HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – As rising costs and limited supply continue to make it difficult for Connecticut residents to find quality affordable housing, there is a law meant to help.

Act 8-30g, created decades ago, was intended to encourage the construction of affordable housing in communities that don’t have much of it.

WHAT IS AFFORDABLE HOUSING?

When you hear the term affordable housing: what do you think of? Who are you thinking of?

James Paley, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, says the answer isn’t always reality.

“The whole term ‘affordable housing’ is stigmatized. People make unwarranted assumptions,” says Paley. “They think affordable housing is just delegated to low-income families and that’s not the case.”

Let’s do some calculations. In Connecticut, affordable housing is defined as housing that costs less than 30 percent of a household’s income, and a household cannot earn more than 80 percent of the city or town median income.

In 2024, the statewide median income for a single person is about $91,000, meaning a single person earning $73,000 can qualify for affordable housing in many areas.

“City workers, firefighters, police officers, teachers, all these people are not in the mindset of people, low income, but they are struggling,” Paley said.

Tim Hollister is a land use planning attorney nationally recognized for his work in workforce and affordable housing development. He says when it comes to affordable housing in Connecticut, he would rate the state a 2 to 3. “We’re not the worst, but we’re far from the best,” Hollister says.

In 2021, the state legislature passed a law requiring each of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities to develop an affordable housing plan by mid-2022.

Hollister co-chaired the affordable housing plans task force that reviewed them.

A list of their recommendations can be found HERE.

“Not all, but the vast majority of plans recognize the need and come up with very broad generalizations about things they might do in the future, but very little detail and in most cases no specific locations or any specific regulatory change to be made to accommodate more units,” explains Hollister.

To reduce housing costs, Hollister says we need 90,000 to 170,000 spaces for low- and moderate-income residents. But housing projects can be turned down for all sorts of reasons, including traffic, public safety, wastewater, and Hollister believes it’s not always in good faith. He says zoning requests are always denied for vague and insubstantial reasons? ” All the time. That’s why we have between 8 and 30 g,” explains Hollister.

WHAT IS 8-30 G?

To be considered an 8-30g project, developers must set aside at least 30% of the proposed project – no matter how affordable – for at least 40 years. If this plan is refused, they can appeal the decision in court, and the authorities must prove that they refused the application for health or safety reasons.

Some say 8-30g has led to the construction of thousands of homes that otherwise wouldn’t exist, while others criticize the law saying it removes local control.

“I think there are some changes that need to be made to the 8-30g,” says Betsy Gara, executive director of the CT Council of Small Towns.

She says many cities are concerned about quantities of 8 to 30 g. “This is a concern because local municipalities do not have the capacity to really weigh in on how the proposal will impact environmentally sensitive lands, watershed lands or issues related to wastewater or water capacity.”

In 2021, the state passed a law that said zoning commissions could no longer deny a project based on “preserving the character of their city.” But Gara says there are many legitimate reasons why projects are turned down. “I know that city leaders feel that this is a way to circumvent or circumvent a lot of the environmental protections that are in place, which creates some problems,” Gara says.

Sean Ghio, political director at Partnership for strong communities does not agree. He says 8-30g doesn’t allow developers to ignore wetland, fire or sewer concerns.

“It’s not true that a developer can do whatever they want just by waving a flag that says 8-30g,” says Ghio. “The onus is on the city to demonstrate that there are health and safety needs that exceed the need for affordable housing in this community. »

Brian O’Connor with the CT Municipal Conference says he thinks cities and developers have learned to work better together over the past two years and hopes those relationships continue to improve.

“I think it’s part of the conversation that needs to happen and I think if you have two willing parties, both the municipalities and the developer, you can resolve a lot of these issues,” O’Connor says. “I think if you look at some projects recently, there was pushback, but maybe they came back, scaled it back a little bit to make it work.”

“Housing requires land, financing, people willing to live there and government permits,” says Hollister. “If you can’t get permits from the government, the rest doesn’t make any difference. »

It’s hard to say how many 8-30g projects exist in Connecticut, no state agency tracks this number, but reports indicate that about 75% of appeals tend to be approved.

FRIDAY:

What are the solutions to this affordable housing crisis? Advocates, developers, legislators, you all have ideas. Tomorrow we explore them.

THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM SERIES:

All week, the I-Team looks at Connecticut’s affordable housing crisis and why thousands of people say they can’t find affordable housing.

First part: On Monday, we looked at why many are unable to find affordable housing and what financial resources are available.

Second part: On Tuesday, we looked at home prices, wondering why they keep rising and what’s stopping construction.

Third part: On Wednesday, we explored the role of local zoning laws in the crisis

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