Study To Target Ways To Foster Affordable Housing

By Andrew Gorosko

A planned state-funded study focused on increasing the local stock of “affordable housing” will address “a definite need” for such dwellings, according to the chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

P&Z Chair Lilla Dean said this week that state officials have advised all municipalities in Connecticut that at least ten percent of their housing stock should be designated as deed-restricted affordable housing intended for low-income and moderate-income families.

Under the state’s definition of affordable housing, less than one percent of Newtown’s housing stock is considered affordable housing, Ms Dean said. The state’s definition requires that such housing have long-term deed restrictions placed on it to keep such dwellings “affordable” in the context of the regional real estate market.

While in practical terms some local housing, such as mobile homes and accessory apartments, may be “affordable,” because those dwellings are not deed-restricted in terms of affordability, they do not meet the state’s definition of affordable housing, Ms Dean said.

Local dwellings that meet the state criteria as affordable housing include some units at Riverview Condominiums on Bryan Lane, and also two houses on Philo Curtis Road, which were built by Habitat for Humanity, she said. Of the 49 dwellings at Riverview Condominiums, 13 units are classified as affordable housing.

In January, the P&Z approved local developer Michael Burton’s planned River Walk condominium complex on Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook Center where eight units of the 24 units will be designated as affordable housing.

 In contrast, in 2007, the P&Z rejected a Danbury developer’s application for Edona Commons, a 26-unit condo complex proposed for Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center where eight dwellings would be designated as affordable housing. In rejecting that proposal, P&Z members cited a variety of physical constraints at the site as reasons for turning down the application.

After that rejection, developer Guri Dauti appealed the matter in court under the terms of the state’s Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Act. That law provides developers with legal leverage in gaining approval for affordable housing complexes.

That appeal is pending in New Britain Superior Court. Mr Dauti also has appealed the Water & Sewer Authority’s (WSA) 2007 rejection of his application for sanitary sewer service.

Local Need

Ms Dean noted that there is a definite local need for affordable housing. “It’s a multilayered, multifaceted problem,” she said.

“People who grew up here can no longer afford to live here,” she observed.

Those people, often in their mid-20s need to leave town and live elsewhere where living costs are more affordable than in Newtown, she said. When young adults leave town, it hurts the local workforce, as well as diminishes local buying power, she said.

Some of those who leave town relocate to the White Plains, N.Y., area, while others relocate to Danbury, Southbury, New Milford, Waterbury, and the Naugatuck River Valley, she said.

Ms Dean said it is unclear what effects the current economic hard times are having on young adults leaving Newtown to find affordable housing elsewhere.

“I think that we really better make a ‘good faith’ effort to create as much [affordable housing] as we can,” she said, adding that unless the town pursues such a goal, state officials could impose affordable housing complexes on the town.

Ms Dean said the P&Z’s recent approval of the River Walk condo complex gives the town credibility in terms of allowing affordable housing to be constructed locally.

The River Walk proposal met the terms of the P&Z’s existing regulations on affordable housing.

The Edona Commons proposal, however, did not meet those regulations and its developer sought to revise the rules to allow his project to be built. The developer’s proposed rule changes would have allowed a much more densely built project than the P&Z would allow under its rules, resulting in the project’s rejection.

Although the P&Z will soon receive a $50,000 state grant to study increasing the local stock of affordable housing, Ms Dean said the town’s pending study would not reduce the state’s pressure on the town to increase such housing.

Ms Dean said she hopes the planning consultants who perform the study will show the town how best to increase the local stock of such dwellings. Those consultants also will address the issue of public transportation as it affects affordable housing, she said.

The P&Z would hold a public meeting to discuss the housing study. The project will produce a planning document, as well as some model regulations on affordable housing, she added.

George Benson, the town land use agency director, said this week that Harrall-Michalowski Associates (HMA), a Branford planning and development consultancy, will perform the housing study for the town. The study must be completed by the end of June. The firm will start work as soon as possible, Mr Benson said.

HMA is expected to do at least 60 percent of the project, with other firms performing the remainder, he said. Other aspects of the study include legal research and financial analysis.

Of the planned study, Mr Benson said, “I think it shows that we’re trying…We’re moving in the right direction” in terms of increasing the local stock of affordable housing.

Much of the need for affordable housing stems from people who are starting their lives as young adults who need an affordable place to live, he said. Public employees represent some of the demand for such housing, he said. Also, some people, as they age, want to live in smaller quarters, reflecting some of the demand for such dwellings, he said.

“I think there’s a demand for it,” Mr Benson said.

Mr Benson said that the town would not be bound by any of the recommendations that the consultants make in the housing study.

At a March 5 P&Z session, Ms Dean said that after the affordable housing study is completed, the P&Z could seek out developers and builders who would be inclined to construct such complexes.

At that meeting, Mr Benson said that developers are now disposed to construct affordable housing complexes because the demand has dropped for other forms of housing, such as age-restricted dwellings for people at least age 55.

A key part of the planned housing study is identifying geographical areas in town that would be best suited for affordable housing complexes.

In a typical affordable housing complex, a land use regulatory agency offers a developer a “density bonus” as an incentive to create affordable housing which is intended for moderate-income and low-income families.

Such a density bonus allows the developer to build a larger number of dwellings than would be normally allowed at a site, provided that a significant fraction of the units are designated for moderate-income and low-income families and are sold at prices significantly lower than the market rate for such dwellings. The higher prices of the market-rate units on the site subsidize the affordable units.

On the topic of affordable housing, the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development states that the town lacks an adequate supply of housing for a broad spectrum of ages and incomes. Also, many people who work in town do not have an opportunity to live in the town where they work, it adds.

“Due to the lack of affordable housing, some Newtown residents will not continue to reside in town, as their personal circumstances, incomes, and housing needs change over time,” it adds.

A goal of the 2004 Town Plan is to: “Strive for a more balanced supply of housing types that will accommodate the housing needs of Newtown residents and those working in Newtown.”