After years of reluctance, some Connecticut towns are slowly coming around to the idea of building more affordable housing, said panelists yesterday at a discussion hosted by the Connecticut Mortgage Bankers Association.

Moderated by David Fink, policy director for Partnership for Strong Communities, the panel included Evonne Klein, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Housing, as well as officials from the towns of Enfield, Berlin and Guilford.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has made affordable housing a major commitment of his administration, with over $1 billion in total new funding for housing project during his terms, said Klein. "People say, ‘Where are you targeting?’ We’re not targeting. We know there’s a need for affordable housing across the state," she said, hailing several new development funding rounds, as well at the state’s first new round of funding aimed at developing affordable homeownership units in several years. (Twenty-five proposals are currently under review, with the department planning to announce which have been approved for funding next month.)

But, as Fink put it, though the state government has made a strong push for further affordable units to be developed, the towns are "where the rubber meets the road" when it comes to getting new projects approved. For too long, he suggested, the vast majority of towns in the state have looked askance at any other form of housing than single-family, with 114 of the state’s 150-plus towns having 70 percent or more of their housing stock as single-family, the bulk of it built in the 1970s and 80s to serve baby boomers. Now, however, those same boomers are looking to downsize, and that’s creating a demand for denser, multi-family developments in those towns, as people who have lived in those places for 30 or 35 years aim to stay there through their retirement.

That was certainly the case in Guilford, said Joseph Mazza, first selectman of the town, where recent community surveys have revealed the creation of more affordable housing in town to be residents’ No. 1 concern, he said.  However, even when people want them, getting units built can be a lengthy process: Guilford has recently applied for a $20,000 grant to identify sites suitable for multi-family within the town, Mazza said, but much work remains to be done before a project can be approved. The town does not have a sewer system, so in order to create a denser development, the site must be able to accommodate a specially designed septic system, he said. In addition, the site must be near to transit, and the town will have to revamp its zoning to allow for larger projects to be built.

Aligning new, denser development with new transit options was also important in Enfield, said Scott Kaupin, the town’s mayor. Enfield is undertaking an extensive effort to revitalize its Thompsonville neighborhood in conjunction with the redevelopment of its train station. A new transit center for commuters is planned for 2016, and in anticipation, the town has launched a new farmer’s market, is creating its own mini-transport system to shuttle people from the commuter center to the commercial and residential districts in the town and is in the process of adding amenities like picnic tables, bike racks and other aesthetic improvements to make the area more attractive to shoppers and residents.

"For us, when we look at Thompsonville, it’s a prime candidate for transit oriented development," Kaupin said. Ninety-five percent of the land in town is already developed, and much of the rest is impacted by wetland issues, he explained. "Transit-oriented development allows us to improve what we have…. Over the course of time, we know that this will improve the property values."

By creating an attractive, densely developed downtown, the town is making itself more attractive to its younger residents who may not be able to afford or want a large single-family suburban home, he suggested.

"We’re finding out, the younger folks, they don’t want to own a house. They don’t want to own a car. They may want to own a property, but they don’t want to have to spend a lot to maintain it, or in upkeep," Kaupin said.

Though there may be an upsurge of support from some demographic groups for denser housing, it’s also important for town officials to reach out to the community as a whole to communicate their vision for what having more affordable housing will mean to the town in order to overcome people’s fears and stereotypes, panelists agreed. Explaining the range of income levels eligible for the properties, showing examples of other newly built affordable projects and emphasizing that the developments will provide housing for the very municipal employees, teachers and fireman who can’t afford to live in many of the towns they serve can help overcome community opposition, the panelists said.

Ultimately, "The proof is in the pudding," said Hellyn Riggins, development services director for the town of Berlin. "When people see that [the new affordable developments are] our fourth-largest taxpayer, that our crime didn’t go up and ‘Oh, you know, my friend lives there; they’re very nice’ – all that helps, too."