
A conceptual rendering showing a hypothetical residential development next to New Haven's Amtrak and Metro-North Union Station. Image courtesy of Svigals+Partners and Patriquin Architects
Just before Christmas, city officials in New Haven temporarily rejected proposals to let a residential or commercial tower rise next to the city’s main Metro-North and Amtrak train station.
According to the New Haven Independent, concerns ranging from the marketability of apartments next to an active rail yard to some advocates’ calls for smaller-scale development drove the City Plan Commission – New Haven’s equivalent of a Planning Board – to unanimously recommend the city’s Board of Alders reject a pair of rezoning proposals for what are currently parking lots next to New Haven Union Station.
The rezoning proposals had been put forward by the city’s quasi-public parking management agency as part of a deal with state officials for money to build a new city bus hub and parking garage for Union Station.