FAIRFIELD — More than 150 people have signed a petition to repeal state statute 8-30g and stop an affordable housing development proposed for Unquowa Road.
As of Friday afternoon, approximately 200 people had signed the petition, which says the “state needs to scrap the 8-30g state statute and replace it with a program that helps towns build their own affordable housing, and allows our organic, affordable middle housing to be included in the state’s metrics.”
The creators of the petition, former state Rep. Brian Farnen and Michael Grant, are Republicans running for Connecticut Assembly positions in the 132nd District and 133rd District, respectively.
Of the Unquowa Road proposal, which aims to build a 63-unit, multi-family development on Unquowa Road, the petition said it would “exacerbate existing traffic, pedestrian safety, and flooding concerns in the downtown” if built as currently planned.
“Working in the best interest of the town and protecting the historic charm of our downtown should not be a partisan issue. We need legislators that will represent our residents and not sit on the sidelines,” it says. “Session after session, it is the Democratic leadership in Hartford that has refused to address or amend the shortcomings of 8-30g, which cannot make CT affordable.”
State statute 8-30g allows developers to bypass municipal laws and regulations as long as a certain percentage of the project is affordable housing. Of the 63 units in the Unquowa development, 19 would be restricted as affordable.
The petition calls for residents to let their current state representatives, Jennifer Leeper, in the 132nd District, and Cristin McCarthy Vahey, in the 133rd, “know that enough is enough.”
McCarthy Vahey said she has been clear that she does not support the Unquowa proposal. Being campaign season, she said, it is a time for the community to talk about what they want and how to move forward with those goals.
McCarthy Vahey said 8-30g is a law that was enacted more than 30 years ago, and its most recent changes came in 2017 with her support and that of the Fairfield delegation. Those changes allowed communities to get more points in the affordable housing system, so that towns could get closer to reaching moratorium status.
“So that we could more proactively address what we want to do, and we are very close to that moratorium,” she said. “I have said for many years, and I think many people agree, that 8-30g is a blunt instrument.”
Leeper said the idea that she has not been a leading voice for a more measured and reasonable approach to affordable housing is absurd. She noted she co-chairs a main street working group in the Capitol where they work with municipalities for historic restoration, preservation and reasonable development in main street corridors.
Moreover, Leeper said, she was the first co-sponsor of the only bill concerning 8-30g in the housing committee this past session. The bill would have resulted in a study of 8-30g and its effects to look for ways to improve it.
“Even if it were possible to repeal 8-30g, that wouldn’t happen today and it’s not a relevant strategy to help the community and the town navigate (the Unquowa) proposal,” she said. “I already put out a statement against (that proposal).”
Residents who also oppose the proposal, Leeper said, can reach out to commissioners on the Town Plan and Zoning Commission.
Christopher Smith, the attorney for developer 15 Unquowa Road, LLC, said in a recent TPZ meeting that the application aligns with Fairfield’s affordable housing plan, citing aspects of the plan’s goals such as providing diverse housing stock for a wide variety of people, promoting walkability and transit-oriented development, as well as helping retain existing businesses and attract new ones.
According to town documents, the 20,610-square-foot property would be the site of a 66,140-square-foot apartment building that would offer 16 studio, four one-bedroom and 43 two-bedroom units.
In that hearing, members of the Town Plan and Zoning Commission focused on the development’s impact on sewers, drainage and groundwater, as well as the text amendment during a public hearing on Tuesday. The meeting was adjourned after a long, unfinished presentation and questioning from the commission, and will be continued June 28.
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June 26, 2022 at 05:06PM
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Petition seeks to stop Fairfield affordable development on Unquowa - CT Insider
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