Say One Thing, Do Another
We’ve seen it before. Many times. Officials at QU will promise one thing and before long will do another. Often to the detriment of neighbors and neighborhoods. It is more than disappointing, it is disturbing. But it is an unmistakable pattern.
That’s why this latest proposal needs to be handled with care – lest it be approved in the interest of expediency only to have the neighborhood experience a damaging barrage of subsequent consequences that can’t be undone.
Many in the region recall being told years ago that the practice fields on the corner of Hogan Road and Mt. Carmel Avenue would never be used for anything other than practices. Now they are both large stadiums. And that the York Hill Campus would only be used for a Field House. Now there are a dorm and a parking garage there. Those are only two of numerous examples.
Unfortunately, the pattern already appears to be continuing.
In May 2024, at a meeting with the North Haven First Selectman and several neighbors, a QU representative indicated that the university did not yet have drawings prepared illustrating their plans - they were only in the conceptualizing phase. Yet barely a week later, QU filed drawings with the Hamden Inland Wetlands Commission, some of which were dated March 2024.
They also said there were no plans to expand the existing church building, yet the actual plans show a two-story building of about 1,561 square feet per floor. Clearly, a substantial expansion. And they said the number of parking spaces would increase from 27 to 66. That would be sufficiently concerning, but even worse, the actual plans show 97 parking spaces.
Some may also remember that QU was given a special permit to build a dorm in April 2007. As a condition of approval, the Hamden P&Z condition 6.e required that QU guarantee on-campus housing for all full-time undergrad students for four years. As of 2015, QU had not satisfied this condition. QU was sued by the Zoning Enforcement Officer, and the Hamden ZBA upheld this decision. QU and the ZBA agreed to settle an appeal, which 17-years later has still not happened.
Also worth noting: QU currently operates an executive education center out of their main campus. As recently as last year, as part of their presentation to the Hamden P&Z Commission when QU was seeking their own zoning district, they submitted a “5-Year Institutional Management Plan” in which they said the only buildings planned over the next five years would be the three proposed for the so-called south quad, along New Road in Hamden.
As the public hearing process proceeds and public officials evaluate the promises and plans proposed by Quinnipiac University, all would do well to consider the stark differences between what’s been said and what’s been done through the years, and particularly more recently. We’ve been down this road before, and the past should be our guide. Beware of danger ahead. Promises, promises.
