Date: Fri 01-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-affordable-housing-rules

Full Text:

P&Z Considers Changes To Affordable Housing Rules

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The Planning and Zoning Commission is proposing revisions to its zoning

regulations on affordable housing that are intended to decrease the intensity

of development at affordable housing complexes.

The four proposed rule changes would: reduce the number of housing units

allowed per acre; cut the number of overall units allowed in a development;

reduce the number of units allowed per building; and cut the size of buildings

which hold multiple housing units.

P&Z members have scheduled a public hearing on the proposed affordable housing

rule changes for Thursday, November 14, at 8 pm at the Town Hall South

conference room, 3 Main Street.

In recent weeks, P&Z members have been reviewing the proposed rule changes.

The proposed changes would serve to reduce the "lot coverage" of affordable

housing developments by reducing the maximum allowable construction density.

The proposed changes would cut the maximum affordable housing construction

density to four housing units per acre from the current six units per acre.

For example, an affordable housing complex set on 15 buildable acres which now

would be allowed to hold up to 90 housing units, would be allowed a maximum of

60 units under the proposed rule changes.

The proposed revisions call for a maximum of number of dwellings within an

affordable housing complex to be limited to 100 dwellings, compared to the

current maximum of 200 units.

Also, the proposed revisions would reduce the number of dwellings allowed

within a single building, cutting the currently allowed five units per

building to four units.

The P&Z also proposes reducing the length of buildings which contain

dwellings. The currently allowed 180-foot building length would be reduced to

120 feet.

In effect, if the rules are approved they would: cut the construction density

in affordable housing developments by one-third; reduce the maximum number of

units allowed by one-half; cut the number of dwellings allowed within a

building by 20 percent; and reduce the length of buildings containing multiple

units by one-third.

The P&Z's proposals come amid a public outcry that the town is being

residentially overdeveloped.

Since last spring, neighborhood groups concerned about the pace of residential

development, operating under the umbrella group known as the Newtown

Neighborhoods Coalition, have called for a moratorium on residential growth so

the town can rewrite its residential development rules.

P&Z members, however, have decided against enacting a moratorium, questioning

its legality.

Coalition members recently submitted for P&Z review a set of proposed land use

rule changes designed to make it harder to build homes. These include

proposals to: increase minimum house lot sizes in three different types of

residential zones; improve the quality of open space land which developers

donate to the town; reduce the number of houses allowed on dead end streets;

and make it much more difficult to develop rear-lot properties.

So far, the town has only approved one affordable housing project. In

September, the P&Z approved the construction of two affordable houses on Philo

Curtis Road in Sandy Hook. A neighbor unhappy with the project has sued the

P&Z and Habitat for Humanity over the approval.

Also, an affordable housing project is pending before the Conservation

Commission. The developers of Newtown Village want to build 100 houses on 32

acres in Sandy Hook near Newtown High School. Twenty-five of those houses

would be designated as "affordable."

The P&Z is expected to receive a development application for Newtown Village

from the developers in the coming weeks.