NewHavenBIZ

12 n e w h a v e n B I Z | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 1 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m Although the 2019 plan had sketched in new piers for water taxis and ferries at the site of Fusco's current proposal, the document also stressed the need for housing in the waterfront "Harbor District" of Long Wharf. "e goal for the Harbor District is for a self-sufficient, walkable, mixed- use neighborhood," reads the vision statement. Coastal concerns Whether it was crab cakes at the Rusty Scupper, linguine vongole at Leon's or a lobster dinner at Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale, enjoying a seafood meal on the water at 501-585 Long Wharf had been a New Haven tradition for decades. (Lenny & Joe's closed in 2020, citing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.) Diners were willing to pay a bit more for the unpar- alleled views of New Haven Harbor — as long as you got a table angled away from the oil tanks and power plant. But that up-close water view from the site has raised concerns about the Fusco project's proximity to the shoreline and its potential exposure to storms, tidal W hen talking about New Haven's future, Lynn Fusco begins by looking back at its past. "I'm the president of Fusco," she said, addressing the city planning commission during a recent hearing. "e company was formed in 1923 by my grandfather who started out in Wooster Square; We have been in continuous operation for the past 97 years." Fusco then highlighted her company's many completed projects around the area: e Audubon Court complex, Yale New Haven Hospital Clinical Labora- tory, new Eli Whitney Technical High School in Hamden and Long Wharf 's Maritime Center. Perhaps only Fusco, one of the most experienced developers in town, could take on its latest mission: An ambitious and potential cityscape-changing plan to build two residential towers on har- bor frontage on Long Wharf Drive. "is evening my esteemed team of architects and engineers are here to present to you a development that we are very excited about," Fusco told the commission on Oct. 6. Her enthusiasm has since been echoed by city officials and neighborhood leaders looking to revamp the city's waterfront. Renderings of the as-yet-unnamed Fusco project catch the eye for both their scope and design, centered around a harbor-facing park with a huge red sculpture in the style of Alexander Calder placed facing the water. Two 10-story buildings would be built on the 3-acre waterfront parcel now home to the building that housed the defunct Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale, at 501-585 Long Wharf Drive. "We are proposing up to 500 apart- ments and an exciting marketplace for small-scale retail that would include say a yoga studio, an open air market, performance space," Fusco said. She and the project's architects also described a waterfront green space that would be open to the public for events. "At long last we will have a very well-landscaped park that will also allow for music performances," Fusco said. Aer two meetings' worth of discus- sion, the city's planning commission voted on Oct. 20 to approve changes to the zoning code that would explicitly allow residential development in the area and move Fusco's Long Wharf proposal into the detailed design and engineering phase. e Board of Alders is expected to consider the project later this year. City officials cite the potential of the Fusco project to unlock growth in the area, a strategy outlined in the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan adopt- ed by the city in 2019. e document envisions a "New Long Wharf " full of walking paths, greenways and open spaces for the public to enjoy water views and sea air — in addition to 7.7 million square feet of new development including 4,600 units of new housing. surges and sea-level rise. Does moving hundreds of people to within feet of the coastline make sense in a world increas- ingly impacted by climate change? Save the Sound, a New Haven-based environmental nonprofit, says no. at parcel is best suited for boating and oth- er recreational uses to maximize public access, the group argued in statements to the planning commission. Most of all, climate change and its accompany- ing severe storms make new residential construction on or near the water risky and potentially financially unsustain- able, the group said. "Locating up to 500 apartments in an area of known flood hazard, that will very likely require residents to evacuate multiple times per year, will not simply impact the residents that choose to live there," said David Anderson, land cam- paigns manager for the group. "With seas projected to rise 20 inches by 2050, along with the increased frequency and intensity of coastal storms, economic growth must be balanced with econom- ic resilience." Flooding concerns have also been raised by the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), which did a preliminary analy- sis of the project in an advisory capac- ity to the city. e Long Wharf area was hard-hit by a hurricane in 1938, and also by Irene and Sandy in recent decades, and climate change increases the chance of catastrophic flooding, according to DEEP. "Residential development in this already flood-prone area where such development is not currently allowed does not reflect sound coastal man- agement objectives and should be prohibited, not encouraged," said Brian ompson, director of DEEP's land and water resources division. e Board of Alders should block the development, he concluded. "e moment in time calls for a dif- ferent relationship with the coastline," said Marjorie Shansky, a land-use attorney and commenter at the Oct. 20 public meeting on the project. In defense of the project, Fusco's attorney, Matthew Ranelli of Shipman & Goodwin, cited recent storms that caused only negligible flooding in the area. Fusco, which has had its head- quarters in the neighboring Maritime Center on Long Wharf Drive since its construction in 1985, knows the waterfront well and has commissioned a project resistant to weather hazards, Fusco's Long Wharf apartments aim to transform New Haven's waterfront Catalyst For Growth Lynn Fusco Rendering of the view from New Haven Harbor of the 500-unit complex proposed for Long Wharf Drive by Fusco Corp. By Liese Klein Another view of the proposed Long Wharf apartments. RENDERING/CONTRIBUTED RENDERING/CONTRIBUTED

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