On Thursday, the Legislation committee will meet for the second time this week — this time to continue reviewing the proposal for Yale’s new SOM campus. Mark has written a pretty comprehensive post about the proposal’s development over the past few months. You can find other stories at the bottom of this post.
Yale is requesting a Planned Development District (PDD) — a controversial zoning tool which would allow the University to build according to a set of zoning regulations that would only apply to the specific site for which the application is granted. PDDs have been the cause of a lawsuit against the city, and a related state law that applies only to cities incorporated in 1784 that are governed by a Board of Aldermen and a mayor!
Most of the neighbors seem to support the proposal, although there is one neighboring homeowner who is strongly opposed. Not coincidentally, people on the the top floors of the building will likely look down into his backyard for the foreseeable future.
Because the PDD is, by definition, an exemption from the city’s zoning code, evaluating this proposal is far more difficult than most zoning decisions. In this case, the Board must decide whether the building’s addition to the city justifies the exemption of the zoning code, the loss of historic structures, and the impact on its neighbors. It seems like the real culprit here is the PDD itself — not Yale. Even if the building is out of scale, or if it is invasive to neighboring properties — and it may in fact be an appropriate — one can justify constructing almost anything in a PDD. It might be worth revisiting the PDD guidelines at some point in the future.
Related stories: SOM Plan Sparks Fiery City Hall Hearing (NHI), SOM Inches Toward Approval (YDN), New Haven Gives Initial OK for Yale Construction Plan (NHR)
Some Editorials: New Haven Register, YDN
