CTNewsJunkie | By: Jamil Ragland
HARTFORD, CT – The General Assembly’s Housing Committee heard testimony Thursday on several bills including legislation that would provide towns with what could effectively lead to an exemption from affordable housing requirements.
House Bill 5365, introduced by House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, would exempt municipalities containing aquifer protection areas from the appeals procedure that is part of the state’s 8-30g affordable housing law. Currently, only towns that have met the 10% threshold of affordable housing units are exempt from the appeals procedure that can see developers build affordable units in a municipality without the town’s consent.
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“This bill is not about protecting aquifers. Rather, it is about exempting towns from their responsibilities under the Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure (Section 8-30g), even though the towns fail to meet the exemption standard,” said Sean Ghio, policy director for the Partnership for Strong Communities, in written testimony. “It is difficult to understand why the bill singles out affordable housing developments as singularly dangerous to our water supply while excluding other types of housing including market-rate multi-family and single-family developments.”
Ghio continued: “Section 8-30g applies to both types of housing developments. Single-family developments can be and have been Section 8-30g developments. What makes an affordable housing development, whether single-family detached homes or multifamily homes, a greater danger to our water supply than the same development without affordability restrictions?”