Notice of Scoping for Starr Winchester Homeownership
Addresses of possible locations: 136 Starr Street, 139 Starr Street, 205 Starr Street, 209 Starr Street, 213 Starr Street, 219 Starr Street, 222 Starr Street, 261 Starr Street, 265 Starr Street, 274 Starr Street, 552 Winchester Avenue, 606 Winchester Avenue, 614-616 Winchester Avenue, 632 Winchester Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511
Municipality where proposed action might be located: New Haven
Project Description: The project consists of new construction of a single-family home, two-family homes, and duplexes on the abovementioned vacant lots. The single-family design will be a three-story homeownership unit with massing similar to that of existing neighborhood homes. The first floor will contain a garage and the second two stories, living space. The two-family design will include two units with a homeownership unit that combines a second/third floor, two and a half bathrooms, three bedrooms and a rental unit with two bedrooms and least one and a half bathrooms. The duplex design will be similar to the two-family design except that the units will be side-by-side and consist of two homeownership units. All structures will contain interior and exterior basement access, rear structure access and rear porch and off-street parking. The structures shall be designed in a similar style to the existing neighborhood and improve the existing streetscape. The City of New Haven LCI is conducting development of properties to address the need to provide homeownership and rental units. The funding is made available through the Neighborhood Renewal Program provided by the State of Connecticut Department of Housing and City of New Haven. This is a homeownership (first homebuyers) and affordable rental (80% AMI) project. The Project meets the City of New Haven’s need for homeowner occupied houses and affordable rental units. The project aims to revitalize under-utilized spaces where homes have been demolished in response to fire, blight, etc. An initial State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) notice was filed for the block of addresses along Starr Street. A response was received dated March 19, 2024. Their response was that in keeping with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, the new structures should be compatible with the existing historic buildings within the district in scale, massing, setback, rhythm and design. When architectural plans are completed at 30%, they must be shared with SHPO for comment. Contingent on the undertaking following the guidance described above, the undertaking will have a conditional no adverse effect to historic resources. An additional SHPO notice was filed for the parcels later added to the project comprising the Winchester Ave. parcels and 136 and 139 Starr Street. A response was received dated December 27, 2024. All of the Winchester Ave. parcels were determined to have been contributing resources while they were still extant. The parcels on Starr Street were listed as non-contributing resources. As the plans are not yet complete, SHPO said that they cannot make a determination of effect at this time. However, the office has no objection to the development of project plans, provided SHPO be provided with design documents for review and comment as part of additional consultation. A Tribal outreach letter was also sent to the contacts gathered from the Tribal Database Assessment Tool (TDAT) developed by HUD to locate tribes with interests in the area. One response was received from the Mohegan Tribe stating that the tribe had no interest in the project. No other major environmental concern was identified.
Project Map: Click here to view a map of the project area.
Written comments from the public are welcomed and will be accepted until the close of business on: December 18, 2025.
Any person may ask the sponsoring agency to hold a public scoping meeting by sending such a request to the address below. If a public scoping meeting is requested by 25 or more individuals, or by an association that represents 25 or more members, the sponsoring agency shall schedule a public scoping meeting. Such requests must be made by: November 28, 2025.
Written comments and/or requests for a public scoping meeting should be sent to
Name: Mithila Chakraborty, Ph.D.
Agency: Connecticut Dept. of Housing
Address: 505 Hudson Street, Hartford, CT 06106-7106
E-Mail: mithila.chakraborty@ct.gov
Inquiries and requests to view and or copy documents, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, must be submitted to the sponsoring state agency:
Name: Mithila Chakraborty, Ph.D.
Agency: Connecticut Dept. of Housing
Address: 505 Hudson Street, Hartford, CT 06106-7106
E-Mail: mithila.chakraborty@ct.gov
What Happens Next: The sponsoring agency will make a determination whether to proceed with preparation of an Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) or that the project does not require the preparation of an EIE under the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA). A Post-Scoping Notice of its decision will appear in a future edition of the Environmental Monitor.