Hartford state lawmaker warns of loss of local control of developmental matters with passage of housing bill

State Representative and Deputy Speaker Minnie Gonzalez from Hartford is a prominent Democrat who strongly opposes the recently passed housing omnibus bill, HB 5002. Critics argue that this bill significantly undermines the public's ability to comment on development issues and centralizes housing decisions, stripping authority away from municipalities like Danbury.

State Representative Gonzalez serves on the Housing Committee, is a member of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, and served as a member of the Majority Leader's roundtable on affordable housing.

In the following clip, she outlines her objections to the omnibus housing bill, explaining how the legislation restricts local control over housing decisions in communities while benefiting developers, which can unintentionally contribute to the gentrification of neighborhoods.

The bill was opposed by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) as well as the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), which outlined their objections in a recent press release:

Fair Share Housing Mandate - The bill requires OPM to determine each town's affordable housing target based on certain factors, including housing mix, grand list strength, wealth, and poverty. This fails to consider water and wastewater capacity and other factors that are critical to supporting housing development. It also requires municipalities to adopt zoning regulations to “create a realistic opportunity” for developers to build affordable housing units to meet the municipalities' state-determined "affordable housing allocation". Such regulations would be subject to review by OPM to determine whether the municipality is in compliance. If a municipality is deemed in compliance or is exempt from the requirements, it may be prioritized for certain discretionary state funding, including Clean Water Fund, the Urban Act, the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), the Main Street Investment Fund, and the Incentive Housing Zone program. How will this impact funding for small towns that do not have the capacity to meet the assigned housing allocation requirement? Transit-Oriented Communities – By prioritizing funding for municipalities that qualify as Transit-Oriented Communities, the bill calls into question whether any funding under STEAP, which only has enough funding for 20-30 municipal projects each year, will be available to small towns that are not in a position to qualify as a Transit-Oriented Community.

Municipal Liability Costs - Subjects municipalities to attorney’s fees and costs under the Affordable Housing Appeals Act if the court determines that the municipality acted in bad faith or caused undue delays in appealing a decision on an 8-30g affordable housing project. This will have a chilling effect on the right of municipalities to appeal projects that may pose certain environmental, traffic congestion, or other issues in their community.

Minimum Parking Requirements - Prohibits local zoning regulations from establishing minimum off-street parking requirements for certain housing developments.

As-of-Right Conversion of Commercial Buildings - Mandates that municipalities allow commercial buildings to be converted to residential housing developments as-of-right.

Fair Rent Commissions – Requires all municipalities regardless of population to establish and staff fair rent commissions, although municipalities may participate in commissions established by regional Councils of Government.

Among the bipartisan group of state lawmakers in Greater Danbury who voted against the proposal are city State representatives Raghib Allie-Brennan (representing Danbury, Bethel, and Newtown) and Patrick Callahan (representing Danbury, New Fairfield, and Sherman). Additionally, Ridgefield State Representatives Aimee Berger-Girvalo and Savet Constantine (representing Ridgefield, New Canaan, and Wilton), Brookfield State Representative Marty Foncello, along with Newtown State Representatives Tony Scott and Mitch Bolinsky, also opposed the measure.

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