Six months after reaching an agreement with New Haven, people who live in a community of backyard tiny homes are facing the threat of a cutoff of their electricity.
A temporary six month permit has expired for a cluster of tiny homes constructed in New Haven for unhoused residents.
In January, the city reached an agreement with the community, known as Rosette Neighborhood Village, providing a 180-day permit. The permit expired on Sunday, and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said it’s unlikely the state will agree to an extension.
The homes do not abide by state building code, which Elicker said New Haven is in charge of enforcing.
“We don't have a choice here,” Elicker said. “We have to enforce the state's building code, and like any other circumstance where there's a violation of state building code, we're obligated to enforce it, and that's what we're doing here.”
The six tiny homes were erected in October in the backyard of a private home, Amistad House on Rosette Street. Homeless residents are invited by the property owners to live there until they’ve secured permanent housing.
The structures don’t include plumbing, and residents use the bathroom and kitchen located in the main house on the property.
In March, zoning exceptions were approved for the buildings, and they are now up to city code, but not state code, Elicker said.
“Like any other illegal structure or illegal dwelling unit in the city, what our building department does is notify the utilities to cut off utilities to the building and we have done so with United Illuminating,” Elicker said. “We have directed them to turn off the power.”
Residents of Rosette Village have not contacted the city regarding homeless services or shelter programs, Elicker said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the power remained on in the six tiny homes, according to property owner Mark Colville.
Colville expressed concern for Village residents should the power be cut off, potentially limiting access to necessary medical equipment, such as a CPAP machine.
For the unhoused community, it's nothing new to live under the threat of the electricity being shut off, Colville said.
“Homeless people live constantly like this. They never know when the cops are coming. This is the whole point,” Colville said.
Colville said he believes Elicker is intentionally stymying the tiny home movement, but doesn’t know why.
“The legal options available to unhoused people in New Haven, they begin and end with shelters,” Colville said. “You have to self institutionalize to be legal as a homeless person in New Haven. The mayor wants that reality to continue.”
Mayor Justin Elicker said despite the tension between the city and the tiny home residents, they’re after the same goal of finding better ways to provide for unhoused residents.
