Inland Wetlands Commission Approves Yale-New Haven Hospital Application

First Selectman Michael J. Freda announced at this morning's Economic Development Commission that the town’s Inland Wetlands Commissions has approved Yale New Haven Hospital’s application to open its emergency hospital in North Haven.

The Wetlands Commission’s approval is the first step in an ongoing process that has recently seen the hospital host town meetings to introduce its plan to community members and business leaders.

Freda said the Planning & Zoning Commission's approval of the site is next on the agenda, and additional meetings with Rotary Club members, senior citizens and residents near the hospital’s Devine Street site have been planned for the near future.

A possible hindrance in Yale’s plan to gain approval for the emergency center is the Certificate of Needs requirement it must fulfill by gaining approval from area hospitals. Freda said St. Raphael’s has given its approval, but other nearby facilities have not. The Certificate of Needs is expected to be approved by July 1.

Richard LoPresti, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, also addressed another issue most members of the commission and the First Selectman believe is important to improve the business climate of the town—a blight ordinance.

LoPresti suggested enacting an ordinance that would assess fines of $100 a day on property owners whose unkempt properties sully the town and make it unattractive to neighbors and, most important to the Commission, new businesses that may open here.

Blighted properties at 585 Washington Avenue and other town locations “are unsafe, with rotting trees falling on power lines,” he said.

The problem stems from absentee landlords and building foreclosures that leave properties abandoned and in severe disrepair.

Freda said neighboring towns, including Meriden, Shelton and Trumbull, have blight ordinances that levy fines. He suggested the Commission get copies of the ordinances from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and use them to draft a North Haven version.

Other new business discussed at today’s meeting included the development of a Commission website. A local website developer has been contacted to begin work on a design. The site will showcase available buildings in town and provide general town information that will be valuable for prospective business tenants that may locate here.

Freda also discussed the relocation of a town post office to Dell’oro Plaza. The idea is to close the post offices on Washington Avenue and Middletown Avenue and coordinate them in a new location. The leases of both post offices end this fall and the town is exploring options. They are currently looking for a site with a 7,000 sq. ft. space and 106 parking spaces to handle retail traffic and postal loading trucks.