Opinion: Let’s build a Stamford for everyone
A recent change to the zoning ordinances, 221-20, allows the construction of low density housing on underutilized commercial properties. This modest and sensible change to Stamford’s zoning ordinances has been met with a great deal of opposition.These modest changes are coming amid an immense national and regional housing shortage.
This zoning change applies to five small regions of land scattered around the city, so zoned C-D Districts. In general, these tracts of land are next to other single family housing locations and are south of the Merritt Parkway. Traditionally, these C-D districts have been used as commercial office parks but according to the city’s assessment these sites are being underutilized, and, in some cases, lie completely vacant. Therefore, the city has proposed allowing the construction of some residential units on these locations, up to a maximum of 14 units per acre.
Let’s consider what 14 units per acre looks like. Is it out of character with other low-density areas of the city? 14 units per acre works out to about 3,100 square feet per unit, which could look like a two-story, 2,400 square foot home with a small backyard suitable for a grill, a nice patio set, and maybe even a horseshoe pit. You could easily find other similar single-family homes in the city limits: This isn’t even the density of a set of row homes.
It is true that more people living in the C-D districts would increase traffic. The C-D districts tend to be far from the downtown urban core and since we have poor bike/walkability/mass transit infrastructure that almost guarantees the need for a car. However, continuing to under supply housing is no solution. Job creation requires new workers and new workers require a place to live. Forcing people to live far away from their work also creates traffic and lengthens commuting times. We could address this problem by improving our alternative transit infrastructure and more efficiently using the land we have available.
There is a lot of concern over the overburden of public services: overcrowding of schools, increase in the cost of city services, infrastructure wear and tear. This fundamentally misunderstands the advantages of cities. As population size increases, the total amount of public services used increases but the cost to administer those services per person will decrease. Bus service is an excellent example of this. A sparse ridership equates to infrequent and slow service with a poor coverage map. As ridership increases it allows for more frequent service and the inclusion of more specialized routes. Fares and taxes are spread out over more people, reducing the
Any change in population, especially the way we have built our communities to be car centric, necessitates an increase in traffic and will additionally increase the use of public services. Never building new housing is not sustainable for a community. A better solution is to reconsider our land use choices and to use the available spaces more efficiently
per person burden on citizens to maintain an expanded bus service. In this way more neighbors can both decrease cost and improve the administration of public services.
Beyond pointing out that public services generally scale with population it is important to note that concerns over increased traffic or more people using public services are arguments to never build housing anywhere. Any change in population, especially the way we have built our communities to be car centric, necessitates an increase in traffic and will additionally increase the use of public services. Never building new housing is not sustainable for a community. A better solution is to reconsider our land use choices and to use the available spaces more efficiently. If these detached single-family homes on small plots are unacceptable forms of housing, what is acceptable? If an underutilized office park is an inappropriate location for housing, where in this city can housing possibly be built?
The greater New York City region, which includes Stamford, continues to be a powerhouse for job growth. People want to move to our area and to start their families here. These are good things. Our community should embrace the challenges known to all growing cities and should be welcoming to everyone. I truly love living in Stamford, and I only wish for others to have that opportunity. The only way I know how to provide that opportunity is to make better, more efficient use of the land we have available, which is exactly what this modest zoning change accomplishes.
If you would like to get involved, you can look up your local representative and their contact information using this tool. A Board of Representatives meeting discussing this issue will be held over Zoom on Feb. 7 and links to the meeting can be found at http://www.boardofreps.org/ .