Members of a Connecticut legislative panel tackling the state’s affordable housing crisis are considering whether to continue to require that cities and towns have 10% of their housing stock be affordable.
Some towns want a moratorium on Connecticut’s 8-30g law, enacted in 1989, that allows developers to challenge zoning regulations in towns where less than 10% of the housing stock is considered affordable.
“Towns can’t afford to litigate these things anymore. They can’t afford the time and money in court fighting developers who use this statute as a sword and a shield,” said Rep. Joe Zullo (R-East Haven), a member of the Affordable Housing Roundtable, at a panel meeting on Wednesday.
Democrats on the panel responded that the cost of litigation is the reason towns should try to meet the 10% affordable housing requirement.
“The goal shouldn’t be to get a moratorium,” House Majority Leader Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford) said.
“The goal should be to build housing. And if you do build housing eventually, you will get to a moratorium. But many communities see the primary goal of getting that moratorium. And if they can’t get it knowing that there’s limited capacity to just build, is that 10% goal not achievable?” he said.
That’s the question his panel is seeking a public conversation on after an affordable housing bill that passed this year was vetoed by Governor Ned Lamont following opposition from several Fairfield County towns.
Rojas and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) held their first public conversation on affordable housing, hosted by Fairfield County Center for Housing Opportunity, Partnership for Strong Communities, and The Housing Collective at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
