Waterbury, CT – Yeshiva Moving Students to Carlton Towers

Waterbury, CT – The Orthodox Jewish school Yeshiva Gedolah could take ownership of the Carlton Tower building as soon as next week.

An attorney for the yeshiva said in a letter to the Zoning Commission that students could move into about 20 empty apartments at the Carlton Towers at 117 Pine St., shortly after the Passover holiday.

"It is the yeshiva's expectation to begin selling its residential homes in the Overlook neighborhood after the Passover break," attorney Gary B. O'Connor of Waterbury said in his letter.

The school houses students in 10 single- and two-family homes in the Overlook and Hillside neighborhoods. City land-use codes do not allow for boarding houses in these areas. Residents in those neighborhoods asked the commission to issue a cease-and-desist order at a meeting last year.

The commission decided to work with the school instead, allowing it to propose a solution.

"I think they are holding true to their word. As long as they're operating in good faith, we feel that they're fulfilling our request," Commission Chairman Giuseppe Pisani said.

The yeshiva has said that about half of the 83 units will be sufficient housing for the school and the rest will continue to be leased to tenants. The city stands to lose half of the $104,000 assessment of the property, but gain with the houses currently occupied by yeshiva being put back on the tax rolls after they are sold. [Waterbury Republican American]