This Google map shows 90 Main St. in Derby, looking west.
DERBY — The Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen voted unanimously Thursday to lease 23 city-owned parking spaces to a developer trying to get something finally built in the Derby redevelopment zone.
Joseph Salemme has an application pending in front of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission to build 105 market-rate apartments at 90 Main St., at the site of the former Lifetouch property.
The city’s zoning code calls for 117 parking spaces for the project. The project’s plans provide 94 spaces.
However, this project is being reviewed as a “planned development district,” which means the Derby P&Z can vote to approve the project with 94 spaces.
Nevertheless, at the January P&Z meeting, members asked Salemme to go to the Aldermen/Alderwomen to see if the city’s legislative body would lease additional spaces to bring the application in-line with the traditional zoning for the property.
Alderman Charles Sampson and Derby Economic Development Liaison Carmen DiCenso said granting the use of the parking spaces makes sense for Derby.
Derby’s redevelopment zone has been stagnant for more than a decade, with old buildings torn down but not replaced and two large-scale projects promised by developers but not delivered.
However, things are finally happening.
The state’s Route 34/Main Street widening is scheduled to start in the spring. A rehabilitation of the Derby-Shelton bridge is underway. The state and federal governments have promised $12 million each to renovate the dilapidated Derby train station.
The new apartment building, if approved by the P&Z, is in the same area, a true “transit oriented development,” DiCenso said.
DiCenso and Sampson said it’s not unusual to lease parking spaces, pointing out people and businesses pay monthly to park at the Derby parking garage on Thompson Place.
The prices of the parking spaces leased for Trolley Pointe will mirror what people pay at the parking garage — $50.17 per space, per month, as of February 2022.
Trolley Pointe may not need the city’s parking spaces once the place is built. The developer is trying to purchase neighboring state owned land as well.
The city has long-term plans to see a parking garage or parking lot be built on a property nearby that currently houses a large scrap yard. The city has been negotiating with the property owner but, as of January, can’t agree on a purchase price. https://valley.newhavenindepen…
The Derby P&Z could approve the Trolley Pointe plans at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday (Feb. 15).
https://evogov.s3.us-west‑2.am…
Trolley Pointe was previously approved for 70 apartments in January 2021, but the developer returned with a larger project.
The parking spaces in question will be carved out of the giant empty parking lot between Main Street and the large pile of junk at the scrap yard.
