Government

‘It’s Going To Be Hard’: New Canaan Faces Long Odds on Achieving Third Affordable Housing Moratorium, Officials Say

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Though New Canaan this summer qualified for four years of relief from a state law that allows developers to skirt local planning decisions by designating a certain percentage of units in new projects as “affordable”—and could be positioned to achieve a second four-year “moratorium” under that law—it’s unclear now whether or how the town will be able to continue doing so. The major difficulty, according to the chairman of the New Canaan Housing Authority, is the high cost and scarcity of land in town that could take a fair-sized (say, 20-unit) affordable development. “Land of any sort of sizeable acreage that is on sewer and water, is certainly subject to an [affordable housing] ‘cramdown’ from a developer, and it’s also therefore valuable to them,” Scott Hobbs told members of the Planning & Zoning Commission during their regular meeting, held Aug. 29 at Town Hall. “And knowing that someday we will run out of moratorium time, so the odds that we could buy a piece of property like that, is going to be hard.

Government

Demolition of Final 18 ‘Old’ Housing Units at Millport Imminent; Plan To Rebuild with 36 New Units by Year’s End

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The New Canaan Building Department has received applications to demolish 18 public housing units toward the rear of the large complex that fronts Mill Pond—a signal that plans are underway to complete the final phase of a massive rebuilding project there that started about eight years ago. Once the Millport Avenue project is complete, the New Canaan Housing Authority will have increased the total number of units there from 32 to 112, officials said. The 18 units located “up the hill” at Millport, in the neighborhood’s parlance, will be razed and rebuilt with 36 total apartments, half of which will remain federally defined “public housing” while half will become “affordable housing” under state statutes, according to Scott Hobbs, chairman of the Housing Authority Commission. Those who live currently in those 18 units will move into some of the 73 recently completed apartments, located in new buildings that front Millport Avenue. The town issued Certificates of Occupancy for those new units, and—with an expert’s help—is pursuing a four-year moratorium from a state law that developers may use to skirt local planning decisions.

Government

New Canaan To Tap Expert in Getting Out from Under Developer’s Affordable Housing Loophole

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Officials are tapping an area expert to help put together an application that they hope will exempt New Canaan from a state law that could open the town to unwanted building projects. The Board of Selectmen at a regular meeting Tuesday will vote on a fee appropriation of $6,000 to $12,000 for Ridgefield’s recently retired town planner. Betty Brosius oversaw Ridgefield’s handling of more than 10 applications submitted under the Affordable Housing Appeals Act, often referred to by its statute number, “8-30g.”

As New Canaan nears issuance of Certificates of Occupancy for rebuilt affordable housing units at Mill Pond, the town is preparing an application to the state that would garner a four-year moratorium from 8-30g. It will be the first time New Canaan has ever prepared such an application, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi told NewCanaanite.com when asked about the agenda item. “Betty was a drive force in Ridgefield and we are very, very happy to have her,” Mallozzi said.

Board of Finance

Officials Study ‘Canaan Parish’ Apartments for Possible Affordable Housing Redevelopment

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Town officials say they’re looking into whether a privately owned, 1979-built apartment complex on Lakeview Avenue could be right for redevelopment with a greater number of affordable units. Located near the corner of Route 123, Canaan Parish includes 60 apartments and its tenants get rental assistance through the Section 8 federal housing program. It is owned by Stamford-based New Canaan Neighborhoods Inc., whose president is town resident Chris Hussey, according to Connecticut Secretary of the State records. According to Scott Hobbs, who serves as chairman of the New Canaan Housing Authority, the site likely “is not as well utilized as modern layout would, so if we could rejuvenate some of it, it would make sense.” “The reality is that it would make more sense to tear it down and rearrange everything and get more units in there,” Hobbs told members of the Board of Finance at their regular meeting Tuesday night, held at Town Hall. “And I believe by doing that, we hopefully would possibly get to the second moratorium.”

He referred to a four-year moratorium from the state’s Affordable Housing Appeals Act, often called by its statute number, 8-30g.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Officials said Wednesday that New Canaan is on track by year’s end to qualify for its first four-year moratorium from the Affordable Housing Appeals Act—a state law that allows developers to skirt local planning officials if a project designates a certain number of units as “affordable,” under a definition that’s extremely difficult for the town to achieve. Scott Hobbs, chairman of the New Canaan Housing Authority, said during a regular meeting of the Town Council that the first phase of a project at Millport Avenue is a “little bit ahead of schedule.”

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At the suggestion of New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, the Police Commission at the start of its meeting Wednesday night opened with a moment of silence. It was “for all of the violence that is happening and for officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge,” the chief said during the meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department. ***

A pair of highway workers for the state walked the median of the Merritt Parkway for about two miles in the oppressive heat last Friday afternoon to find an injured red-tailed hawk there, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the NCPD’s Animal Control section. That hawk—and another that was found injured on a Southwood Drive home’s deck on the same day—went to a rehab group in Wilton but unfortunately were too far gone to cure, and had to be put down, Halm said.