黑料吃瓜网 lawmakers are sparring over a large housing bill designed to increase affordable housing statewide.
The house bill is more than 100 pages long and , with the goal of increasing affordable housing.
The bill focuses on key issues such as transit oriented development, addressing homelessness, and zoning reform. Proposed changes to zoning laws have sparked concerns among conservative lawmakers.
One of the most contested elements of the bill is the 鈥淔air Share Planning and Zoning鈥� proposal. It revolves around a push for 黑料吃瓜网 municipalities to contribute their 鈥渇air share鈥� of the affordable housing stock.
It would require cities and towns to create affordable housing plans based on the number of units recommended for each town by a study assessing the state鈥檚 housing needs.
However, the bill doesn鈥檛 take into account the entire issue, according to State Rep. Joe Zullo, a Republican, representing East Haven.
鈥淵ou're talking about thousands of units in some scenarios, in towns, it's just not attainable,鈥� Zullo said. 鈥淚t's not realistic, and it's unfair, because towns weren't consulted directly. They were never asked, How much land do you have? You know, what's your developable land? Never included in that process.鈥�
The "fair share" study, commissioned by the state legislature in 2023, also looks at how a "fair share" program would work in 黑料吃瓜网. The preliminary report was presented to lawmakers in January.
As a result of the study, lawmakers wrote into the omnibus housing bill an expectation for every municipality to include ways to increase affordable housing.
The bill would require all communities to strive for constructing 25% of the number of affordable housing units the 鈥渇air share鈥� study determined was needed.
鈥淔air share鈥� isn鈥檛 the only part of the bill with which Republican lawmakers took issue.
State Rep. Jason Rojas, a Democrat, who represents East Hartford, said recent modifications to the bill would give communities more leeway. It would adjust the number of affordable homes required based on how much land is available for development.
鈥淲e've given the opportunity for towns and cities to come back to us with a number that they think is more feasible based on their understanding of local conditions, their understanding of available land,鈥� Rojas said.
鈥淭here is language in there that now requires the towns and cities to submit to us how much land, exact parcels they think are appropriate for development.鈥�
The , which was brought before the legislature several times in recent years, is also included in the omnibus housing bill, and would promote the creation of Transit Oriented Districts (TODs).
Communities with TODs would then be prioritized for other state grants and funding, which some lawmakers consider unfair.
Democrats say they鈥檝e compromised with Republican colleagues, but maintain the importance of increasing housing density.
