Towns struggle to build low-cost housing
State offers school funding incentives
Danbury-area towns could reap millions for future school construction projects if legislation before the General Assembly to expand affordable housing becomes law. Several proposed bills seek to raise the state’s contribution to school projects by 10 percent or 20 percent if a community increases its affordable housing stock to 10 percent of all housing.
The only problem: None of the towns in the region — New Milford, Brookfield, Bethel nor New Fairfield — meet that 10 percent threshold.
State Rep. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said he’s not opposed to incentives to increase affordable housing — as long as they are not mandates.
“I have not read the bill to see the exact proposal, but as long as the law doesn’t penalize communities, I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Harding said.
Still, Harding said many of the affordable housing bills under consideration by the
legislature offer more sticks than carrots, pointing out some would impose additional taxes on communities that don’t meet the 10 percent threshold.
“A lot of these bills that are essentially penalties,” Harding said.
Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said incentive bills are frustrating.
“Those things irritate the hell out of me,” Knickerbocker said.
“I’m a fan of affordable housing,” Knickerbocker explained. “The town of Bethel has bent over backwards and we mathematically can’t get to 10 percent. We don’t have enough buildable land.”
Advocates say different approaches are required to spur towns to allow more affordable housing.
“Equitable housing opportunities and educational opportunity go hand-inhand yet finding the two operating in concert in Connecticut’s communities is rare,” said Ray Rossomando, director of policy and research for the Connecticut Education Association.
“We believe that such innovative approaches can make great progress toward building stronger, more diverse communities that ensure more equitable opportunities,” Rossomando said.
Offering incentives
The legislature this year is considering more than a dozen affordable housing bills, including offering extra funding in exchange for more low-to-moderate income housing.
One bill would increase school construction grants by 20 percent if a town’s housing stock is at least 10 percent affordable. School construction projects, sometimes costing tens of millions of dollars, are often partially reimbursed by the state on a sliding scale.
State Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, sponsored a bill that increases school construction aid by 10 percent if communities adopt “inclusive” zoning regulations and show that affordable housing represents at least one percent of all housing built over the previous three years.
“This proposal seeks to provide another incentive for communities to adjust their zoning laws to increase the availability of affordable housing,” Rojas said during a recent public hearing.
Towns in the Danbury region and across the state are far from meeting the 10 percent threshold. Of the state’s 169 towns and cities, only 31 meet or exceed the threshold.
New Fairfield’s housing stock is 1.5 percent affordable; Brookfield is 5.6 percent; Bethel 5.7 percent; New Milford, 4.6 percent; and Danbury 11.9 percent, according to 2019 calculations by the state Department of Housing.
Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn said he favors incentives to build affordable housing.
“I’m not in favor of regulating how we do building in town,” Dunn said. “If they want to give a carrot that’s fine. We are building our affordable housing; it’s growing and it’s going well.”
Dunn complained that current state law overrides local zoning rules, noting that’s why the town obtained a moratorium from the state for affordable housing.
State law stipulates that communities must allow affordable or mixed-income housing unless they can prove rejection protects public health and safety. At least 30 percent of the units must be affordable to low and moderate-income residents.
Brookfield’s moratorium, in place since 2017, expires July 25. The moratorium essentially forces developers to follow town zoning rules.
“The reason we wanted a moratorium is state law allows a developer to go anywhere,” Dunn said. “We want to allow affordable housing where it makes sense, around the corridor and our downtown.”
New Fairfield First Selectwoman Pat Del Monaco did not return calls seeking comment on the bills.
Bills offering extra school construction money when a town reaches the 10 percent affordable housing threshold would save taxpayers considerable money.
For example, New Fairfield and Bethel would have saved more than $12 million each on school projects now underway, and Brookfield about $13.2 million, if the bill offering a 20 percent increase in in school construction money was in place when those projects began several years ago.
No easy solutions
Knickerbocker said Bethel created its own incentives, such as inclusion zones, to spur affordable housing. But a variety of factors — ranging from a lack of buildable land to areas without sewer and water connections — prevent the town from reaching the 10 percent threshold for state incentives.
“Bethel is a very affordable town,” Knickerbocker said.
“We have a village overlay zone that targets affordable housing and we get left out on these,” Knickerbocker said. “We have neighborhoods that are excluded from the [state affordable housing] formula. This is not a carrot; it’s a stick blaming towns for not doing it. We can’t get there.”
Dunn said developing affordable housing is a slow process.
“You can’t get to 10 percent overnight,” Dunn noted. “We couldn’t absorb that many units; it would take a few years.”
Harding points to reasons why towns such as Brookfield, Bethel and New Fairfield have low affordable housing counts.
“If putting up an apartment building, you need a connection to water and sewer lines,” Harding pointed out. “You can’t do it with private septic. Some of the more rural areas — even Brookfield — have few water and sewer lines.”
Space is also a factor, he added, noting land is at a premium in most towns.
“It’s not that [affordable housing] is not popular,” Harding said. “I appreciate the value of affordable housing, providing an opportunity to continue to reside in these communities.”