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New Haven DRB grants waiver to site proposed fire station on undersized parcel
Summary
The Development Review Board unanimously granted the Town a waiver so a proposed fire station and emergency shelter can be sited on a 5.03-acre Parcel #254.203 on Main Street/Route 7 despite RA-5 zoning dimensional shortfalls; the board concluded the public-use benefit and lack of alternatives justified the minimum deviation under Section 333.
The New Haven Development Review Board voted unanimously to grant a waiver that allows the town to proceed with the proposed fire station on Parcel #254.203 on Main Street/Route 7, in front of the VELCO substation, even though the lot does not meet RA-5 non-residential dimensional requirements.
Former Fire Chief Alan Mayer summarized the engineer’s assessment, saying, “The 5.03-acre parcel and project as proposed does not meet the non-residential dimensional standards for the RA-5 district. The lot is required to be 7.5 acres minimum and have 600 feet of road frontage, while only 400 feet exists.” He also relayed that the current site design shows a 120-foot setback from the roadway while the non-residential front-yard requirement is 150 feet, and that parking setbacks under Section 720 would likely need reconfiguration if the lot remained at its present size.
DRB Vice Chair Kathy Barrett disclosed that she served on the Selectboard when the land was purchased and asked whether members had any objection to her participating; no objection was recorded. Board members considered the proposal under the town’s Section 333 waiver criteria (minimum deviation, no undue adverse effect, consistency with the Town Plan and zoning purposes, and that the need was not self-created) and characterized the fire station as a public use with limited alternatives to acquiring a larger parcel.
Barrett moved to grant the waiver without conditions; Tim Paquette seconded. The motion carried 5–0. The board then closed the hearing on the application. The town and fire department may now proceed with site planning under the granted waiver; design adjustments (for example, moving the building or relocating parking) were discussed by the project engineer as possible ways to reduce dimensional conflicts.
Note on a transcript discrepancy: the site is recorded in the hearing as located on Main Street/Route 7 in front of the VELCO substation. A later line in the transcript refers to a 120-foot setback from “Route 17”; that appears inconsistent with the parcel description in the record.
