedley, another neighbor. But it already has a liquor store and a convenience store, she said. ​“How much more activity do we need?” Neighbors have to ​“duck shots” in the street, she said.

Several neighbors said the boxing gym sounds like a nice idea, but not for their neighborhood.

“There’s just too much going on,” said Belinda Gibbs, who lives at 762 Orchard St. And the building’s owner doesn’t take care of the property, Gibbs said.

Board of Zoning Appeals Chair Cathy Weber interrupted. She asked: You understand that Canady wants to improve the property?

“When they leave, the kids are still going to be there,” Gibbs said.

Fair Haven developer Alejandro De Frutos spoke up in favor of the plan. ​“She’s not planning to open a bar or a crackhouse,” he said. Neighbors are ​“just opposing progress,” he said.

“Then move in!” the neighbors suddenly shouted from the back of the room. ​“You move to Orchard Street!”

Cathy Weber banged a gavel to regain order. ​“Not in here!” she shouted.

Canady then responded to her detractors. ​“I respect everyone’s opinion,” she said. ​“All the reasons that they’re opposed is all the reasons it should happen.”

“Yes, it’s an eyesore,” she said. ​“I’m trying to improve it and increase the value of property in the area.”

The neighborhood has no recreation centers for kids, Canady said. She said she would not tolerate loitering or drug dealing at the gym.

Before referring the matter to the City Plan Commission, Weber signaled her support for the plan. She acknowledged neighbors’ concerns about gun violence. ​“That’s all over New Haven and everywhere else due to the times,” she said. ​“I would hope this boxing gym could help some kids in the neighborhood respect themselves and their neighborhood.”

Weber suggested the board could put conditions on its approval requiring the gym to make improvements to the building. ​“Maybe have a few flowers and things to make it look nice,” she said.

After the meeting, Canady said she was surprised by the resistance of neighbors. She said she was confident that the gym will be approved.