By Mary E. O’Leary
Register Topics Editor
NEW HAVEN — Almost one year after it was originally proposed, Albertus Magnus College and its East Rock neighbors have reached a compromise on expansion of some parking lots.
The issue had soured a longtime cordial relationship.
Philip Langdon, president of the Edgehill-Ronan Neighborhood Association, said that they finalized changes in the college’s plans Monday evening, the second of two recent meetings where he said there was real dialogue between the parties.
Albertus scaled back proposed increased parking at Nilan and Sansbury halls and scratched plans for changes at Mohun Hall.
At Nilan, on East Rock Road, Langdon said the college agreed to put in 17 parking spaces, up from the current eight, but it scaled back the width of the driveway to 15 feet and agreed to work out a landscape plan with Larry Shanbrom, whose property at 711 Prospect St. borders Nilan.
Shanbrom, one of the neighbors most directly affected by the college’s plans when Albertus removed a large stand of trees that provided privacy, said “At the end of the day, everything being equal, it is a reasonable conclusion.”
He added, however, that it was “unfortunate it (the process) had to be as laborious as it was,” while Langdon said in the future. he felt Albertus will reach out to neighbors for input.
Albertus will also re-establish buffers of vegetation at Mohun Hall, while it promised to adjust lighting at Nilan to prevent glare from affecting the neighbors.
For Sansbury Hall, Albertus cut the additional parking spaces to five, for a total of 13, but it rejected the neighbors’ suggestions to place them around the corner of the building, rather than in front, since it would delay construction.
Langdon said the neighbors were pleased that the parking at Sansbury is now 60 feet from the street, rather than 25 feet.
In the end, Langdon said it is still a parking lot, “but it will be small and ugly, rather then large and ugly.”
He said all the agreed upon adjustments “will be good for the appearance of the neighborhood and for the college. They will enhance the aesthetics of the college rather than detract from them.”
Langdon thanked the City Plan Commission for insisting that Albertus talk with the neighbors, who complained that the college did make some initial adjustments, but presented them as a done deal that didn’t address all the problems.
The association represents some 220 homeowners between Edwards Street and the Hamden line and between Whitney Avenue and Prospect Street. Langdon said these kinds of disagreements happen a lot when institutions are in residential neighborhoods.
“It takes some negotiations and good will to resolve then,” Langdon said. City Plan is expected to conclude a public hearing on the lots Wednesday and approve the revised plans.
Mary E. O’Leary can be reached at 789-5731 or moleary@nhregister.com.