Rep. O’Dea Proposes One Simple Fix to 8-30g
Posted on March 6, 2024
On Tuesday, I testified before the Housing Committee to join a discussion on amending Connecticut’s affordable housing statute 8-30g. This longstanding regulation opens the door for developers to bring municipalities to court over proposals to build affordable units. The result, after almost 40 years, is that it has failed to increase the affordable housing stock in lower Fairfield County.
Towns like New Canaan and Darien are restrained from meeting the statutory requirement of 10% deed-restricted affordable units, opening them to constant litigation and a negative reputation among housing advocates and lawmakers.
New Canaan was one of the first municipalities to establish a “building fee” to generate a local fund to support affordable housing projects.
When New Canaan applied for a second moratorium on 8-30g compliance, after its first was approved citing more than the requisite rate of affordable units, it was rejected – and we believe unfairly. We were told that the additional affordable units that were constructed at the time of the first moratorium do not count towards a subsequent one. This is the state punishing New Canaan for building more affordable housing than was needed to qualify for our initial moratorium.
This is why I proposed a simple amendment to 8-30g to clarify the qualifications for a moratorium.
By adding this clarifying language, a town like New Canaan would have stronger footing in the affordable housing appeals process by creating a more encouraging environment for municipalities to make serious investments in their local affordable housing stock.
Read: Canaan Parish Opens 100 Affordable Units in New Canaan (July 2023)
I have spent hours in recent years touring New Canaan with legislative leaders and Governor Lamont to showcase the affordable housing landscape – what has worked, what cannot work, and what can be improved.
This proposal and others of mine have received some bipartisan support, but it remains an uphill battle to make meaningful changes to this statute, which has not successfully incentivized any new affordable housing in New Canaan and Darien.