House Passes Bill to Expand State Mandates Over Local Zoning
This article was archived from the previous WordPress site. Formatting and media should be close, but may not match the original post perfectly.
My biggest concern about HB 6107 is how it will impact government at the local level here in Ashford, Tolland and Willington. Land use regulations are built quite literally from the ground up with a focus on the constraints and needs of all residents in a given community. We elect and rely on dedicated and qualified Planning and Zoning (P&Z) board members to understand and articulate the economic, social and environmental impact that make those regulations necessary.
They live here, they own homes here, many raised children here, and I trust that they know what is in the best interest of their neighbors.
My line of questioning focused on a provision of the bill which would require that all zoning codes in every town in Connecticut no longer deny the construction of accessory dwelling units or set specific per-unit parking requirements. Instead of towns going through a public hearing process on their own to approve those changes, they are being told by the state that they will go into effect automatically, and communities would only be allowed to ‘opt-out’ after the fact. This could be done by a two-thirds vote of the P&Z and town legislative body (either the Board of Selectmen or Town Council, as the case may be).
Selectmen or Town Council members will now have to weigh in on matters that may have been outside of their range of expertise, while Planning and Zoning members are now seeing their responsibilities usurped by the state government.
This is a significant state intervention in every small and large town in this state, and I could not support it.