Work together in New London to relocate Thames River tenants
A practical solution appears to be emerging that would allow the city to relocate tenants living in deplorable conditions in the federally subsidized Thames River Apartments on Crystal Avenue. All parties to this long-running saga should cooperate to make it happen.
There is near unanimous agreement that the high-rise projects, geographically and socially isolated in an area more suited for industrial uses, should close, with the buildings demolished. While well intentioned, the 1960s approach of warehousing the poor in high-rise apartments, served only by interior stairwells and hallways that hide and incubate crime, proved a mistake.
Physically, the Thames River Apartments are steadily deteriorating. Last winter, with the heating system no longer operational, a temporary external furnace provided heat and proved inadequate to assure hot water reached all 124 units. Rodent and insect infestations, mold and general decay have contributed to near unlivable conditions.
In 2014, New London attorney Robert I. Reardon, a highly successful personal injury lawyer, negotiated a settlement with the New London Housing Authority in an effort to conclude the class-action lawsuit he brought against the authority on behalf of the tenants. Reardon is working without fee. The court-approved agreement required the housing authority to have new housing in place for the tenants by November 2017.
It became clear the authority would miss that date, however, when the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, after listening to strong neighborhood opposition, rejected plans for a 124-unit housing complex adjacent to Colman Street on the former Edgerton School property.
That plan, backed editorially by The Day, would have provided apartments with individual entrances, meant to feel like homes. Instead of the isolation of the Crystal Avenue projects, tenants would have had the convenience of a bus line and stores within walking distance.
The nonprofit groups Peabody Properties Inc. and the Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative Inc., which had a plan to work collaboratively to generate the financing and assemble the tax credits necessary to build the new complex, have not given up. The partners, which manage several affordable housing projects in the Northeast, with a combined 10,000 units, have faced setbacks before. Unlike the current high-rise, its proposed apartments and the land on which they would be built would be subject to property taxation by the city.
Now the proposal may be back on track, albeit in a downsized configuration.
Operating locally as F.W. Edegerton LLC, the developers and their attorney, Matthew Greene, had challenged the P&Z ruling in court. The commission, on a 5-2 vote, last week agreed to a stipulated judgment to settle that lawsuit. It would permit a 72-unit development.
Meanwhile, the housing authority and the administration of Mayor Michael Passero have been pursuing a plan to obtain Section 8 rent vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Thames River tenants could use the vouchers to find apartments in or outside New London, with HUD subsidizing the rents. The housing authority recently contracted with its counterpart in New Haven to manage the process.
This could play out with the majority of tenants now living in the Crystal Avenue high-rises finding apartments scattered throughout the region, while a small percentage end up in the planned Edgerton development. Under HUD rules, they would have first dibs on moving into the Edgerton units, but housing authority officials expect the majority to remain in the apartments they land with their vouchers.
As for the Edgerton housing complex, if built it will provide needed affordable housing, but for people of mixed incomes, following HUD rules that now discourage housing that concentrates the very poor.
All parties have an opportunity to coordinate their efforts. They should take advantage of it.
Reardon, in a June 16 letter, has asked for a status conference in July before Judge David Sheridan, who has been handling the class-action lawsuit. Reardon asks that Mayor Passero, housing authority Executive Director Roy Boling and Chairwoman Betsy Gibson attend, as well as the city’s director of Human Services, Jeanne Milstein, and Jennifer Gottlieb-Elazhori of HUD. Reardon states he will have a tenants’ representative in attendance.
This status conference and the various new developments provide the chance to set a course that topples the high-rises, provides decent housing for the tenants, while accessing property that would enhance the economic opportunities provided by the city’s deep-water port.
That would be a heck of a trifecta for the Passero administration.
The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.
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