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The state House of Representatives approved a scaled-down package of statewide zoning reform measures on Thursday that proponents acknowledged is just one step toward addressing long-standing housing inequities in Connecticut, an issue that has received intense attention since the police killing of George Floyd.
The bill, which passed on an 84-59 vote and now awaits Senate action, requires cities and towns to allow in-law apartments unless they follow an opt-out process.
It also mandates regular training for local planning and zoning officials and defines “character” of a district by physical standards – ideas taken from numerous bills proposed this session and woven into the final proposal. It doesn’t, however, include some of the more contentious ideas floated earlier in the legislative session, such as the elimination of some public hearing requirements.
“Today’s bill is a step forward. But it’s really is a step on a long road that we have to take to address the affordability needs of our residents and … how we plan for all land use in our future,” said Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, co-chair of the General Assembly’s Planning and Development Committee.
The compromise bill has generated criticism from various sides of the housing issue. For example, the statewide coalition Desegregate Connecticut, created after Floyd’s death and which proposed its own package of zoning reforms to help better integrate the state, opposes allowing communities to opt out from allowing the accessory apartments, or in-law apartments, on single-family properties. Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers who represent smaller communities argued the bill is still an overreach by state government, even though some of the more controversial concepts were dropped during the committee process.
“While this might be a watered-down version, this is a huge boot in the door for state control over our towns that would eliminate that uniqueness that makes Connecticut so special,” said Rep. Laura Devlin, R-Fairfield.
Devlin credited citizens who held rallies against the legislation and towns that passed resolutions for some of the changes ultimately made to the legislation.
“They have been loud. There have been rallies. I heard somebody say, ‘oh, there’s just all these noisy rallies.’ That is the voices of the people saying, ‘we do not want this,’” Devlin said. Among other things, those groups argued that local people and not state government should be making local zoning decisions.
But House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, said that’s why Connecticut still has racial and economic inequities.
“There’s been comments about top down approach, bottom up approach,” he said. “I would only suggest that the bottom up approach has led us to where we are today, which is a segregated state.”
Rojas acknowledged the bill does not go as far as he wanted. But he urged his colleagues to still support the legislation.
“It is moving us in the right direction by balancing the goals of updating our zoning and land use statutes while recognizing the premium that I think we all place on local control and local decision making,” he said, promising that housing and zoning policy will be debated again in the House.
Despite her disappointment in the bill, Sara Bronin, founder of Desegregate Connecticut and former chair of Hartford’s Planning Board, said the legislation “lays the groundwork” for a more equitable state and toward more inclusive communities.
Before Thursday’s debate, House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, called the legislation a “tough bill” and recognized it doesn’t go far enough for many people.
“But incrementalism does happen in this building,” he said. “I think we’ll continue to work at it as the years go on.”
