Trees Traded For Asphalt On East Pearl Street

Leaders of the Pentecostal church in the historic 19th-century building on East Pearl Street in Fair Haven need to pave another quadrant of their parking area to accommodate a growing congregation

Area activists and preservationists argued that more trees and plantings should accompany more parishoners.

Leaders of the Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal at 95 Pearl discussed the situation with neighbors and the members of the Historic District Commission (HDC) at the regular meeting at City Hall this past Wednesday night.

Guided by former City Engineer Richard Miller, church Pastor Hector Otero asked the HDC for permission to pave a half-acre area on an incline, going down the hill toward Front Street.

The work involves asphalt covering, a dry well, and grading to get the new paved area, about five feet below the currently paved area, to meet the larger parking lot on East Pearl adjacent to the church.

HDC’s blessing is needed because the church is in the Quinnipiac RIver Historic District. ​“We’re trying to improve the area and help the church flourish,” said Miller.

Commissioner George Knight asked if Miller and Otero and the church leaders who accompanied him to the hearing had examined alternative materials, as asphalt is impermeable. As Knight put it, ​“The last thing needed is more asphalt.”

Otero informed the commissioners that the congregation has grown to about 450 people.

Miller added that the number includes ​“a lot of seniors. You want stable matter, for wheelchairs, for example. A kind of chip seal might be a possibility later, but asphalt is best for the patrons.”

“The church is beautiful,” Knight said wistfully, ​“and asphalt is not.”

“If we put stone in, it’s an issue, because of the grade,” Otero said.

Fair Haven activist Chris Ozyck took another tack: ​“I come down my steps every day and see your church at sunset. The paving is a little antithetical to the neighborhood. Let me kindly ask you to do some landscaping in front of the church. It might be a good trade-off, if you can get trees and plantings there to soften the impact.”

There followed discussion of the need for additional plantings, perhaps evergreens, to screen the eastern end of the to-be-paved area to buffer the impact on the adjoining condominiums.

With all parties buying in to the greens-for-asphalt consensus, Commissioner Susan Godshall moved to approve the church’s application for a certificate of appropriateness, and it passed unanimously.