Deputy Economic Development Administrator Carlos Eyzaguirre, with City Plan’s Devon Clark and Director Laura Brown, at Wednesday’s meeting: “I think this has to get done.” Credit: Brandon Cortes Photos Wooster Square residents told city officials Wednesday night that they’re tired of h earing the same parking ideas year after year — as the Elicker administration laid out its latest plan for reducing traffic congestion in the pizza-famous neighborhood. That plan is built around opening the Conte West Hills Magnet School parking lot to the public, newly legal parking spaces under the highway overpass on Chapel Street, and new signs pointing visitors elsewhere. Wednesday evening’s meeting was hosted by Wooster Square Alder Mandy Martinelli. It drew a crowd of neighbors frustrated by restaurant-goers who fill the neighborhood’s streets, particularly on and around Wooster Street. “We’ve had this conversation for about four or five years, and we’re still spinning the same wheels,” said Bill Iovanne, owner of Iovanne Funeral Home on Wooster Place. “At what point do you guys make a decision?” Martinelli said she has been meeting with city staff on the issue since May. Deputy Economic Development Administrator Carlos Eyzaguirre, City Plan Director Laura Brown, and Devon Clark, a senior project manager with the City Plan Department, walked residents through what the city is working on. The centerpiece is the parking lot at Conte School, where the meeting was held, which the city hopes to open to the public after school hours. Clark said it’s about a four-minute walk to Wooster Street. The plan still needs approval from the Board of Education, and Eyzaguirre cautioned against overselling it, saying the agreement hit an unexpected snag over the summer. He said Martinelli would press the superintendent to move it forward. “I think this has to get done,” Eyzaguirre said. Update: On Friday, Eyzaguirre clarified that the proposed agreement between the city and the Board of Education to use the Conte lot after hours has not hit a “snag,” though the city had indeed hoped to be under agreement by now. He said that the Board of Education and its leadership “have legitimate questions on how an arrangement like this would work in practice (and ensure school uses remain preeminent which is the City’s intention as well).” He said that the city is hopeful that, after meeting with representatives from the school district, “we can get aligned and bring an agreement to” the Board of Education for approval. In August, the city’s Traffic Authority approved changes allowing drivers to park legally along Chapel Street under the highway overpass. Clark said the city is working on signs to promote that parking, and that the city plans to add lighting there. Because the state Department of Transportation owns the overpass, however, lighting will require a lengthy state permit process. Eyzaguirre said the city has a purchase order in place to design wayfinding signs directing visitors to nearby parking, which he expects in the next couple of months. Clark said the city is also building a web page and map showing parking within a half-mile of Wooster Street, including the Conte West Hills lot, Metropolitan Business Academy, and the State Street garage, noting that studies show people are generally comfortable walking that far. Doug Hausladen, executive director of the New Haven Parking Authority, said his agency is encouraging restaurants to join its parking validation program at its 270 State St. garage. He said the authority has approached Wooster Street restaurants repeatedly over five years, and none currently participate. Iovanne said he identified many of the same parking options with the city about three years ago. He urged officials to put residents first. “I would look to the residents, taxpayers first, because they’re the ones that are being inconvenienced,” he said. Several residents argued that new lots and signs won’t help unless the city also discourages visitors from parking on Wooster Street itself. Briana Comb, who lives on Wooster Street, asked whether the city has considered ways to disincentivize non-residents from parking there, such as expanding resident-only parking and installing meters for visitors. As long as parking on Wooster Street is free, she said, visitors have no reason to use a lot a few blocks away. “If I think there’s a possibility that I can get a parking space on Wooster, I’m going to go around that block three or four times,” Comb said. Comb said parking has gotten so tight that she can no longer host guests. “I cannot have a party because there is nowhere for anyone to park,” she said. Another Wooster Street resident said that four years ago, she could find a space when she got home around 5:30 p.m. Now, unless it’s early in the week, she can circle the block 10 times without finding a spot. She noted that only one section of Wooster Street is restricted to residents with permits, and said there aren’t enough parking enforcement officers covering the area. Eyzaguirre said changing parking rules or fees would require approval from the Board of Alders and warned that restaurants might push back on charging their customers to park. He pointed to an earlier proposal to install meters on Upper State Street, which met strong opposition. He acknowledged that while tickets are issued in the neighborhood, many drivers decide to “take your chances.” He did agree to one immediate request: a survey of the neighborhood’s faded residential parking signs, which several residents said are so worn that visitors may not know they’re parking illegally. Martinelli said traffic-calming work is also underway, including speed tables on Chapel Street and digital speed signs around the neighborhood. For Comb, the solution comes down to making street parking off-limits or costly for visitors. “The city has got to make that residential only, or put some exorbitant fees with parking meters,” she said. “If you’re not from the neighborhood, that’s the only way they will agree to walk a half a mile to park their car and then go for pizza.” City Plan Director Laura Brown at Wednesday’s meetup. 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