Located near Lawrence Street Plaza in East Rock, on a street full of small businesses, Hanmi Oriental Food & Gift Shop has been around since 1990, run by the Sim family. Sim, who grew up in his mother’s store, has recently returned from Texas to help run the store.

“There are many smaller grocery stores around here, but we try to focus on culture and providing authentic Korean food and authentic Korean snacks,” said Sim.

Sim said being close to New York and its large Asian population has made it easier to source authentic Asian food and snacks.

According to him, Hanmi has a large customer base that includes both students from Yale and New Haven locals, many of whom are interested in Korean foods and culture.

“They enjoy the sauces and the different foods from different countries as well,” Sim said. “We also have a customer from Hartford who comes all the way here, because there are not a lot of Asian stores in Connecticut.”

He also mentioned that Hanmi prepares its own food as well, including kimbap, a popular Korean dish consisting of rice and meat wrapped in seaweed. The dish, which is made by Ok and is Hanmi’s most popular item, has been a longtime tradition in the store.

Sim discussed how New Haven, and specifically the East Rock neighborhood, has changed over the years, recalling his childhood in the store.

“When I was young, these streets used to be very crowded. A lot of people were here, going to bars around here,” Sim said. “But recently, it seems like there are less people walking by.”

The lower foot traffic was apparent on Thursday afternoon, though it did not affect the store, which had a steady stream of regulars and first-time customers checking it out.

Rosalie, a first-time customer, picked up some candy and mochi. She spoke about having visited a couple of the Asian stores in New Haven to pick up snacks.

“I’m new to the area, but this place is very convenient for me. It’s a short walking distance,” she said.

Alongside shelves of ramen, frozen and dry Asian snacks were also fresh vegetables and ingredients for Korean-inspired cooking.

Jill Brunelle is a local and a regular shopper at Hanmi. She comes by once a month, to pick up fresh ingredients.

“I usually get fresh tofu, fresh scallions, fresh vegetables,” she said, gesturing to her shopping bag full of greens.

Hanmi also sells cooking supplies and other smaller trinkets and gifts, located in the front of the shop next to a bushel of fresh Fuji apples.

Sim takes pride in the store’s reputation as a place for authentic Korean food, and now thinks of opening a Korean restaurant to further share Korean culture. 

Hanmi Oriental Food and Gift Shop is located at 1008 State St.

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Roxanne was inspired to join the Community Healing Network, or CHN, in 2019 after taking a year-long sabbatical in Europe. After visiting an interactive art exhibit in Westville upon her return to the United States, called “The Rise and Fall of the N Word,” she was forced to grapple with her time in Europe through daily conversations with the exhibit psychologist. 

“I came back from Europe really understanding that, even though I was moving through the world as a human being, as Chandra, other people were responding to me as a Black person — and their interpretation of what that meant was not always good,” Roxanne said.

Founded in 2006, CHN began as a grassroots movement in Black churches and community organizations. Nearly two decades later, it has developed international partnerships with African countries, leading efforts for racial healing and emotional reparations, according to its website.

The organization specializes in Emotional Emancipation Circles, or EECs, an eight-week program in which a trained facilitator, usually a Black psychologist or someone with prior experience with the program, works with groups of 10–20 people on what they call the “seven keys of emotional emancipation.” 

The seven keys, each of which come with its own mantra and are the focus of one week in the program, include African Spiritual Origins, Historical Moments and Movements, and Human Development and Learning.

Roxanne told the News that the goal of the EECs is to shift the mentality of members in the Black community.

“When you have undergone constant attack and trauma, you develop a mentality yourself, and that can play out in so many different ways,” Roxanne said. “So one of the things that we want to do is, first of all, is we want to create … people who are emotionally strong and can navigate and have the tools, the resilience tools to literally regulate their own systems.”

Roxanne said that CHN is looking to turn the eight-week program into a quarterly system where members return to the program, likening it to therapy. 

Together, CHN and The Association of Black Psychologists have trained facilitators and laid the foundation for EECs in nearly 50 cities in the United States.

“What we focus on is less about what is done to us, and more about what we do to each other as a result of our historical context and our current context,” Roxanne said. “It really is about how we begin healing from the legacies of anti-Blackness and the legacies of enslavement.”

The CHN also takes on another mission: connecting Black people across the diaspora, as well as across gender and generational gaps. 

Roxanne cited their work with leading NGOs across the world, including the International Civil Society Working Group for the United Nations Permanent Forum of People of African Descent, and the Global Circle for Reparations and Healing. 

“The organization has always, always looked to do its work globally,” said Roxanne. 

Melanie Funchess, an EEC facilitator, first heard about EECs in 2014. She joined CHN in 2019, focusing on programing and training expansion in Rochester, New York.

For Funchess, their work towards emotional peace is needed now more than ever. 

“Particularly we’re finding that, in the last several months, people are in need of spaces like this to reaffirm themselves, to feel safety,” said Funchess. 

She has also helped to create more specialized circles, which include groups for young adults and men, called “Something for the Brothers.”

Funchess spoke of the historical importance of group discussions like EECs for the Black community, which have existed in some shape or form for a long time.

“Even in the beginnings of our history, coming together in circles has been the way that we have settled conflict,” she said. “It’s been the way that we appeal, the way that we share joy and love.”

Funchess aims to normalize the idea of EECs so that community leaders can bring the program to their own communities and neighborhoods without requiring the presence of CHN.

Reverend William Mathis, a lecturer at Yale Divinity School and a member of the board at CHN, first began to work with the organization through his program Beloved Community, which brings together Black professionals in New Haven.

At Beloved Community meetings, members began doing EECs, which Mathis said had a profound impact on him. He felt so inspired he spread the program to his church. 

“It became such a healing agent for me, my engagement in the world,” Mathis said. 

Mathis said that channeling the framework of EECs encouraged him to find purpose and power from within himself and the community, not from predominantly white institutions. He underscored the importance of safe, all-Black spaces for open conversation and healing. 

“Our value stems not from how other people see us or what other people do to support us. It comes from within,” Mathis said.

CHN founder and President emeritus Enola G. Aird is a graduate of Yale Law School, class of 1979.

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These efforts aim to strengthen the local economy while empowering entrepreneurs of color through funding, mentorship and retail spaces. The News spoke to five Black business owners at the Shops at Yale to get their perspectives on New Haven and Yale’s relationship with Black-owned businesses.

“They understand what we’re trying to build here, and they’re not trying to keep us in a box,” said Krystina Jackson, the owner of Soulful Threads, a vintage clothing store on Chapel Street.

Cathy Graves, deputy director of economic development for the city of New Haven, said that New Haven’s many resources for small businesses — including the DNA of an Entrepreneur clinic, an eight-week program that helps people start their small businesses by establishing lines of credit — help with networking, technical assistance and outlining business plans.

Graves mentioned that the city was “excited” about increasing levels of Black-owned businesses. She estimated that around 60 percent of people who participated in their programs were minorities or women.

New Haven also partners with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to provide New Haven Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem grants for small businesses, particularly minority and women-owned. Over $2 million in small business grants have been awarded since 2022. 

“Small businesses are the economic fabric of New Haven,” said.

Alisha Crutchfield-McLean owns Bloom, a multi-concept retail store on Edgewood Avenue. She spoke with the News about taking advantage of the many resources available to small business owners, including ConnCorp and New Haven’s programs for entrepreneurs, as well as an NHE3 grant.

She also mentioned the more personal mentoring she has received from Graves since moving to New Haven from New York City in 2021. Her first meeting with Graves lasted two hours and was full of helpful information and advice.

“She didn’t have to do that, but she spent time with me anyway,” Crutchfield-McLean said about Graves, who remains a mentor for her to this day. “I didn’t even need an appointment.”

Ricky Evans, owner of Ricky D’s Ribshack on Winchester Avenue, told the News that as long as business owners are willing to put in the work, New Haven and Yale can point them in the right direction for success.

Evans said that after starting his business, he participated in a program hosted by New Haven’s Small Business Resource Center. Through the program, small business owners can listen to other entrepreneurs and city officials and connect with fellow small-business owners.

Evans said that Yale was a major help in advertising his business through radio ads and social media posts. 

“The city of New Haven and Yale provide a lot of opportunity,” Evans said.

Alexis Evans owns Juicescape, a juice shop located on Chapel Street that is just under three years old. 

Evans mentioned that while she knew of some of the resources available, it can sometimes be hard to take advantage of everything when day-to-day life as a small business owner is already so busy.

“I haven’t had that opportunity to see exactly what they offer because when you’re a business owner, trying to keep your business up and running, I really don’t have enough time to go out and check to see what the city is offering,” she said. 

Evans mentioned that she participated in Yale’s series of interviews with black business owners on WYBC local radio for Black History Month.

Lucy Ballester, co-founder of Soap-edi, opened their store’s second location on Chapel Street in 2022. She shared Ricky Evans’s sentiment, and praised Yale for their help with marketing efforts, saying it’s been a big help for their business.

“I’m hoping we’re here for a long time,” Ballester said.

Yale University Properties was established in 1966.

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Canady, the only American to win a gold medal in the first Women’s World Boxing Amateur Championships in 2001, hoped to again be one of the first to bring women’s boxing to the global stage. However, women’s boxing was rejected from the 2008 Olympics, and was only named an official Olympic sport in 2012. By that time, Canady had a different goal. 

“I had already made up my mind that I was going to open a gym with the hopes of going to the Olympics one day with one of my students,” Canady told the News.

Canady’s Elephant in the Room Boxing Gym had its grand opening in 2012. A registered nonprofit, Canady raised $50,000, including some of her own money, to renovate an old gas station in Dixwell into a gym. In 2022, they moved to a new 5,500-square-foot gym in the neighborhood of The Hill, in New Haven. 

Elephant in the Room offers after-school programs, including with kids as young as 8 years old. Canady spoke about the life skills that these kids learn, alongside boxing and exercise techniques, at the gym. 

“We don’t only just teach them boxing. We mentor them,” Canady said. “We teach them about being respectful and following instructions, listening to their parents and doing well in school.”

Canady said that the program requires its participants to be in good academic standing in school to join and continue to participate in the program. 

Coach Christian Lopez, who came to the gym last August, discussed the unique aspects of the after-school program, which include more time in the gym and expansive coaching strategies.

“It’s a two-hour program. I don’t know any other gyms that do two hours anywhere else I’ve been,” said Lopez, who mentioned past experiences in Canada and Mexico. “So we have the luxury to invest equal time in skill work and conditioning work … so these kids, I would say, are pretty advanced.” 

Lopez also mentioned the experience of introducing sparring — informal one-on-one training competition — to younger kids, which he stated is an incredibly important part of any boxer’s journey. 

Troyveon Allen has been with the program since he was 17. Now 24, he has been competing for around four years, most recently at Mohegan Sun Casino. He appreciates the community he found at Elephant in the Room. 

“We’re just one big family. Everybody knows everybody. And if we don’t know you, then we get to know you,” said Allen, who was born and raised in New Haven. “This gym is everything to me. Elephant in the Room will always be home for me.”

Along with coaching boxers, Elephant in the Room also has exercise programs for older people with Parkinson’s disease. This program is affiliated with Hartford-based nonprofit Beat Parkinson’s Today and with Yale’s Movement Disorders Division — a treatment program held out of the Yale School of Medicine — from which they receive patients who they train twice a week.

For Canady, it is especially important that those who are suffering from Parkinson’s in her community learn about the program and the benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson’s. 

“There’s an issue that African American patients that are diagnosed with Parkinson’s aren’t being reached,” Canady said. “They’re not being given the same information in regards to treatment and things like this exercise program to help them.”

As a nonprofit, Elephant in the Room relies on grants and support from the city as well as partners such as United Way and Yale. In the future, Canady hopes to use a grant to buy the current location, as leasing can become hard for a non-profit.

She is also looking forward to expanding the programs at Elephant in the Room, including competitive MMA training.

Elephant in the Room Boxing Gym is located at 540 Ella T. Grasso Blvd.

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Named after founder Chidi Onukwugha’s 9-year-old grandniece, the pet-friendly coffee shop offers a blend of classics and specialty drinks suggested by and named after regulars, such as beet and lavender chai lattes.

“As a child, I always had a love for coffee,” said Onukwugha, smiling. “Except I remember my father always telling me I had to be thirteen to drink caffeine.”

Onukwugha’s initial desire was to open a restaurant. Upon finding this location just before the Covid pandemic, however, he realized the need for a neighborhood coffee shop and decided to open one instead. Kaiyden’s officially opened after the lockdown, in fall 2021. 

A longtime resident of Westville, Onukwugha has found Wooster Square very inviting, especially given the complications he faced trying to open during the pandemic. 

“This neighborhood has been very, very supportive,” Onukwugha said. “Each year has been better than the previous year.” 

Onukwugha has also expanded the reach of Kaiyden’s beyond Wooster Square, catering for events at Yale as well as pop-ups around New Haven. 

Ada Umeugo, a barista at Kaiyden’s, has worked at the cafe for about eight months, and in that time frame, she has already witnessed the Kaiyden’s beloved role within residents.

“People whose children go to the school down the street, people who walk around here, aldermen, representatives, lots of people come into Kaiyden’s,” said Umeugo, noting the wide variety of regulars. “I like the mom-and-pop, homey feel that Kaiyden’s has.” 

As school let out Wednesday afternoon, an influx of regulars and even Onukwugha’s grandnieces entered the shop. A group of teachers from Conte West Hills Magnet School, just down the street from Kaiyden’s, said they often stopped by the shop. 

Sara Nieves, a nanny who works nearby, spoke about her love for the shop and the community it’s fostered. 

“It’s the same group of people here every day, the same dogs here every day, everyone knows each other, the kids are all playing together,” Nieves said. “Everyone’s having a great time together.”

Nieves, who has been coming to Kaiyden’s for around a year, has a special go-to: Sara’s Irish Cream Mocha, named after her. 

Onukwugha also spoke of the importance of Black-owned businesses in New Haven. 

“It’s not something we take lightly,” he said. “When we opened, it actually came as a surprise to me that we were the only Black-owned coffee shop in New Haven… I’m trying to get the word out, about us and what we do, [in the larger New Haven community].”

Even though Onukwugha desires to expand his business beyond Wooster Square, he has also seen great success locally, with events such as a Halloween Dog Costume Contest. In the spring, Onukwugha is looking forward to debuting a “surprise” festive drink.

Kaiyden’s is located at 595 Chapel St..

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The News toured the 26,000-square-foot facility in Fair Haven and spoke with board members and instructors, as well as former and current students, about their experience with the training program. 

“The students are actually applying themselves, trying to educate themselves and do something to get a job and get back out into society,” Shirell Bolding, a former student and current administrator at MATCH, said. “It’s very family-oriented. There’s no judgment in here.”

The program is open to all who want to participate. Students are normally there for six to eight weeks, and come in Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They leave with OSHA 10 certifications in workplace safety, as well as expertise in computer numerical control, or CNC, equipment and a forklift certification. 

On Wednesdays, MATCH trains high school juniors from New Haven public schools, teaching them important skills for careers in manufacturing. 

This opportunity came as a surprise to LaFemina. 

“I mean, we were not planning on teaching the public school system,” she remarked on the program’s growth. “There’s a lot of need that we didn’t know about. People need jobs, and we have machinery and equipment, and there’s people that want to hire them.” 

While the program has started on grants, mainly from the American Rescue Plan Act as well as the Community Investment Fund, MATCH has already started completing manufacturing jobs for private companies and the city.

LaFemina hopes to make MATCH self-sufficient by using the money from contracts to pay their trainees, who receive minimum wage, as well as for staff and equipment. 

“Right now we’re purely living off grants. That is not the model for success. The model is to be self-sufficient in just a few years,” LaFemina said.

MATCH has also been contacted by other school districts, as well as refugee groups, to enroll new trainees. The program combines paid skills training with help during the job search, from interview preparation and transportation to resume blasting. 

David de los Santos, originally from Bridgeport, heard about the program from his neighbor. 

“I’m actually going to college for manufacturing next month, and I decided to come here to get a head start. But while I’m here, they’ve actually offered job placement, as I’ve been looking for part-time work to go along with my college classes,” de los Santos, whose last day with the program was Thursday, said. “Graduating now with all these new skills, I’m very pleased with what I got engaged in.” 

A number of former and current students were present at the facility, and mentioned recommending others in their life or being recommended themselves. The program has doubled in size since its founding in August 2023, from 12 full-time students to 26. 

In the spring, MATCH is anticipating adding welding to its curriculum, and expanding transportation access for its students. 

Match is located on Mill Street, in the neighborhood of Fair Haven. 

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In a meeting on Wednesday evening, members of the Westville community questioned their two state representatives, their state senator, Alder Adam Marchand and their police district manager on rising instances of juvenile crime and car thefts in the neighborhood, as well as about the institutional problems that have led to this crisis. 

“How did we get here?” Lieutenant Brian McDermott of the New Haven Police Department posited. “We experienced the perfect storm,” he said, pointing to the combination of several factors that have led to rising crime.  

A main focus of McDermott’s speech was understaffing in the Westville Police Unit, leaving them unable to handle multiple problems at once. 

McDermott, who has been civically involved in New Haven for 28 years, mentioned how the number of police officers assigned to the Westville district had fallen from seven to two in recent years. 

“Unfortunately, we got ourselves into a bad situation here in New Haven, where we’re grossly understaffed right now in Westville,” McDermott said. “Nobody in the New Haven Police Department thinks that’s acceptable, but it’s the reality we’re dealing with.”

McDermott attributed this understaffing to a myriad of factors, including failures in recruiting and staff retention rates.

Dennis Serfilippi, a Westville resident and former alder candidate, added that complicated contract negotiations between the city and the police union have exacerbated the issue. 

Serfilippi referenced a contract between the city and the NHPD ratified on Oct. 12 that increases officers’ salaries, which took a month to negotiate.

“I don’t feel safe in my own city when I go to Stop and Shop or CVS … When are we getting to the number of officers we need?” Serfilippi said.

Westville residents and their elected officials also discussed institutional choices made by the city, including how the justice system deals with juvenile offenders. 

Responding to complaints about the leniency with which the city has treated juvenile offenders, especially those involved in car thefts, state Sen. Gary Winfield mentioned a 60-day plan to increase detention orders to see its effect on crime levels.

On the city’s policy of leniency, Winfield acknowledged “We’ve kind of created an environment in which (juvenile offenders) say ‘Well, nobody’s going to do anything. I’ll try this out.’”

Not all residents favored a standard tough-on-crime solution to this problem. Some residents suggested an increase in mentoring programs to keep underprivileged kids away from a life of crime. 

Adding on to this, state Rep. Toni Walker described her background as a social worker and witnessing the effect of chronic incarceration. 

“All I was seeing was something that was being maintained in the chronic system of arrest … These are the children of our communities. We cannot just walk away from them and say, take them away, because they’re going to come back to our neighborhoods.”

Westville is home to many of Yale’s athletic facilities, including the Yale Bowl.

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The planned increase comes from a 2019 state bill. The law requires the minimum wage to be adjusted each year based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s employment cost index calculation. The state’s minimum wage has increased every year since 2019.

“This is a fair, modest adjustment for workers who will invest their earnings right back into our economy and support local businesses in their communities,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a press release.

For the approximately 170,000 minimum wage laborers in Connecticut, the 4.2 percent increase would result in an extra $26.40 a week— summing about $1,400 annually — for laborers working 40 hours a week. 

A city official and Yale student worker who spoke with the News celebrated the increase. But a local business owner expressed skepticism about the positive effects of the increase.  

Michael Piscitelli, the economic development administrator of New Haven, said he was optimistic about the minimum wage increase in an email to the News.

“The increase to the State’s minimum wage rate is an important step forward, supporting our residents who have bolstered the City’s economic growth over many years,” Piscitelli wrote.

George Koutroumanis, owner of Yorkside Pizza, a family-owned restaurant located on Yale’s campus, shared concerns about price increases, however. 

Regardless, Koutroumanis emphasized that the rise in minimum wage would not affect his hiring process. 

“People will make more money, that’s good. Maybe they’ll spend more money, that’s good,” Koutroumanis said. “But on the other hand, everything that they buy will cost more money.”

Despite the increase, Connecticut remains one of the costliest states to live in according to the Cost of Living Index, which ranks it 13th most expensive. It remains unclear if the rise in minimum wage will help laborers adjust to a high cost of living. 

Piscitelli noted that Connecticut still has “a long way to go” to reach a living wage relative to the cost of living. 

“You know the way the economy is today, there is no livable wage,” Koutroumanis added. “You’re making more money, but losing value.”

Meanwhile, student worker Nik Alderson ’27 expressed excitement about the increase. 

“I’m very happy. I think this will increase my disposable income by quite a lot. It’ll definitely improve my standard of living,” Alderson said.

The Koutroumanis family has owned Yorkside Pizza and Restaurant since 1969. 

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The CPC approved a request made by Avports, the company that manages Tweed, to extend the airport’s flood damage prevention ordinance variance. The variance grants permission to Tweed to continue operating on temporary facilities that currently sit below the base flood elevation. 

A flood damage variance request from Tweed had previously been approved by the CPC in 2021. Avports’s request to extend the temporary variance comes as a result of their current variance’s expiration approaching in November. 

“I’d like this board to consider this extension a bridge to New Haven’s future,” Tony Lorenti, a commercial pilot from Meriden, Conn., said. “It is a necessity. The airport is a public resource, not just for our community, but for the region.” Lorenti was the only member of the public to testify in support of the extension.

The request comes amid increased tensions between Tweed and the public surrounding recent plans for expansion. 

Originally planned to be open only to the CPC, the hearing was made public after 30 members of the community submitted letters requesting that the hearing be made open.

The hearing began with a consideration of two members of the public — Lorena Venegas and Patrick Rowland — requesting “intervener status,” which would have allowed them to present evidence to the CPC and directly question Avports representatives. 

Both requests were denied unanimously, though later on the two had the opportunity to speak as members of the public — who were each restricted to three minutes of testimony.

As the public hearing began, members of the community brought up concerns about the contents of Tweed’s temporary trailers, given that they reside in a floodplain and could be released into the water system in the event of a flood. 

Dr. Dana Walker, a resident of East Haven who fishes in the creek near Tweed, was one of the first members of the public to speak on the variance.

“We need to know what’s in those trailers by detail,” he said. “We need to know those chemicals, because we have tested the water for [other chemicals], and we have seen a change, and now we need to know what’s in those trailers.”

Joining other members of the New Haven public were representatives of the town of East Haven. Part of Tweed occupies East Haven land, while the other part resides in New Haven’s Morris Cove neighborhood.

Steven Trinkauss, a civil engineer representing East Haven, testified with his concerns about the safety of the below-floodline construction.

“My primary concerns are building anything below the base flood elevation is simply a bad idea, temporary or not,” he said. “It puts things at substantial risk.”

Christopher Rousseau, a lawyer representing the town of East Haven, questioned the confusing timeline of the variance application process, which contained multiple variations of the application. 

Members of the public brought up other topics concerning the variance application as well as Tweed’s overall expansion plans. Concerns included general complaints about Tweed and its plans to expand, confusion about the timeline of the ordinance, and uncertainty around the number of temporary trailers being stored at Tweed.

After two rounds of public testimony, Commission Vice Chair Ernest Pagan closed the public hearing and Alder Adam Marchand began to question the Avports representatives, including confusion surrounding the basis of the necessity for the ordinance. 

Responding to confusion about the type of hardship demonstrated by the application, Avports attorney Joe Williams stated that it was not economically impossible but physically impossible to put the trailers anywhere else.

“We made that argument, and the commission accepted and approved it three years ago,” he said. “So the question is whether there’s a change in something before you to justify denying it now. And I think the answer is clearly no.” 

According to the New Haven Municipal Code, an applicant for the FDP Variance must demonstrate that following the city’s usual floodplain ordinances would cause them “unnecessary hardship” in construction. 

Alder Marchand worried continued extensions would allow Avports to stall on building permanent structures in a safer area. 

“I feel some concern about the possibility that we’ll be facing this same situation three years from now, and I think a preferred outcome is the airport moving to a more permanent and better facility,” he said. “I’m leaning towards voting yes on this, but I’m not excited about voting yes again three years from now.” 

New Haven resident Patrick Rowland added that Avports has not provided an emergency plan, which is alarming. 

Others have pointed out discrepancies in the application, including failure to update base flood elevation and acquire proper permits for additional trailers. 

“This project has not moved as quickly as the applicant,” Morris Cove resident Gabriela Campos said. “Who knows, maybe three years from now, we could be looking at another request to extend the variance. And then, to me, that does bring into question that we’re not really talking about a temporary structure anymore … I want the applicant to say a little bit more about the issue of time frame.”

After consideration between Vice Chair Ernest Pagan and Deputy Corporation Counsel Rod Williams, the vote went forward with no prohibition of a future application, but with conditions for approval that included anchorage of the trailers to prevent them from becoming unhinged during floods. All three present members of the board, which included Pagan, Marchand and Joy A. Gary, voted to approve the extension. 

Commissioners also discussed renewing a special permit and coastal site plan review for Sims Metal. The facility has been operating for the past year without a permit due to a delayed application because of COVID-19. This application was unanimously approved. 

“I don’t see a diminishment of that an important waterway and the coastal resources that are implicated in this application,” commissioner Adam Marchand said. “So I’m comfortable with the staff reports findings on the coastal, and I’m also comfortable granting the special permit.”

The regular City Plan Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 16, on Zoom. 

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