Though New Canaan has qualified for a four-year exemption from a widely discussed affordable housing law—and is also expected to earn another “moratorium” from the state law known by its statute number, 8-30g, in 2028—more units likely must be built or acquired in order to get four more years of relief in 2032, according to a municipal committee that’s studying the issue.
Under the state law, in towns where less than 10% of all housing stock qualifies as affordable, developers who propose projects where a certain number of units are set aside to rent at affordable rates may appeal to the state after a local Planning & Zoning Commission denies their applications. New Canaan since its last moratorium lapsed in July 2021 has received three such applications, at Weed and Elm Streets (120 units), Main Street (20 units) and Hill Street (93 units). P&Z denied all of them. Those applications are now under appeal in state Superior Court.
To earn a four-year moratorium from the state law, towns must demonstrate that they’ve earned a certain number of “housing unit equivalency” or ‘HUE’ points by creating more affordable housing. With the rebuilding of Canaan Parish, New Canaan did qualify for a four-year moratorium from 8-30g last summer, and the town has sufficient “carryover” HUE points (from Canaan Parish and Millport Apartments) to chain together another four years of relief in 2028, according to Krista Neilson, a P&Z member who sits on the appointed Affordable Housing Committee.
The Housing Authority’s recent $75 million purchase of the 104-unit “Avalon” apartment complex on Lakeview Avenue (renamed “Riverwood”) will give the town some flexibility in its strategy, but even if all of those units are converted to affordable, more HUE points will be needed, meaning more affordable units must be created or acquired, Neilson said during the Committee’s Feb. 10 meeting.
“That number ranges in terms of how many we would need,” Neilson said during the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.
She continued: “I think from the lowest end we’d need 15 more HUE points all the way up to 120 to 130 HUE points, depending on how many of the Avalon/Riverwood units we use. So that’s still a question … either way, the point is we would probably need to acquire or build something for another moratorium in 2032. And my main takeaway is that I think the acquisition of Riverwood was a very strategic and smart move on the part of the town. And I think it bought us time. But there’s still more work to be done, because we’ve got to plan for these things, and as you guys all recall from the conversations we’ve had, it’s usually a five to six year process from inception to CO [Certificate of Occupancy], which was going to be really hard to meet for 2028. Thankfully, we don’t have to now, but we do need to start planning for 2032.”
The comments came during an update from the group’s Project Subcommittee. Neilson noted that the three pending 8-30g applications, if appeals are upheld, would bring in additional HUE points (about 71 from Weed and Elm, 62 from Hill Street and 14 from Main Street). A new development overlooking Cherry Street at Burtis Avenue, whose construction is underway, is expected to bring in another three or four HUE points, she said.
Formed in earnest about one year ago, the Affordable Housing Committee is charged with working with the town and Housing Authority to increase affordable housing in New Canaan while chaining together moratoriums to preserve “local control” in the face of 8-30g. The committee’s original chair, John Goodwin, has resigned. The group hasn’t elected a new one, and Secretary Chris Wilson is filling in on an interim basis (those already serving on municipal bodies such as P&Z, the Town Council and Board of Finance are not eligible). There’s also an open seat on the Committee. In addition Neilson and Wilson, Committee members include Hilary Ormond (Town Council), Bill Parrett, Michael Sweeney (Housing Authority), Maria Weingarten (Board of Finance), Jane Williams and Jeffrey Williams.
During the meeting, Town Planner Sarah Carey noted that the town is allowed to apply for its next moratorium early, ensuring that there’s no lapse.
“I think that’s important to somewhat keep in mind for 2032, because if we get the points ready to go ahead of 2032, we don’t have to wait to be able to apply for a moratorium,” Carey said.
Neilson noted that the Subcommittee has been breaking its strategy into two buckets—called “Town Build” and “Land Bank.” The first refers to the prospect of a large-scale affordable housing project on town-owned land, with criteria such as sewer access, walkability, adequate parking and minimal negative impact on services such as fire and schools. Prospective sites that check off most boxes include three town-owned parking lots (Richmond Hill, Locust Avenue and Lumberyard). The second strategy refers to acquiring scattered sites or units for conversion to affordable housing.
Both strategies must be fleshed out and both have special challenges—for example, Neilson said, land is “a pretty difficult commodity to get your hands on in New Canaan.”
“It’s expensive,” she said. “It makes affordable housing expensive in this town. And so having the town become a player in the real estate marketplace, I think, would give us a lot of flexibility and I think the acquisition of the Avalon or Riverwood really underscores that acquiring land—and in this case, units on the land—gives us options.”
The Committee likely will need about $30,000 to hire a consultant to help take the group’s work forward from here, she said. Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll, a guest at the meeting, said the Committee should communicate its needs to the Board of Finance during the municipal budget process now underway, since that body is able to add spending requests to the budget.
I think the committee needs to consider an ADU strategy as well to preserve the character and landscape of New Canaan while allowing families of all kinds to afford living here. It works well in other communities…