Connecticut's state legislators and local zoning advocates are getting ready for a fight over affordable housing in the 2025 session.
Affordable housing advocates have long said the state is facing a crisis — Gov. Ned Lamont recently said the state needs around 100,000 more affordable units.
One decades-old law to address the problem is called 8-30g — it lets land developers bypass some zoning restrictions in towns with less than 10% of housing stock deemed “affordable,” among other things aimed at increasing the amount of affordable units in the state’s less-populated municipalities.
That law and how it is used were among advocates' top concerns on a legislative priorities call on Monday night with CT169Strong, a local zoning advocacy group.
Speakers ranging from state senators to concerned citizens said the law could lead to the overpopulation of communities and loss of open space.
State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich), whose district has been at the forefront of 8-30g opposition efforts, was one of the speakers.
Fazio said he's in favor of a different approach. He said 8-30g is an attempt at a one-size-fits-all solution — and the problem is more complicated than that.
“There is a much wiser and more prudent way to go about this,” Fazio said. “This session I think we might even propose, more than ever, a positive route to creating housing affordability than ever before.”
That sentiment was echoed by state Senator Jeff Gordon (R-Tolland).
“What may work in Fairfield County may be very different in Windham County, where, if you talk about affordable housing, we don't have really much in the way of sewer, we don't really have much in the way of public water, lots of jobs, or public transportation,” Gordon said. “So that's why we need to really think of things, not a cookie cutter, all-in-one type of approach.”
At the beginning of last session, Senate Democrat leaders, who have supported 8-30g, accused some municipalities of slow-rolling infrastructure upgrades to avoid building affordable housing.
The 2025 legislative session begins on Jan. 8.
