Thomas Breen photo
A protest sign opposing the Kensington Playground sale.
New Haven’s mayor joined a national coalition seeking more money for urban parks — while a group seeking to save an urban park in his backyard sued the city for selling it.
Those two public greenspace developments were announced in separate press releases.
On Wednesday, a group called the Friends of Kensington Park announced that it had sued the city over its sale of Kensington Playground to The Community Builders (TCB) for the construction of 15 new affordable apartments.
Meanwhile, Mayor Justin Elicker announced that he has joined a national bipartisan advocacy group called the Mayors for Parks Coalition. (See more on that below.)
The lawsuit was filed in state Superior Court on Nov. 11 by Dwight resident Patricia Wallace and the Friends of Kensington Playground. The suit defines that latter group as consisting of “citizens and taxpayers of the City of New Haven who have banded together to protect the public interest in public open space and public park space in New Haven,”
The complaint alleges that the city failed to follow state-mandated public meeting guidelines and signed off on an “unreasonable impairment of natural resources” when it sold Kensington Playground for $1 to TCB, which plans to construct 15 affordable apartments atop the public greenspace.
As part of that land swap, TCB must invest $80,000 in improvements at the nearby, city-owned Day Street Park on Chapel Street and the city must create new public parks in Newhallville at vacant, publicly-owned lots at 100 – 102 Shelton Ave., 16 Thompson St., 24 Thompson St., and 506 Winchester Ave.
The Friends group had protested the deal as it made its way through the Board of Alders committee process earlier this fall.
Wallace (at right) with fellow Dwight resident Olivia Martson at the park protest.
The lawsuit, filed by local attorney Keith Ainsworth on behalf of Wallace and the Friends of Kensington Playground group, lists the potential effects of the development of the Dwight park as, to quote directly from the complaint:
• Loss of the enjoyment of recreational playground space for young children and families within walking and stroller distance of the Park;
• Reducing the forest canopy and ecological services provided by the trees and vegetation in the Park;
• Impairing the psychological well-being of neighboring residents who rely upon the healthful effects of urban park and recreational space;
• Impairing neighboring property values through the loss of recreational amenities;
• Park and recreational open space will be fragmented and thus rendered less valuable ecologically and recreationally.
The suit seeks an injunction prohibiting the development of the park into housing unless if the park is replaced or “a feasible and prudent alternative to the destruction of the Park is adopted.” It also seeks declaratory and equitable relief to “prevent unreasonable destruction or impairment of natural resources of the State.”
City spokesperson Gage Frank told the Independent that the city is in the process of reviewing the case, and that the city does not comment on pending litigation.
Elicker previously told advocates that he inherited the park-sale deal, which was in final stages of approval after he took office. And city officials defended the deal for leading to the creation of more open space elsewhere in town in return for permission to construct needed new affordable housing. Park advocates responded that the choice shouldn’t be an either-or.
In an email press release sent out on Wednesday, Wallace and Jane Comins of the Friends of Kensington Playground also said that they have filed requests for review with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) regarding the land swap, which the Board of Alders signed off on on Oct. 20.
“While there is a need for affordable housing, there is no reason to take park space for it,” the press release states. “This non-profit developer receiving the gift of this land has a poor track record over decades in our neighborhood. Loss of the mature trees in the Playground will hurt our air quality. It is the best place for people that want a cool spot to sit on a hot day. It is important as an outdoor space for the health of all year round.”
Mayor Joins Parks Coalition
In a separate announcement, on Monday, Mayor Elicker sent out an email press release stating that he has joined the Mayors for Parks Coalition.
The release describes the bipartisan coalition as created in 2013 and consisting of mayors from large and small cities across the country who advocate for increased federal funding for the nation’s urban parks.
“I am excited to work with City Parks Alliance and be a part of this important coalition,” Elicker is quoted as saying in the email press release. “Parks are so important to our lives, not just in New Haven, but everywhere in the country, and we need to do everything we can to spur more federal funding for our urban parks.”
Click here to read the full press release.
Thanks for the story. We hope the Mayor will decide to be for our Park. The legal complaint focuses on violations of State law. We have set up a GoFundMe Campaign to help us with legal costs. Visit our website, www.kensingtonplayground.org. The neighbors that make up Friends of Kensington Playground also wrote and filed on our own complaints under the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. If we succeed, we will raise money for the kind of playscape neighborhood children have already begun to imagine for this Playground. The City needs to build housing elsewhere, not on our only playground. 92% of residents in Dwight are renters. Families want to own. The City should refocus on affordable ownership housing, and on getting suburbs to start building affordable housing. See Open Communities Alliance action in Woodbridge.