Government

Officials: Millport Building Project on Track, Relief from Developer Loophole in Sight

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The first phase of a large-scale plan to create more public housing at Mill Pond is underway and on track for completion by year’s end, officials say—a widely anticipated project that’s expected to trigger temporary relief for New Canaan from a state law that allows developers to skirt local planning decisions. Under the Affordable Housing Appeals Act, towns where less than 10 percent of the housing stock qualifies as “affordable” by the state’s definition (New Canaan’s is at about 2.4 percent), developers may bypass Planning & Zoning by designating a percentage of units within proposed new structures as affordable. Ten percent is a rigorous standard that towns such as New Canaan are unlikely to meet, mostly because the state in calculating “affordable” lumps the town into the sprawling geography of the “Norwalk-Stamford Metropolitan area.”

Yet there’s a way to get relief under a provision (a complicated provision) in the state law. Under the provision, types of housing are assigned a certain number of points based on variables such as how much they cost (in mortgage payments or rent) and whom they serve (seniors or families). If a town amasses enough “housing unit equivalent” points, it can earn a four-year exemption.

Faces of New Canaan

Faces of New Canaan: Kara Laviola

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The plan to rebuild with greater density the public housing units “up the hill” at Millport Avenue has gained traction since last November. The New Canaan Housing Authority board has held regular meetings—there’s another one scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday—to discuss and prepare for the physical work, when families that reside there will face a dramatic if temporary change in their lives. Some time soon, these New Canaanites will move into new units built within an expanded footprint at Millport while their homes are razed and rebuilt.

Although this will be adjustment for the residents of Millport, many are excited about the upside of the project, according to New Canaanite Kara Laviola. As a resident there trusted by her neighbors and well-attuned to what’s happening, Laviola has been appointed a resident representative during the project. We spoke to her about the rebuilding and her experience living in New Canaan. Here’s our conversation.

Government

New Canaan To Seek Protection from Developer Loophole

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While New Canaan may not be constituted to meet a rigorous state threshold that would forever protect the town from loophole-happy developers, it might be able to stave off unwanted development at least for a few years while alternatives are figured out, officials said Tuesday. A proposal that would double the number of affordable housing units at Mill Pond may trigger a three-year exemption from the Affordable Housing Appeals Act. Under that law, in towns where less than 10 percent of the housing qualifies as “affordable” by the state’s definition (see below—New Canaan’s is at about 2.4 percent), developers may bypass local planning decisions by designating a percentage of units within proposed new structures as affordable. Town Planner Steve Kleppin said at the Board of Finance meeting that it’s not realistic for New Canaan to get all the way to 10 percent. “The total number is just not there,” Kleppin said at the meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center’s Visitors Center.

Government

Plan to Double Affordable Housing at Mill Pond Stalls

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A project that would more than double the number of affordable housing units at Millport Apartments hit a speed bump Tuesday night. Preliminary plans call for 60 to 70 additional units to be built on property located opposite Mill Pond. Pending more details, the Board of Finance at its regular meeting put off approving a measure that would see $500,000 made available to the New Canaan Housing Authority to pursue that plan. Those funds—collected through a 1 percent add-on fee in some building permit applications (ones that deal with exterior work only)—are held in trust for the purpose of boosting New Canaan’s affordable housing stock. Finance board members, including Mary Davis Cody and John Sheffield, questioned the prudence of signing off on the $500,000 without details on just how the funds would be used for pre-construction architectural and engineering studies.