by Mona Mahadevan The New Haven independent
People walking and biking along the Farmington Canal Trail will soon be able to pop into Elena’s for a soft serve sundae — but due to parking concerns, drivers might have to circle the block if they want to eat at a new Wooster Street restaurant planned by the owners of Zeneli pizzeria.
On Tuesday in City Hall, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved zoning relief for Elena’s on Ashmun and punted a decision on a request by the Zeneli brothers.
Elena Grewal, who runs the East Rock ice cream shop Elena’s on Orange, requested a special exception to open a coffee and ice cream shop – including indoor seating for up to six people and outdoor seating for up to 9 – at 320 Ashmun St. The vacant storefront previously housed Hair’s Kay beauty salon.
After reviewing Grewal’s plan in March, the City Plan Commission decided that an ice cream shop would be an appropriate use, “given the number of offices and new residential buildings in the area.”
Without any discussion, the zoners on Tuesday unanimously signed off on the East Rock shop’s expansion into the Dixwell/Newhallville/Science Park storefront.
On the question of parking relief for Zeneli, however, the zoners were split: BZA members Gaston Neville and Al Paollilo Sr. voted to approve the request, while Chris Peralta and Adam Waters voted against.
The application for 175 Wooster St. requested a special exception to permit zero off-street parking spaces where 20 would be required. The relief would help the owners of Zeneli Pizzeria e Cucina Napoletana, which has a restaurant at 138 Wooster St., open a second location down the block.
In March, the City Plan Commission recommended a rejection by the Board of Zoning Appeals, siding with residents who said a second location with no new on-site parking would make it too hard to find somewhere to park in the busy pizza corridor.
Concerns around parking are “warranted given the increase interest in the area,” reads the commission’s report.
Rather than make a final decision on the 175 Wooster St. zoning-relief application on Tuesday, the zoners opted to wait until next month, when a fifth board member will be available to break the tie.