SAFE STREETS.

While crime has been cut dramatically in the last several years, Safe Streets mean more than simply reducing crime. Improving the safety of walking and bicycling on streets is important to those of us who enjoy strolling with a carriage or travelling to work.
Here are some solutions to create friendlier streets:
-Cross Walks that are clearly marked and painted.
-Additional Stop Signs.
-Speed Bumps in between intersections, so that automobile drivers are unable to race between intersections.
-Improved Signaling, so that drivers are aware of pedestrians and bicycles.
-Intersections with curb cuts that are handicap accessible.

How do we accomplish this?
We accomplish this by working with the City Plan Department, Public Works, Traffic and Parking and the Police Department so that we can build consensus about the changes that need to be made. We have a better chance of positively affecting change if we can present plans that makes sense rather than simply criticizing those in government without presenting any positive solutions.


NOISE POLLUTION.

The largest contributors to noise in our neighborhoods are sirens from fire and police trucks, noise from motorcycles, municipal and commercial garbage trucks.
Motorcycles.
Most American style motorcycle (vs. Japanese style) riders don't like to use mufflers, but prefer straight pipes (no muffler) because they feel that the noise associated with straight pipes protects them from cars by warning of their presence. However, the use of straight pipes is illegal in New Haven because of the noise that they emit or rather do not prevent. I have several friends who own Harleys and they won't travel to Milford because they know that the Milford police will stop and target them to check and see if they are in compliance with the law. If the New Haven Police were diligent about the enforcement of this law, American style motorcycle riders would think twice before travelling through our city without mufflers. We want to encourage respectful law abiding people to visit and live in our city and this is one small way of doing so.

Municipal and Commercial Garbage Trucks.
Current law does not restrict the noise associated with the operation of municipal vehicles. However, Section 18-19 of the City Zoning Code prohibits the noise associated with the operation of commercial vehicles between the hours of 10 pm and 8 am. Anyone caught in violation of this ordinance shall be found guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $ 50.00. If commercial vehicles are operating in violation of this ordinance, then the police department should be notified and the Alderman should address the issue, in writing, with the violating company in order to ensure compliance.

STREET-SWEEPING.

This seems to be the most pervasive topic of criticism among people in the ward and for good reason. While we all understand the necessity of keeping our streets clean there are several criticisms of the present system that should be addressed.
Here are some of the things that you have said about the present system.
-When we are forced to move our cars, quite often there is no place to put our cars due to the acute parking shortage on most streets.
-Do we need to have our streets swept twice a month or rather once a month or on an as needed basis?
-Why can't someone in the Traffic & Parking office address our complaints with the respect that we deserve instead of the callous and insensitive manner that is most often expressed to citizens when they go down to the T & P office?
-Does the T & P office work for us the citizens or do we simply have to swallow the present system without any feedback and improvement of the system?
-Garbage removal seems to happen on a pretty regular and timely basis, so why can't street-sweeping work the same way?
Here are some possible solutions:
1) Perhaps the City should take a poll of constituents on each street and ask how often they would like their streets swept?
2) If Public Works started sweeping after 8:30 or 9 am, when most people have already left for work, then the problem of removing and moving cars could be partially alleviated.
3) Perhaps we should go back to the old system of posting notices in the ward as a way of reminding the constituents of sweeping times. Often, in this harried world in which we live, it is difficult to remember what we had for dinner last night, never mind what days the permanent signs say the streets should be swept.

If the City can create a more accommodating system and allocate it's resources more efficiently then we might actually save money and improve this one very important quality of life issue.


ENGLISH STATION.

I am adamantly opposed to Quinnipiac Energy's English Station plan as presented to the Conn. DEP. Why? There are no guarantees that the plant will be converted to a gas powered facility, and will have the effect of increasing pollution and asthma rates in the city. I support the idea of the plant as a natural gas-powered energy cooperative. For example, if the Simkins factory (which burns 450 barrels of oil every day) had an arrangement to provide Simkins with energy before approval of a new gas powered energy cooperative, this would eliminate the need for Simkins to burn oil and it would be a win/win plan. Our area could gain cleaner energy while reducing the burning of oil.


PEDESTRIAN & BICYCLE FRIENDLY CITIES.

Our total support and complete dependence on the automobile and willingness to accommodate the automobile at any expense has destroyed much of our urban core and replaced it with Urban Sprawl. As cities compete for business with suburbs, they have been forced to make the choice between economic survival and destruction of community (not very good choices). Why? In order to bring in the numbers of people both to work and shop in our cities, we have been willing to destroy neighborhoods and architectural legacies for surface parking and multi-level garages. Most of the early garages even lacked retail/office on the ground floor further decimating our streetscapes. A cursory look at Upper State Street vs. Lower State Street provides us with the historical pattern of development. Whether you know it or not, Lower State Street used to look like Upper Chapel Street, with buildings and retail running contiguously to the Star Supply building on the corner of Lawrence and Upper State Streets. As we accommodated the car and built vertically the only way to put people in the city was to level large areas for parking. So what are the solutions?
A zoning code that accommodates bicycles and pedestrians and one that reduces PAR (parking to area ratios) thus mitigating the effects of the auto while at the same time providing for cleaner and more efficient mass transit solutions, such as electric trolleys and regional monorails.
For more information about pedestrian friendly cities go to my LINKS page and check out "Deadly by Design" the most recent publication by The Connecticut Bicycle Coalition.


HISTORIC PRESERVATION.
(see LINK PAGE for more info on New Haven Preservation Trust)

Understanding the importance of protecting New Haven's remaining historic buildings and fighting for their preservation is important. Communities are built around historic buildings and they serve as reminders of our past. They're also beautiful to view. As one of the oldest cities in America, we haven't been the best stewards of our built environment; however, we still have many historic structures that need our protection. With the first revision to the Zoning Code being presented in almost 40 years, it is now important that we make changes that will serve to protect and preserve our architectural heritage. As alderman I shall endeavor to modify this provision so that as we proceed through this century we can truly move towards more pedestrian and bicycle friendly cities while keeping our historic buildings as legacies to future generations.


PROPOSED REVISION of the ZONING ORDINANCE.

The first page of the proposed revision to the Zoning Code Ordinance reads as follows:
Summary of Legislation:
The principal purpose of these revisions to the New Haven Zoning Ordinance are to:
- promote neighborhood stabilization
- reduce density
- assure adequate usable private open space
- better accommodate cars
- encourage homeownership and entrepreneurship

I don't think that we need to reduce density or accommodate the automobile any further. By reducing density what we are saying is that we want 1 story buildings surrounded by parking fields, like in the suburbs. No where, in the proposed legislation, is there any mention of pedestrian friendly cities. In fact the proposals use national recognized standards based on the automobile. Haven't we already accommodated the automobile enough? How many more Legion Avenues and the associated communities need to be destroyed before we stop this mania of inappropriate development? As alderman I will ask that a review of the Revision be implemented in order to create a document that is best suited for the kind of city that we wish to have in the future.

I have already initiated several meetings with other concerned citizens regarding the proposed Revision, most notably David Hiller of the Connecticut Bicycle Coalition, who understands the importance of good legislation to tackle this important issue. Karyn Gilvarg, Head of the City Plan Department and herself and extremely knowledgeable official regarding pedestrian and bicycle friendly cities, has said that she would be interested in listening to David's ideas; ostensibly to work with him in order to incorporate those ideas into the Revision. By working to bring groups like David's together with officials like Ms. Gilvarg, we can make a difference and create a team response to important issues.


THE LIVING WAGE.

Admittedly not originally part of my repertoire of issues, I learned about this topic through several articles by Neal Peirce, Washington Post Writers Group, that I had read months ago. I met with Phil Voigt who was instrumental is writing this legislation in New Haven, and have since decided that this can be a good way, through public policy, of trying to level the playing field for the working poor and those at the lower ends of the economic pay scale. At the very least providing for a wage that allows people to be able to afford decend housing, health care, and food for their families creates social stability. Social stability, which is part of what Social Security is about, can provide a more balanced social structure that benefits all of New Haven. If New Haven can lead in this area other Connecticut cities may follow suit (see related links on the links page).

Our Ward Has Been Called a Mini 'Cambridge' And New Haven is geographically situated to be the center of a viable economic region. It's time that New Haven strived to reach its potential instead of simply speaking about it. Using the resources and knowledge from our local universities and colleges can give New Haven the edge we need.


MY INVOLVEMENT IN TRYING TO FORM THE UPPER STATE MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION:

My involvement with State Street began when I returned to New Haven over two years ago. Having worked on the street years ago and knowing many of the owners of restaurants and retail shops on the street, as well as many of the residents in the area, I wanted to get involved in helping to promote the street as a retail destination while preserving its historic and residential character. As I told people many times over this is not South Norwalk and they really can be no comparison. Over the years I have studied the dynamics of Urban development and understand the importance of this type of commercial area and its relationship to the residential areas of which it is a part and which provides much of its customer base. There is a symbiotic relationship between this type of commercial area and the residential area of which it is a part. Unless we fight to promote and protect this area, it can fall victim to the other types of Urban sprawl that have so decimated other parts of the city (look at Lower State Street).

Thus began my involvement in reorganizing the merchants association. Tony Marchitto (owner of the Snack Shop which has since burned down) and myself decided to work together with 3 other members of the community, Lucille Lupinski of Lupinski Funeral Home, Mark DeCola of the New Haven Athletic Club and Bob Frew, a former alderman, property owner and creator of the Zone 3 parking ordinance. We formed an ad hoc committee to reorganize the merchants and had several meetings with other merchants, residents and property owners to promote the street as a retail destination and to create solutions to the parking shortage on the street. Our involvement began at a critical time in the development of the street when there was an acute shortage of parking spaces and a historical 'hands off' approach by city officials when it came to enforcing the existing zoning laws. As well, there was a history of parking variances, given at a time when the street was underdeveloped and were given at the time, ostensibly to promote the area or ‘prime the pump’ so to speak.

Parking became the galvanizing and sometimes divisive issue for both residents and businesses on the street. I was at the forefront of the creation of a parking plan that had several goals, 1) to ensure adequate parking for residents who lived on the street, 2) to ensure adequate parking for businesses on the street, 3) to ensure that buildings were not destroyed for surface parking, 4) to prevent the parking problems from infringing upon the residential areas further aggravating an already divisive issue. Our major goal was to centralize parking on State Street without further decimating the streetscape by demolishing houses.

In this regard we have been successful in our efforts and have produced some minor and yet significant changes.

- One of the concerns of several residents on the East side of State Street, near Lupinski Funeral Home, was the lack of adequate parking in front of their homes (homes that don’t have driveways or garages).Our efforts with the Department of Economic Development have produced 6 spaces that are now Zone 3 parking only, dedicated only to residents with a residential parking sticker.

- We were also successful in preventing Rideshare of Connecticut from creating a surface parking lot across the street from Granite Square. Michael Piscitelli and Craig Russell working under Henry Fernandez, spent the time to understand the importance of green space in our area; this area now has the potential to be developed into a park, dog walk /entry into Upper State Street, if it is safely blocked off from the entry ramp to I-91.

- Beech Street Parking Plan. There is a plan already, initiated by the City, that would incorporate a piece of DOT land behind C.O. Jones, Squillo’s Cigars, Goatville Trading Co., with already existing private parking. The idea is fairly simple. The City would purchase the property and develop the parking which would add an additional 15 spaces to the current parking lot. The adjacent property owners would then be given a permanent easement and would be responsible for maintenance of the lot.

Removal of Unused Bus Stops and Improvement of Used Bus Stops. There are 13 bus stops on 14 blocks of Upper State Street (having lived in Europe and South Beach, Miami, I am an avid promoter of effective mass transit.See piece on Electric Trollies below & my links page for other related articles). Each bus stop is 60 to 90 feet in length and cars are never legally allowed to park in Bus Stops, even after Buses stop running. I met with Conn. Transit Officials and Brian McGrath and proposed several ideas.
1) To amend current laws that prevent people from parking in Bus Stops, so that residents and customers could park after Buses stopped running without being tagged/towed.
2) To study how many times stops were used so that unused stops could be reverted to on street parking, obviating the need to park on residential side streets, and aggravating acute parking shortages there.
3) Improving Bus Stops that were being used regularly so that transit riders had proper shelters to keep them protected from bad weather and benches for tired feet. If these matched the aesthetics of the surrounding neighborhoods and buildings they could be an amenity to the neighborhood.
4) Creating new Bus Stops that had platforms at sidewalk grade projecting into the street the width of a car. While Buses are supposed to fully pull into Bus Stops, they do so infrequently because they do not wish to have to wait to reenter the traffic lane. Thus they keep their rears in the lane and put their noses in the Bus Stop, thereby stopping traffic on very narrow streets, like Orange and State. Since they were already stopping traffic in this manner, I suggested creating a platform that projected into the street about 10 feet in length and the width of a care, that would include a covered shelter, bench, etc. and , that would allow passengers to meet the bus without the bus having to move at all from it's lane. If this type of platform, at sidewalk grade was 10 feet in length, the cars could use the rest of the Bus Stop for parking. Conn. Transit Officials were responsive and had said that they would be open to this type of consideration.

By thinking out of the box, and working with what we have, we can create a better city and solutions that work.


ELECTRIC TROLLEYS - NEVER SUBMITTED AS I THOUGHT IT TOO POLITICAL

Tuesday, September 25th, 2001

To the Editor of the New Haven Register:

The DeStefano administration should be lauded for its recent purchase of four electric trolleys that will be used in the New Haven as a way of moving people within downtown, thereby reducing the need to drive. If they are operated along popular routes and connect with parking garages they could alleviate the parking congestion associated with the City center by giving people a reason to park in one space for an extended period of time, thereby reducing the demand for short term parking. For once parked citizens will be able to have access to downtown businesses without the necessity of driving and parking at each location. While its initial use may not be dramatic, its continued use and operation may change our perceptions about mass transit and our behaviors as well.

Given New Haven’s history with the trolley, the introduction of electric trolleys has nice romantic appeal, however, it is part of an ever-growing trend among regions across the country to find effective ways of dealing with auto congestion and airport congestion. (NY Times 9/1/01 Op Ed Michael Dukakis & New Haven Register 8/8/01 Op Ed Neal Peirce). The Dukakis article points to high speed ground rail as the most effective method of reducing airport and highway congestion and both identify trends across the US supporting further investment in rail systems. Once within a city, however, ground transportation, such as electric trolleys, cabs, or light rail, is needed to complete the connection. Otherwise, passengers arriving within a city will be forced into using the automobile, furthering automobile congestion and its deleterious effects on the environment and our health.

While four electric trolleys in downtown New Haven are far from the comprehensive system that is needed for this region, they are an important and symbolic part of changing peoples perception of public transportation. If we truly want clean environmentally and pedestrian friendly cities then these four electric trolleys are a good first step at putting the pedestrian before the automobile and does so without additional emissions from the gas combustion engine. Continued use of these trolleys may actually make it profitable for property owners to transform surface parking lots into buildings and increase the contiguous streetscape of the City.

We certainly can do more to expand these kinds of services to city residents; thus we should view this as a practical opportunity to demonstrate their viability. By demonstrating the demand for such types of urban transportation infrastructure, we can further the argument for their continued funding and further expansion into the kind of regional system that is needed to truly make a positive difference in this area.

Sincerely,

Alex Marathas

I HAVE SPOKEN WITH URBAN DEVELOPERS WHO WISH WE HAD MORE TROLLEYS LIKE THIS. AS ALDERMAN I WOULD LIKE TO PROMOTE THEIR USE IN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS ADJACENT TO DOWNTOWN AND CONTINUED PURCHASE OF MORE TROLLEYS LIKE THIS IF WE ARE SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR PROMOTION AND OPERATION.

EAST ROCK COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT TEAM
(Meets 4th Monday of each month at 7 pm at East Rock Global Magnet School at 133 Nash Street)

New Haven Department Of Police Service
Community Management Teams in New Haven

Background:
The establishment of Community Management Teams (CMTs) in each of New Haven’s community policing districts has been part of the overall effort to implement community policing in New Haven in recent years. Community policing has many formal and informal definitions but all of them encompass the concept of a greater role for the average citizen and beat officer in solving neighborhood problems that contribute to crime. Through decentralization of police services-- assigning police officers to regular beats in a neighborhood-- citizens have greater access to the police and the police have a neighborhood for which they have responsibility. Neighborhood disorder and decay have a tremendous impact on crime. Community policing seeks to build partnerships to alleviate these adverse conditions and encourages new and creative approaches to preventing crime.

New Haven is currently divided into ten community policing districts. Each district has a District Manager (Lieutenant) who is responsible for ensuring that community policing objectives are established and are being met. The District Manager works closely with the CMTs in his/her district.

What is a Community Management Team?
A Community Management Team consists of members of the community who have organized to serve as a forum for problem-solving, information exchange and decision-making centering around neighborhood quality of life and public safety issues.

Who can belong to a Community Management Team?
Community Management Teams include residents, business owners, school officials, block watch members, clergy, local elected officials, police, neighborhood agency representatives and anyone with a stake in the well being of the neighborhood. Membership in a CMT is voluntary.

How are Community Management Teams structured?
Each CMT has a set of by-laws developed by its members. There may be differences in the by-laws for each CMT, which reflect the preferences of the group. Generally, all CMTs have a volunteer executive board elected by the membership, that helps run the business of the organization. Most CMTs have monthly general meetings at which all members and interested individuals may attend. Some CMTs have sub-commitees to address various areas of concern, such as a public safety subcommittee. It is up to the individual CMT to develop a structure that works for the neighborhood.

How effective are CMTs?
CMTs have been in existence in many New Haven neighborhoods for several years. They have achieved credibility as a voice in the community. In addition to working closely with police, many city agencies and outside organizations seek CMT assistance in furthering the development of new initiatives. New Haven’s Fighting Back, Livable City Initiative, and Empowerment Zone efforts work closely with CMTs. CMTs have received grants for neighborhood improvement projects. Some CMTs have established reading rooms in district substations, helped draft local legislation, and others have supported housing, job and economic development in their neighborhoods. CMTs have been instrumental in working closely with police to identify and address public safety problems.

What is a Community Police Substation?
All of the districts have substations to serve as the hub of community policing activity. A substation is not a “precinct house” in the traditional sense. Calls to the police department, records, administration and other centralized services are based at police headquarters at One Union Ave. Neighborhood substations serve as a place where citizens and police can meet and provides a local base for community policing activity. Substations provide easier access to other services such as Livable City Initiative, and Adult and Juvenile Probation. Community Management Teams often use substations as a meeting place.

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT THE ISSUES THAT YOU THINK ARE IMPORTANT. EMAIL ME AT THE LINK BELOW.
Email me at amarathas@hotmail.com

If you wish to learn more about PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY CITIES check this page out. I have already met with, and am working with David Hiller, Executive Director of the Connecticut Bicycle Coalition, about ways to create a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly city. David Hiller is sharp as a tack and understands more than anyone I've ever met (except Karyn Gilvarg, Head of the City Plan Department and truly an asset to New Haven) why this issue is important and how to positively affect change. I hope to work with both the City Plan Department, Public Works and Traffic and Parking in order to build consensus and change the Zoning Codes to prevent "Urban Sprawl", while promoting Pedestrian and Bicycle Friendly Cities.
Link to the Connecicut Bicycle Coalition's,