A bill designed to encourage more housing near Connecticut train and bus stations has passed the Planning and Development Committee, setting the stage for it to be taken up by the House.
House Bill 5390, also known as Work, Live, Ride, is one of this session’s major zoning bills, and one of the more controversial pieces of legislation to come through the committee this session.
Here’s what to know about it.
What would the bill do?
The bill would offer towns that opt to create transit-oriented districts priority for certain state infrastructure funds.
While a previous version of it had specific measures to ensure that larger developments had a certain percentage of affordability, the amended bill that passed committee allows developers to give money to a town fund to be used for the creation of affordable housing elsewhere in town instead of setting aside affordable housing in their own planned development.
The amended version also removes brownfield remediation grants from the “discretionary funds” that can be used to encourage towns to create transit-oriented districts. That means brownfield grants are no longer part of the list of funds that can be used to incentivize towns to zone for the districts.
The bill also sets up a state fund for public sewer and water rehabilitation and expansion. Lack of access to sewage has been a roadblock for small towns in building multi-family housing, officials have said.
What is transit-oriented development?
Transit-oriented development is a land use concept that means increasing density near public transportation. The idea is to have walkable communities where people can access shops, housing and transportation by foot.
Transit-oriented districts would allow certain types of housing as-of-right, meaning developers wouldn’t have to get special permission from the town planning and zoning department or commissions to build. Some of that includes smaller multi-family housing of up to nine units, certain housing that’s set aside as affordable and accessory dwelling units.
The concept has been growing in popularity nationwide as many states and municipalities try to find ways to reduce sprawl. More people, particularly millennials and Gen Z, say they want to live in walkable communities. As millennials came of age, more moved to urban centers than older generations.
What have the bill’s supporters said?
Advocates say that transit-oriented development would help address a dire lack of housing in the state and help the environment by encouraging people to use public transportation.
At a public hearing, supporters told members of the Planning and Development Committee that transit-oriented developments are the kind of neighborhoods people — particularly young people — want to live in. They want to be able to walk to businesses and take the bus or train to work.
“If we as a state actually want our college graduates to stay in their communities and use their education to the benefit of Connecticut, we have to build housing for them,” said Sydney Elkhay, a transit-oriented communities organizer with Desegregate Connecticut and a recent UConn graduate. “Otherwise young adults will move to places where they can find housing, which will be out of state.”
The Integrated Immigrant & Refugee Services, or IRIS, a nonprofit based in New Haven, also spoke in support, saying it would help people new to the country to find housing and transportation.
A member of the American Lung Association also wrote testimony in support saying that more use of public transit could reduce pollutants and improve health in Connecticut.
What have the bill’s opponents said?
Opponents have said they were concerned that smaller towns without transit or towns that don’t opt to rezone for transit districts will be deprioritized for infrastructure funding.
“Those small towns with small town budgets rely upon the state helping them,” said Sen. Jeff Gordon, R-Woodstock, giving testimony. “…I think the wording in this bill, to me, is concerning about a stick approach that could be done. That could be extremely hard for towns that are trying the best that they can.”
Gordon added that not all towns have public transit or existing infrastructure to support more people.
Opponents also say the bill could weaken local control. Its as-of-right stipulations mean developers wouldn’t have to get special permission from a town to build certain types of housing within a transit-oriented district.
Committee ranking member Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, called the transit bill “overly prescriptive.”
“I think we all agree on a couple of different things across party lines, across this committee and this body, which is that first: when we put local communities in the driver’s seat with regard to governing their towns and cities that we get the best results,” Fazio said. “And second: that we also need to create housing and development policies in this state.”
Ginny Monk and Gabby DeBenedictis are reporters for The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/ ). Copyright 2024 © The Connecticut Mirror.
