In separate Connecticut Senate and House proposals, Newtown’s legislative delegation — Senator Tony Hwang and Representatives Mitch Bolinsky, J.P. Sredzinski, and Dan Carter — is proposing changes to a statute that currently permits developers to circumvent local zoning restrictions on residential projects if the community does not currently conform to Connecticut’s ten percent threshold under affordable housing requirements.

On February 5, Newtown’s Director of Planning George Benson joined lawmakers testifying at a public hearing of the legislature’s Housing Committee on proposed bills related to 8-30g. The hearing was conducted at the New Haven Aldermanic Chamber.

According to a release from Wilton Representative Gail Lavielle, 32 bills dealing with the 8-30g affordable housing statute were discussed in the subject-matter hearing. Her proposal, HB 5802, would exempt any municipality from the 8-30g affordable housing land use appeals procedure if it demonstrated substantial progress over regular intervals toward the ten percent affordable housing threshold.

Newtown’s delegation is all supporting another proposal, HB 5803, an Act Providing Credit For Existing Affordable Housing. If enacted as proposed, the bill would allow municipalities to count existing affordable housing stock toward the threshold value of affordable housing necessary for exemption from the affordable housing land use appeals process.

The issue of where and how much affordable, or workforce, housing is permitted in Newtown is in sharp focus lately. Based on engineering data submitted recently to the Water & Sewer Authority (WSA), a high-density multifamily housing complex is being planned for a 35-acre site at 79 Church Hill Road that would include multiple affordable units among the up to 350 dwellings that could be built there.

Following lengthy discussion at a heavily attended January 15 Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing, commission members unanimously approved a new set of zoning regulations that would cover high-density, multifamily housing complexes that include an affordable housing component.

Those new rules may be used by the developer of the 79 Church Hill Road site. The new zoning rules are known as Incentive Housing-10 Overlay Zone (IH-10).

A multifamily housing proposal for 79 Church Hill Road would require thorough review and approval by the P&Z. Such a project would include an affordable housing component.

P&Z members created IH-10 zoning as an alternative for developers to the state’s Affordable Housing Appeals Act of 1990 (AHAA).

Smoothing The Path

The AHAA process smoothes the legal path for a developer to construct a multifamily complex with at least 30 percent of its units designated as affordable housing, provided that the developer’s land use application is first rejected by a local land use agency and the developer then appeals that rejection in state court. In such court cases, the developer most likely would win that appeal under the terms of the AHAA law.

P&Z members have explained that the IH-10 rules would allow them some control over the design of a multifamily complex, unlike the AHAA appeals victories by developers in which land use agencies have no such design control.

In an interview following the New Haven hearing, Sen Hwang said one of the biggest challenges Newtown and many other communities across the state have is the “specter of 8-30g as they work with developers to create projects consistent with the character of the town.”

Referencing a senate bill he is proposing, which mirrors one in the house supported by Reps Bolinsky, Sredzinski, and Carter, Sen Hwang said from a cost basis, many towns offer housing that is technically affordable as stipulated under state guidelines, but are not allowed to be included in the formal inventory under the current language of 8-30g.

“I say let’s take a look at the real housing stock, not housing that is deed restricted,” he said. “Any project being presented needs to be more connected to incentive housing zones, which Newtown has been working really hard on. It would relieve a lot of the pressure.”

He said in order for a town to enforce a freeze on such developments, the town would have to prove it has permitted a minimum of two percent of its housing to be constructed under affordable guidelines. Sen Hwang added that such housing stock is gauged on a point basis.

“But we have housing stock that isn’t being counted, and let’s face it, there hasn’t been a lot of [residential] construction since 1990. Newtown has preexisting stock that could qualify, and should be counted,” he said.

For example, Sen Hwang said senior housing only receives half a point, while he contends it should get full weight.

“We need protections from the sort of predatory development tactics [seeking] to build things wholly inconsistent with the nature or character of the community,” he said. “I’m working to create equity between senior and affordable housing stock.”

More Local Input

Sen Hwang also wants to see more local input considered when communities are “battling 8-30g proposed developments.” And he wants the statute to factor and reflect the entire community when affordable housing ratios are being tallied, as well as towns’ strategies to eventually make more affordable housing available.

“I’m not saying 8-30g is bad, but it’s being exploited by certain developers because it doesn’t mandate consideration of the character of some of these communities involved,” he said. “I believe people can embrace affordable or workforce housing; they just don’t want to be forced to accept predatory developments that don’t reflect their community’s character.”

In his testimony, Mr Benson pointed out that for local zoning, most towns deduct for areas of wetland, steep slopes and flood plains, which are not mandatory under 8-30g.

“This exclusion is a deviation from longstanding land use and environmental policies that apply to every other development in the towns,” the local land use official said in his prepared statement.

“Newtown has affordable housing that is not deed restricted and therefore, not included in state calculations including three trailer parks, accessory apartments, and approximately 16 percent of the residential one-family housing stock is under $200,000,” Mr Benson told the Housing Committee. “The town should receive some credit for this low-cost housing stock that is not currently deed restricted and currently not included in the ten percent calculation.”

Rep Bolinsky’s proposal, HB 5576, would mandate the aforementioned full point consideration for all senior housing. He said allowing for this would go far toward preserving communities’ senior populations who may otherwise be priced out of their home town housing markets.

Newtown resident Mary Burnham submitted testimony saying communities, such as Newtown, are intruded upon by the misuse of regulations whose original intent was honorable and purposeful in its desire to increase affordability in housing.

“The 8-30g regulations do not at this time provide for exceptions relative to senior housing or mobile homeownership which clearly meet affordability standards in our community. By including deed restrictive language in the regulation prohibits communities from accurately counting the number of homes that meet affordability criteria,” she wrote in her testimony. “It is essential that we work with local communities to address affordable housing needs in our towns, but it must be done in a fair and just manner whereby communities will be able to protect the character of their neighborhoods and quality of life.”

Democratic Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey responded to a request for comment on the hearing, saying, “I am open to a compromise, as long any changes maintain the spirit of 8-30g and make sense for our communities. One area we should be looking at is encouraging more housing along existing transit systems and planned infrastructure improvements.”    

(Andrew Gorosko contributed to this report.)