The New Haven skyline. (Courtesy Photo / Public Domain / Charles Barneby)

A panel charged by New Haven’s board of alders with finding ideas to solve the city’s housing affordability problems is recommending sweeping changes to the city’s zoning code to boost housing production, and increased efforts to crack down on housing code violations.

The city’s Affordable Housing Task Force was established in March 2018 by the city’s board of alders after the Hotel Duncan in the city’s downtown was converted from a hotel and rooming house to a high-end, 72-room boutique hotel. Thirty-nine people lived in the hotel on a long-term basis, according to WNPR.

A draft version of the task force’s report, to be discussed at the Task Force’s next meeting on Jan. 24, offered 44 total suggestions for creating more and safer housing options for the city’s low-income residents. Prominent suggestions include:

Revamping the zoning code: Recommendations ranged from eliminating parking minimums and boosting maximum number of residents per unit to creating an inclusionary zoning requirement, and included offering density bonuses to residential developers who build affordable housing in their projects and legalizing rooming houses and accessory dwelling units.

Create a single, housing-focused body: Currently, no one organization in the city is focused on creating and preserving affordable housing. The report suggested consolidating those disparate efforts in a new body.

Market city-owned and tax delinquent properties for development: The report urged the city to make more

Increase enforcement of the housing code: To make sure so-called “naturally occurring” affordable housing units are safe, the report called for the city to step up enforcement of its housing code, to seek criminal penalties in the case of some violators, and to pay closer attention to landlords who hold large portfolios of rental housing.

Make the application process easier: The report called for the city to consolidate various affordable housing waiting lists, and create a case manager system to help those seeking affordable housing.