Westport is a state leader among suburban communities in addressing affordable housing.
The Representative Town Meeting may soon address the issue, through a fund to pay for land and development.
And Westport’s state representative “hopes for best, and expects the worst” as Hartford addresses the issue.
Those were 3 of the main takeaways from last night’s “Affordable Housing Needs and Solutions: What Westporters Should Know and How They Can Help” Zoom meeting.
A virtual audience of 100 people heard RTM moderator Jeff Wieser lead a panel of experts: State Senator Ceci Maher, State Representative Jonathan Steinberg, Planning & Zoning Commission chair Danielle Dobin, RTM Planning & Zoning Committee chair Matthew Mandell, and Westport Housing Authority chair David Newberg.
Maher called Westport “a leader (in) thinking, planning for and examining all housing options.”
Dobin noted that the town needs 1,040 deed-restricted affordable units to reach the state mandate of 10% of the housing stock. Counting units now being built or in the pipeline, she expressed confidence that we are on the way to meeting that threshold.
136 Riverside Avenue has been renovated, and now houses adults with disabilities. It is off-site affordable housing, part of the new Mill project, and an example of a creative approach to developing affordable units.
She cited the 5-Year Affordable Housing Plan, adopted last year (click here to read). Drafted to “proactively create affordable housing, in a way that fits with Westport’s New England village feel,” it includes ideas for building on town-owned land; collaborating on state-owned land, at sites like the Post Road near West Parish Road; developing “cottage clusters,” and establishing a trust fund to acquire land.
Over several decades, Newberg said, the Westport Housing Authority has invested $57 million in affordable housing. They operate 4 residential communities: Canal Park, Hales Court, Hidden Brook and Sasco Creek Village.
Among Westport’s affordable housing options: Sasco Creek Village.
Their biggest challenge is finding land to develop more. “If we built 221 more units, we could fill them tomorrow,” he said.
Some of the funding for that land could come from an Affordable Housing Fund. Mandell described various forms that could take, and a variety of revenue sources for it, such as conveyance taxes by buyers of residential property.
Steinberg spoke last, and was the least optimistic. He cited 2 bills pending in the General Assembly.
HB 6633 — the “Fair Share Bill,” which could result in the loss of local zoning — is “vindictive to communities like Westport,” the state legislator said.
HB 6890 — nicknamed “Work, Live Ride” — seeks to increase housing density near transit points. It too would override key local zoning considerations.
While other towns in Connecticut look to Westport as a model for proactivity and practical solutions, Steinberg said, he worries constantly what his colleagues representing large cities will do to the suburbs.
Affordable housing units are part of 1177 Post Road East. The project helped Westport earn a 4-year moratorium on 8-30g proposals.
Wieser then turned the session over to the audience. To the question of how Westport can create more homes for first-time — presumably lower-income — buyers, Dobin reintroduced the idea of small cottage clusters, as well as a fund through which the town could purchase small “starter” homes. That would save them from demolition and the new construction of large homes that follows.
Answering a question about the next moratorium from 8-30g — the state mandate for building affordable housing — Dobin said that Westport is well on the way to amassing enough “points,” from projects underway and planned.
However, she added, there are no guarantees. A planned multi-family development at the former Men’s Wearhouse on Post Road East is now apparently off the table.
Dobin said that shows the importance of the town providing housing, on land it owns, rather than relying on developers.
Another questioner asked about the possibility of amending 8-30g. “I’ve been trying for 13 years” without much success, Steinberg said.
Meanwhile, one resident asked, what can Westporters do? “Read the Affordable Housing Plan,” Dobin urged. “Get involved with the RTM and P&Z. Go to meetings, and speak up.”
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Why not strongly consider Baron’s South for some
affordable housing? It is understood there
will be several challenges but with determination
they could be overcome and prove to be a viable
solution.
Retrofitting the existing structures at Baron’s South is an element of the town’s affordability plan.
I can see most of the buildings in Barons being succesfully repurposed for housing needs, Danielle. But not Golden Shadows. That’s not appropriate at all given its intact historic interior fabric. In any event, a plan to repurpose those buildings will require a new, code compliant access road. Not sure why the administration is dragging its feet on that but time is going by and we’re all getting older.
It’s about time someone did something worthwhile with the Baron’s South property. But we need more parking spaces.
“Dobin reintroduced the idea of small cottage clusters, as well as a fund through which the town could purchase small “starter” homes. That would save them from demolition and the new construction of large homes that follows.”
My question 1 — doesn’t all affordable housing have to be built after 1990?
My question 2 — why is Westport always picked on? Are Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Weston?
Hi Bobbie-
Affordable housing with post-1991 40-year deed restrictions (even if the housing was built before 1990) does count towards moratorium points and overall compliance with 8-30g. 136 Riverside is a historic home being adaptively re-used as deeply affordable housing. Once complete, it will count as 6 affordable units as all the units will be deed-restricted affordable. The same is true for Susie’s House (formerly known as Project Return) which will also have 6 deeply affordable units. If properly resourced, the town could preserve and deed restrict older homes. The “off-site” affordable housing for the senior living center on PRE actually resulted in the purchase, preservation and deed restriction of two older “starter” homes in Westport.
I do not believe that Westport is being “picked on” anymore. Instead it is towns like Woodbridge which don’t permit any multifamily housing that often show up in news stories about zoning reform. In the past, Westport was often held up as an example of exclusionary zoning because our peer towns (New Canaan, Darien, Ridgefield, Wilton) built sufficient affordable housing to achieve moratoriums, multiple moratoriums in some cases, while our town made no progress on this issue for decades. That’s really changed with the prior commission adopting our inclusionary housing zone which set the stage for so many approvals of mixed income housing here by the current commission. The RTM has also become a true ally in implementing the town’s 5-year Affordable Housing Plan. As a community, we’ve essentially flipped the script.
Why is the West Parish project still on the table when the DOT property it is planned to be located on is on the State”s List of Contaminated or Potentially Contaminated Sites as a leaking underground storage tank, investigation pending?