CT Mirror | By: Ginny Monk
A forum on affordable housing with a couple of state House Democratic leaders turned into a discussion Monday about the complicated political realities surrounding major housing reforms.
Experts have tied much of the state’s lack of affordable housing to restrictive local zoning that makes it hard to build multi-family developments on most of Connecticut’s residential land.
Housing advocates have argued that towns have had ample time to remedy this problem, and that the state needs to step in with widespread zoning reform. Meanwhile, opponents to reform say such a measure would dilute local control. The state’s Democrats are split on the issue, while most Republicans argue for local control over zoning.
House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, and Planning and Development Committee co-chair Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, spoke Monday about the issue in Hartford at a Partnership for Strong Communities forum.