Setback for Historic District Plan

Concerns about individual property owner's rights, and what buildings should be labeled “historic,” prompted Planning and Zoning Commission members Tuesday to recommend against creation of the town’s first Historic District.  

Commission vice-chairwoman Ann Altman said it would be an “extraordinary encroachment on the rights” of owners, who would need approval of a district commission to make major changes to their homes. 

The head of the Historic District Study Committee, Ken Minkema, said feedback from owners who would be affected has been “very positive,” and he’s hopeful that the proposal will still go through.  

The proposed Ivesville Historic District includes about two dozen properties on Ives Street, Broadway, Whitney Avenue, New Road and South New Road.

While the oldest home dates back to 1790, not all the houses in the area would be considered “antiques.”  Some were constructed as recently as the 1950s, another sticking point with critics on the commission.  

Minkema said some newer homes were included in order to have one contiguous area instead of several smaller, scattered districts.  He added that some of those homes are “good examples of post-World War Two construction,” and “someday these will have historic merit.”  

Altman questioned whether there’s sufficient support for the plan, since Ivesville does not have a civic association or other neighborhood group, like those in Whitneyville, Spring Glen or Westwoods.  She was also concerned that the neighborhood would become divided over the issue.  

Commissioner Peter Reynolds noted that property issues arise in every neighborhood, historic or not, over just those sort of issues that a Historic District would regulate.  He’d like to see rules that would block someone from “building an addition that resembles a purple spaceship,” for instance.  

“There is bad blood in every neighborhood over additions that people put on... I ‘ll show you five houses in Spring Glen where neighbors don’t talk to each other because of additions," he said.  

This is not the end of the road for the proposed Ivesville District, since the P and Z vote is just advisory.  Next, the Historic District Study Committee will hold a public hearing. The mayor and state tourism officials also get to weigh in.  

Then, owners of the properties in the district will hold a secret-ballot vote.  Two-thirds have to vote “yes” for the issue to move to the Legislative Council. A simple majority of Council members would then have to approve the proposal.  

Tuesday night, the Commission also:

• Approved designation of the access road into the new Hamden Industrial Park as “Gallagher Road.”  The road runs between Putnam Avenue and Hamden Park Drive.   It’s named in honor of John Gallagher, a Hamden native and Green Beret who was reported missing in action in Vietnam in 1968.  He was 24.  His remains weren’t identified until 2007. Granted Quinnipiac Bank & Trust a minor amendment to the plans for 2704 Dixwell Avenue, which will eventually be the bank’s offices.  The new building will contain a basement, for storage and an employee lounge, instead of being built on a slab.   The bank was also given a new deadline of  October 9, 2017 for completion, a five-year extension of the original date.  
• And continued a public hearing on a request for the Carrot Patch day care to open a site at 2860 Whitney Avenue, the vacant red barn that was once the English family’s furniture store.   (More about this issue to come on Hamden Patch!)