To The Editor:

Newtown residents, I urge you to join me in calling on Governor Ned Lamont to veto HB-8002, a sweeping housing bill that represents one of the most serious assaults on local control in our state’s history.

HB-8002 would effectively strip Newtown of our longstanding authority to shape zoning and land-use decisions that reflect our unique character, infrastructure capacity, and voter-approved plans. Under the guise of addressing housing, this legislation, which is being pushed by the Democrat majority, creates multiple “as-of-right” pathways that allow developers to bypass local zoning boards and planning commissions. Major multi-family developments could be approved by a single appointed official, bypassing the usual public hearings and eliminating opportunities for community input.

This is no reform; it’s a takeover by the state. For generations, Connecticut has entrusted home-rule powers to municipalities so that the people closest to the issues — neighbors who live with the traffic and overburdened water and sewer systems — can make the decisions that are best for their communities. HB-8002 dismantles that principle. It overrides local plans of conservation and development and forces density in neighborhoods that cannot support it.

Proponents claim the bill is voluntary, yet its work-arounds and transit-oriented mandates make refusal nearly impossible for most communities. The result will be a one-size-fits-all approach dictated from Hartford, eroding the very local control that makes Connecticut’s towns and cities diverse and livable.

I hope there’s still time to email Governor Lamont by the time you read this. Urge him to Veto HB-8002 (as he did with HB-5002) and send a clear message that the state will not trample municipal authority to advance a flawed, top-down agenda. Email him today! governor.lamont@ct.gov.

Michelle Buzzi

Newtown