New Haven wins lawsuit that had challenged future developments
But 5th lawsuit now filed by PMC Property Group
Published 7:25 pm, Friday, August 18, 2017
The Smoothie Building in New Haven.
The Smoothie Building in New Haven.
Photo: File PhotoNEW HAVEN >> The city has won a serious challenge to future developments filed by the litigious PMC Property Group, even as the company brings a fifth suit over an approved apartment building that competes with its Strouse Adler units.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Meyer has dismissed the 2015 suit by 26 Crown St. Associates, one of the properties owned by PMC, which charged that New Haven’s combined sewer and storm drain system overflows during heavy rainfall and damages his apartment complex and “thousands of other New Haven” properties.
PMC, a major real estate owner out of Philadelphia, brought the federal suit against the city and the Greater New Haven Regional Water Pollution Control Authority, charging that overflows ultimately pollute Long Island Sound in violation of the Clean Water Act.
In addition to the conversion of the former Strouse Adler undergarment company to apartments, also known as the Smoothie building, PMC owns 900 Chapel St. here.
Meyer wrote it “would be nothing but fanciful and well exceeding the bounds of plausibility to conclude that occasional back flows of polluted water into the basement of plaintiffs’ property somehow find their way past several city blocks, the Northeast Corridor train tracks, sprawling acres of an IKEA parking lot and six or more lanes of Interstate 95 to contaminate the Long Island Sound.”
Any pollution of nearby wetlands also would not satisfy the definitions required under the Clean Water Act, the judge ruled.
The law also refers to the need for a “point source” conduit for the pollution to reach navigable waters.
“Absent exceptional proof of something akin to a mythical Styx-like subterranean river, a diffuse medium like ground water for the passive migration of pollutants to navigable waters cannot constitute a ‘point source’ within the meaning of the Clean Water Act,” Meyer wrote.
Meyer also dismissed PMC’s claim that the back flows constitute an illegal taking of property, mainly because the company has not sought compensation through state law.
The newest suit filed by the company is the fifth challenge to the city and Spinnaker Residential, LLC, over its approved proposal to construct 66 apartments on a parking lot adjacent to the Smoothie building, with 166 more at the former site of the Comcast building at Chapel and Olive streets across the street.
The city and Spinnaker have won all four previous suits. The latest one is similar to the last suit, which claimed that stormwater generated by the development will increase negative impacts on Long Island Sound.
Ron Caplan, the president of PMC Property Group, did not answer an email seeking comment.
Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson said it is “very disappointing to have somebody who is a major land owner in town” continue to bring lawsuits against another developer, rather than invest in its Strouse Adler complex.
He said Smoothie “is in a great location. It is still going to be a great location even with the developments right next to it.”
The nearby Shoreline East train station upgrade is almost done and as soon as the Hartford to Springfield rail line is complete, there will be even greater interest in the area, Nemerson said.
“That strip along Olive Street and Union Avenue is going to be center point of the whole state when the trains are there,” he said.
Nemerson said these suits are “not the rules of engagement.” He said developers should work together to make the city better.
“We would much prefer that PMC come to us and talk about their future, their plans for upgrading and reinvesting in Strouse Adler as opposed to trying to stop Spinnaker and Petra from expanding that neighborhood,” Nemerson said.
He said the city and other developers would be interested in buying out PMC.
“We really need people who believe in the future of New Haven,” he said.
Petra has approval to construct 299 apartments along Union Street. It also was delayed by a suit by PMC, which that company also lost. It has said recently that it is interested in continuing to pursue its project in New Haven.
Spinnaker Residential issued a statement that it remains “fully committed to our apartment community proudly named the Lofts at Wooster Square,” which it said “will be transformative” to the area.
Back in 2013, the company said the majority of the neighborhood supported its plans.
“Our development will not only bring much needed housing, jobs, and pedestrian activity to the immediate area, but will increase the tax base of the City. Then as now, we are just as excited and determined to see this community come to fruition,” it said in a statement.
The company said it believes the latest suit will be dismissed, as have the previous four.
“The Lofts at Wooster Square is right around the corner,” it wrote.
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