New Haven Church Finds Home in Hamden

After fighting for years for a spot in New Haven to grow their church, members of Mi Roca Church turned their sights to Hamden and found a property on Welton Street that they thought would meet their needs.

After some coaxing, the Hamden Planning and Zoning Commission agreed that the former warehouse could adequately serve their purpose with some conditions placed on the approval, most relating to parking or the lack of.

The building itself can more than accommodate the 50+ church members, but it was the prospect of growth that worried the commissioners. Parking was limited to only 20 cars, and only with modifications to the existing site plan. 

But Rev. Juan Aguayo told the commission through the services of an interpreter that many of the parishioners come to services on a church-owned van and don't drive their own cars. Many are single mothers with children who don't drive, he said.

While they have plans to grow, they also have the option to make arrangements with surrounding businesses to use their parking during off hours, asst. Town Planner Dan Kops said. Hours the church will hold services include Wednesday nights and Sundays, while the surrounding businesses generally operate Monday through Friday. So their parking lots are open at the times the church would need them, he said.

There's also off-street parking that counts toward the church's required parking, something commissioner Myron Hul didn't understand.

"If it's off-street parking, then anyone can use it," he said, "How can it be counted toward an application?"

The regulations allow for any parking along the frontage of a property to be included in required parking spaces, Kops said.

"Everyone agrees they could use a few more parking spaces," said commission chairman Ann Altman. "I think we wouldn't be having this conversation if there were 10 more parking spaces.

"We are all on the knife's edge here and have to make a decision," she said.

The decision they made was to allow the church to move in and monitor the parking situation over time, much to the delight of Aguayo and the other parishioners in attendance.

"God bless," he told the commissioners as they left the meeting.