By Cliff Nadel
Quinnipiac University plans to wait until new President Judy Olian assumes her role as president before Quinnipiac’s board of trustees approves a final plan and funding strategy for building the new residence hall on Quinnipiac’s York Hill campus according to the Quinnipiac administration.
On March 27, the town of Hamden’s Zoning and Planning Department approved and granted Quinnipiac University’s special permit and site plan to build a new 220-bed senior residence hall on Quinnipiac’s York Hill Campus.
According to Hamden Town Planner Daniel Kops, Quinnipiac needs to accomplish several tasks before they can obtain the necessary permits to build a new residence hall.
“The first step is to revise the plans to make any changes required by the conditions of approval,” Kops said. “Then comply with any other conditions of approval that must be addressed prior to obtaining a Zoning Permit.”
After complying with the conditions of approval the Zoning and Planning Department can issue a zoning permit to the University.
“Once this is done, the University must obtain a building permit from the Building Department,” Kops said.
Kops believes because of the size and scale of a project, the whole permit process could take several weeks.
After filing all of the necessary permits, according to Kops, the University has five years to complete the project but can request a five-year extension. After the University’s permits are approved, it needs to obtain funding and hire a construction company before the project can start.
According to Kops, as long as Quinnipiac revises and follows the conditions and plans of the approval, there isn’t anything from the town’s point of view that could derail the project.
According to Quinnipiac’s Vice President of Facilities and Capital Planning Salvatore Filardi, the financial plans to build a new residence hall on York Hill won’t be finalized until new President Olian assumes her role as president of the University.
“Now that we have the town’s approval, the University is still required to get the final plan and funding strategy approved by the Board of Trustees,” Filardi said. “Given the timing and the cost of the project, I expect that such a decision will not be addressed until the new president takes office.”
After the project is approved to move forward, Filardi anticipates that the new residence hall will take about 18 months of construction to complete.
“Once the projected is approved to move forward, we will have a typical schedule of construction; starting in the spring and completing in the second summer, some 18 months later with students occupying that fall,” Filardi said.