Printer Friendly Version - Commission: Private Developer Should Take Over Old EHHS

The Blue Ribbon Commission appointed by Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., to determine the “best and highest” use for the former high school at 200 Tyler Street will recommend the town sell the property to a private develeoper, for mixed use, including senior housing. That option, favored by the mayor when the committee was formed, was not favored by most members of the public over the course of the committee hearings. Photo by Google Street View

The 200 Tyler Street Blue Ribbon Commission will recommend to Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., that the town sell the former East Haven high school building to a private developer for mixed-use development and senior housing.

That recommendation, in the form of a letter, will be delivered to Maturo in early February, said Paul Carbo at a meeting of the commission last night.

The commission has had several meetings, including two public hearings on Jan. 12 and 20, to discuss various options. More than 100 residents attended both the public hearings. Most who spoke the hearings were opposed to this plan, and many expressed the fear that senior housing would eventually turn into low-income housing down the road.

Commission members had discussed turning the building in a municipal and community center, or using the 240,000-square-foot building as a senior housing facility and/or mixed-use facility.

The town held a non-binding referendum vote on the use of the old school site a few years back in which residents voted in favor of the building being used as a community center and against it being a senior center. In second place came the idea of the using it for educational purposes.

Carbo made it clear to the disappointed crowd at the two public hearings that one recommendation won’t be re-using the site for school purposes.

“The Board of Education has already said it doesn’t want the building,” said Carbo.

Even though the public hearings are over, there is still time for public input, according to officials.

Town Attorney Joseph Zullo said, “The framework of the town’s regulations guarantees that any disposition plan will be open to public comment at least once before the Planning & Zoning Commission and at least twice before the Town Council.

“As a result,” Zullo continued, “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 added: “The purpose of this commission is to make a recommendation about the highest and best use for the property.

The commission consists of Carbo, Robert Limoncelli, Marlene Asid, Chuck Lang, and Steven DeLucia.

After the commission makes its recommendation to the mayor and he reviews it, the mayor said he will then make his recommendation to the Planning & Zoning Commission and Town Council.

Maturo is on record as saying he, too, “wants to put the building back on the tax rolls.”

The Planning & Zoning Commission and Town Council will schedule their own public hearings as part of the final disposition process.