East Haven Holding Public Comment Sessions on Former High School Building

Paul Carbo, Chairperson of the 200 Tyler Street ‘Blue Ribbon Commission.’ released an announcement today reminding residents that there will be two upcoming public comment sessions at 7:00PM on Tuesday, January 12th and Wednesday, January 20th at which residents will have the opportunity to express their opinions as to the Town’s disposition of the 200 Tyler Street property.

Carbo explained in a prepared statement, “To date, the commission has met on four occasions and has received and reviewed staff reports about retaining the property exclusively for use as a government building and developing the property for mixed-use as both housing and for community purposes.

The two upcoming public comment sessions, to be held at the East Haven Senior Center, are the times for residents to weigh in on these options and to provide their opinions about the highest and best use for the property.”

At the first substantive meeting of the Blue Ribbon Commission, members were presented with a letter from Board of Education Chairman John Finkle indicating that the Board had no interest in taking back the property for educational use.

As a result, the commission has dedicated significant time to evaluating the financial and logistic feasibility of governmental and mixed-use options for the building and has received two in-depth presentations from Sal Brancati, the Town’s Economic Development Coordinator, on these options. Nevertheless, Carbo stressed that residents would be free to discuss any options at the upcoming public hearings.

Carbo continued, “To-date, we’ve certainly been presented with compelling evidence that the building is not on the Board of Education’s radar. However, residents are welcome to come discuss any uses for the building that they feel strongly about.”

The upcoming public comment sessions are part of a broad effort by Mayor Maturo and the Town to solicit public opinion about the property to ensure that the process of reutilizing the 200 Tyler Street property is collaborative, transparent, and productive.

Carbo explained, “After listening to the public’s input on January 12th and 20th, we intend to spend the next meeting carefully reviewing that input to ensure that our recommendation about a use for the property reflects both the will of the people and what we feel is best for the community.”

The commission, which consists of East Haven residents Paul Carbo, Robert Limoncelli, Marlene Asid, Chuck Lang, and Steven DeLucia, is slated to make a final recommendation to the Mayor sometime between January 26th and February 2nd, the date on which Mayor Maturo requested a final answer from the Commission.

After review, the Mayor will then make his recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Commission and Town Council, each of which will schedule public hearings as part of the final disposition process.

Town Attorney Joseph Zullo explained in a statement, “The framework of the Town’s regulations guarantees that any disposition plan will be open to public comment at least once before the Planning and Zoning Commission and at least twice before the Town Council. As a result, even after the two public hearings before the Blue Ribbon Commission, residents will have multiple opportunities to continue to weigh in on this important issue.”

Carbo concluded, “The purpose of this Commission is to make a recommendation about the highest and best use for the property. I anticipate that the public’s input will have a significant impact on our deliberations and I encourage any residents interested in the issue to attend the public input sessions and voice their opinions.”