A Chapel Street luxury apartment complex has been leasing 23 parking spots at an off-site Ninth Square garage for over a year — which, according to the developer, no one has been using. Now, the developer is seeking zoning relief to reduce its parking requirement — and free up those parking spots for public use. The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) heard that request last Tuesday regarding The Archive, a pair of buildings at 808 and 848 Chapel St. that began leasing apartments in August 2024. The request, which has to be reviewed by the City Plan Commission before the zoning board can vote on it, surfaced amidst a broader debate in the city over whether parking minimums are necessary for car-owning tenants or an unnecessary barrier to the production of new housing. Trevor Heitz, vice president of asset management at Article Student Living (an affiliate of the buildings’ LLC owners), presented on the request via Zoom, while in-person attendees of the public hearing convened in a second floor meeting room at City Hall. The Archive’s two buildings comprise a total of 166 apartments. The building at 848 Chapel St. contains a private garage with 55 parking spots exclusively for tenants. As part of the original planning and zoning approval process, the Archive had previously been required to provide tenants with the option to rent an additional 23 parking spaces, according to a letter to the city from Article Student Living Senior Vice President Lawrence Work. The complex entered an agreement with a Ninth Square garage at 96 Orange St. to reserve those required extra spots. According to Heitz, however, “We simply do not use the parking spaces we currently lease” offsite. Heitz said that about 90 percent of The Archive’s 166 apartments are currently occupied, and tenants are renting about 80 percent of the 55 in-house parking spots. He argued that, with extra parking in the building’s own garage, the apartment complex doesn’t need the off-site spots. Heitz noted that there is a formal agreement ensuring that tenants of 808 Chapel St. have access to the 848 Chapel St. garage, should the buildings one day be purchased by separate owners. Lisa Sawin jubilantly advocates for the parking reduction. The request for parking relief received support from three public testifiers. “I find it compelling, the statistics they brought forward,” said nearby neighbor Lisa Sawin, who added that she welcomes “the dense construction” downtown in recent years. Local land use attorney Ben Trachten observed that the request “fully aligns with the parking goals of the comprehensive plan,” also known as Vision 2034, recently approved by the city, which proposes the elimination of parking minimums for new housing. East Rock resident Kevin McCarthy noted that if The Archive stops leasing off-site parking, 23 existing parking spaces will become available to the general public downtown, where “parking is always an issue.” The post “Archive” Landlord: We Have Too Much Parking appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less