Residents of a New Haven homeless encampment and their supporters distributed sandwiches and cups of soup as they chanted “turn on the heat” before marching into New Haven City Hall.
The group demanded electricity be connected in their encampment of tiny homes so they can have heat.
Their rallying efforts helped lead to a tentative agreement Friday with New Haven city officials to have electricity connected as early as the following day.
The community, called Rosette Neighborhood Village, consists of eight residents spread among six “tiny homes” in the backyard of a private residence, Amistad House on Rosette Street. Homeless residents are invited by the property owners, Mark and Luz Colville, to live there until they’ve secured permanent housing.
Rosette Neighborhood needs city approval to connect electricity to the homes so that residents will have heat.
New Haven’s building official and fire marshal must also conduct an inspection to ensure the buildings follow a set of state-mandated requirements. Rosette Neighborhood residents agreed to submit a plan to the city’s department of zoning and regulations.
Residents and their advocates say the process to connect power to the tiny homes has been held up by the city.
More could have been done on the city’s part to ensure the homes were heated sooner, Rosette Neighborhood advocate Sean Gargamelli-McCreight said.
“There’s no reason that bureaucratic nightmare needs to stand between people receiving dignity and safety,” Gargamelli-McCreight said.
Gargamelli-McCreight said he’s cautiously hopeful with the new plan in place and has been discouraged by what he said is the city’s delay.
“At this point, given the fact that there’s been so many start and stops, we’ll kind of believe it when we see it. More importantly we’ll believe it when we feel it,” Gargamelli-McCreight said.
While state ordinances allow building officials to grant permits at their discretion, New Haven Building Official Bob Dillon said he doesn’t feel comfortable approving the homes until the criteria laid out by the state is met.
The homes are not up to code and do not include kitchens or bathrooms, Dillon said. Residents use the bathroom and kitchen located inside the main house on the property.
Rosette Neighborhood has failed to collaborate in recent months and hold up its end of the bargain in getting the homes approved, according to New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
“We’ve asked them to fill out very very simple forms and they’ve taken them weeks to do so," Elicker said. " I find it kind of disheartening.”
