Long Wharf plan unveiled, lawsuit continues

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., introduced concrete plans for Long Wharf Mall, but the city is still facing a lawsuit.

On Tues., Mar. 2, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. unveiled a detailed plan for the proposed Long Wharf Mall. But as the $492 million shopping center finally begins to take shape, the mall's opponents are moving forward with a plan of their own.

The Westfield Corporation, which owns the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford, has filed a lawsuit against the city and two state agencies involved in approving the Long Wharf plan.

Westfield's lawyer Ronald Cohen's main criticism of the Long Wharf plan is its use of public funds. While Cohen admitted that the mall would pose a serious financial concern for his clients, he insisted that his opposition stems from larger political issues. "There has been a fairly conscious effort made by the government to limit
opposition for dissent," Cohen said. "If you're going to use public money, everyone in the surrounding area ought to have a right to be heard." Cohen argued that by refusing to consider effects related to traffic, the environment, and socio-economic impact, the state is violating the law. "This lawsuit is a request to the court to direct the administrative agency to go back and look at the issues they ought to." Cohen said.

Cohen also questioned why $85 million is being put into the mall rather than into the city's existing infrastructure. "There is a ton of public money that the mayor proposes to spend here. Why not spend it on downtown neighborhoods?" he said. "This process functions in `the marketplace of ideas,' according to the First Amendment, yet there is an effort here to ram things home as quickly as possible with little opportunity for dissent. "

City Corporation Counsel Ted Baldwin believes that the lawsuit has been filed primarily due to economic concerns and fear of competition. "[The mall's developers] have no standing to raise these legal issues," Baldwin said. "They are a mere competitor, and have no compelling personal legal interest relating to real damage that will be done by this project."

Baldwin also explained that the Westfield Corporation is using the suit as way to stall the mall's construction and define the issues that should be considered in a review by the City Planning Commission and the Board of Aldermen. "Westfield will have the opportunity to appeal before the Board of Aldermen, and that's the time to do it," Baldwin said.

Baldwin also countered his opponents' claim that the mall will hurt the downtown area by insisting that the mall will create more jobs within the city. "We are talking 3,000 jobs and millions in sales," Baldwin said. "The plans are such that they are coordinated with downtown. They will invigorate the traditional downtown area and reestablish the definition of downtown to be between Trumbull Street and the harbor."

Clearly, the issues involved in the suit are complicated. Both sides have economic agendas in mind, but also base their cases on concerns for the public welfare. Adam Gordon, BR '00, who worked for the New Haven City Planning Department in the summer of 1998, expressed his frustration over the lack of understanding of the issues involved in the suit. "I feel like the public
is basically uninformed, that the main
information is coming through biased sources," he said.

The next steps in the mall's approval process are forthcoming reviews by a consultant hired by the Board of Aldermen and the City Planning Commission. Before the plan goes into effect it also must be approved by the State Traffic Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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