On 8-30g Affordable Housing
To The Editor:
37 units on Riverside, work in progress.
166 units Taunton Woods Rte 25, work in progress.
67 units Exit 9, Mt Pleasant, P&Z reviewing application.
300 units on Mt Pleasant, P&Z reviewing application.
Winn Managements developing 169 units at Fairfield Hills. Currently working on a contract with the town.
Now that the Aquarion’s issue is resolved and can issue “will serve” notices, Vessel Technologies is back with their plans for 136 units behind the high school! There will be no stopping that project given the cudgel of CT Gen Stat § 8-30g. Just look to Bethel’s plight with Vessel’s invasion of New York developers who don’t care about small town charm. Look at their proposal for Newtown! It is ridiculous.
Should all these projects be developed they will total 872 units. This rapid growth will strain infrastructure, water sewer, public services, fire and ambulance are volunteer based, schools, and add to the ever-increasing traffic in town.
CT Gen Stat § 8-30g intention to provide “affordable housing” while the intent may be noble is going to destroy this town. I recognize change is going to occur; however, these projects will have negative consequences. Newtown is undergoing an expansion unlike anything I have seen in my thirty-three years in town. It will never be the same.
Bruce Bomely
Sandy Hook
Bruce’s letter paints a picture of runaway development, but the real story is the collapse of local cooperation — not the rise of §8-30g. That law has been on the books since 1990. For decades, towns and developers worked together to shape projects that made sense: added sidewalks, deeper setbacks, fewer units — genuine compromise.
What’s changed isn’t the law, it’s the politics. A loud social media mob has made any compromise politically toxic. The “no growth” crowd demands nothing be built anywhere, ever, and bullies anyone who suggests otherwise. Planning and zoning boards no longer negotiate; they hunker down, hoping to appease the Facebook comment section.
But here’s the irony — when compromise dies, developers stop compromising too. Once a project triggers §8-30g, the town can fight it, but state law ensures the developer will eventually win. So instead of working out a reasonable design, everyone heads to court. The developer doubles the unit count to pay for the lawyers, and the town burns taxpayer money trying to lose more slowly.
That’s how we end up with the very projects the NIMBY mob fears — because they made reasonable development impossible.
If people truly care about Newtown’s character, they need to stop the performative outrage and start engaging in real planning again. Screaming “no” to everything isn’t preservation — it’s self-sabotage.