Greenwich had decades to avoid housing meltdown

Greenwich is having a meltdown over 8-30g. This could have been avoided.

The Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Act, known as 8-30g, has been in effect for more than three decades. This market-driven approach to affordable housing was designed to break through exclusionary zoning barriers, especially in municipalities with little, if any affordable housing. Since taking effect July 1, 1990, it has produced thousands of affordable units throughout the state.

But until recently its Greenwich impact has been negligible. With very high Greenwich land costs and very low rents required for the affordable set aside units, there was little economic incentive for developers to use 8-30g in Greenwich. However, with Greenwich rental market rates now through the roof, these mixed income developments become more profitable, even with the required very low affordable rents.

With so many 8-30g developments on the horizon, Greenwich has taken sudden notice, ranting and raving about doing away with 8-30g. At the very least, these Greenwich voices insist, the definition of affordable housing must change to make Greenwich one of the municipalities — there are 31 — exempt from 8-30g. That new definition should include so-called “naturally occurring affordable housing,” they say. Translated, this means barely affordable market rate housing that will inevitably become unaffordable.

And, they also insist, the state should count as affordable nondeed restricted housing units such as those owned by private schools for their teachers and by country clubs for their employees.

How embarrassing to ask that the Legislature carve out a Greenwich exception based on Greenwich exclusivity!

A fair number of municipalities that already had significant amounts of affordable housing in 1989 were exempt from 8-30g from the get-go. The exemption threshold set at 10 percent of a municipality’s housing units was never intended as a mandate that every municipality should have that amount of affordable housing. Greenwich, with more affordable housing than many Connecticut communities, is currently at 5.35 percent. Greenwich would need just more than 1,200 additional affordable units to reach the exemption threshold.

It’s thanks to the Greenwich Housing Authority that the town has this much affordable housing. For three quarters of a century the Housing Authority, which is now Greenwich Communities, has been reliable in its efforts to meet affordable housing needs. Established in 1946 to provide housing for returning World War II veterans, the agency has in every subsequent decade added affordable units to Greenwich’s housing stock, most recently 18 units at its Armstrong Court property and 11 units at its Adams Garden property.

Greenwich Communities is in the process of rehabilitating its Armstrong Court buildings and plans 52 new senior units there, as well as 52 senior units at its McKinney Terrace property, and a complete redevelopment of its Quarry Knoll property to consist of at least 225 units.

We must, however, distinguish Greenwich Communities, which reliably produces affordable housing, from the town, which has a dismal track record.

Greenwich Communities’ current initiative to develop senior units at McKinney Terrace and redevelop Quarry Knoll was already a plan more than 15 years ago, but lacking town support it had to be shelved. The town, which has not always been supportive of the Housing Authority, has historically not done much to advance affordable housing.

On July 7, 1987 the state conveyed the former Cos Cob power plant property to the town, with the condition that 25 percent of the 9.7-acre site be for affordable housing. Ten years passed. No housing.

On July 8, 1997 the state gave the town permission to use the entire site for open space, on condition it provide equivalent housing elsewhere on or after Oct. 1, 1997. Thirteen years passed. No housing.

In 2010, moving ahead with Cos Cob Park, the town wriggled out of the state’s housing requirement with the deception that private, nonprofit special needs and congregate living facilities met the requirement despite the fact that this housing was not town-related, did not fulfill the legislative intent, and was never developed to meet this requirement.

That’s 23 years during which Greenwich might have produced enough affordable housing to be exempt from 8-30g.

While there may be constructive ways to improve upon 8-30g, and while Greenwich might approach exemption through a moratorium, this angry meltdown only reinforces the exclusionary image.