Christopher Bockstael/ Svigals + Partners
One view of Legion Avenue by Career High under a proposed building plan.
West River neighbors plan to show up at City Hall Wednesday night to weigh in on a plan to move parking temporarily to a new block of the Route 34/Legion Avenue/MLK Drive median to make way for the larger “Route 34 West” project.
The city plans to move the cars now parked closer to downtown (on a megablock slated to become a new office/retail development) down to the surface lot at Sherman Avenue and Tyler Street. About 600 cars park on the current lot. The new lot will accommodate fewer cars, around 470, said city Deputy Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli. And he announced that the city will agree to a sunset on that move — it will guarantee that the lot (envisioned for housing development as the Route 34 West plan advances) will no longer have cars on it in five years. (Read more about that here.) Some public opponents of the plan argue that no new parking should be offered in a district that already suffers from a high asthma rate as well as heavy car traffic.
Neighbors distributed the following notice:
The Board of Directors of the West River Neighborhood Services Corporation would like residents to share their questions, ideas and concerns at the upcoming public hearing on Wednesday, April 16 at 7 p.m.
The New Haven City Plan Commission will hold the public hearing in meeting rooms 1 and 2, 2nd floor atrium of New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, regarding a special permit for a new surface parking facility at Sherman and Tyler streets. The parking lot is bounded by Sherman Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Tyler Street and Legion Avenue. The owner/applicant is the New Haven Parking Authority and the agent is Chris Granatini of Tighe and Bond.
For more information, contact Monica Holloway of the City Plan Department, (203) 946‑6375.
