P&Z Considers Housing Authority, Trust Fund to Address Affordable Housing in Wilton

Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) spent a freewheeling, 90-minute special session on Wednesday, Apr. 15. discussing ways to alleviate the town’s shortage of median-income housing and ensure compliance with new state housing laws. As part of the meeting, the commissioners explored proposals to create a new housing authority and to establish an ‌affordable housing trust fund as two potential strategies.

Other options available to P&Z include changing the percentage requirements for affordable housing in various zones, or increasing the minimum required number of affordably priced units by project or within a zone.

Efforts to address the affordability of Wilton’s housing stock are being driven by the need to prepare for the 2029 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) and a Jul. 1 deadline to define Traffic Mitigation Zones (TMZs) as required by the state’s new housing law.

According to the current POCD, although Wilton has some of the region’s highest household income and home values, 2015 census data showed that roughly 28% of households earn less than $100,000 per year, well below the town’s median income of $172,095.

“Wilton is priced out of people being able to live in Wilton who are vital members of our community,” P&Z Chair Ken Hoffman said.

Housing Commission Could Coordinate Initiatives

Many towns in Connecticut, including New Canaan and Greenwich in Fairfield County, have housing authorities that help residents find affordably priced homes within their means. Director of Planning and Land Use Management Michael Wrinn explained that a housing authority could set policies and oversee the management of initiatives such as a housing trust fund supported by in-lieu fees and project surcharges paid by developers.

Wrinn noted that it would take time for sufficient funds to be built up before they could be applied in a meaningful way.

The commissioners also discussed whether a housing authority could work with the Connecticut Department of Transportation to develop state-owned land for affordable housing projects. Wrinn said he believed that Special Session Public Act No. 25-1, An Act Concerning Housing Growth, included a proviso for the state to develop those properties, and perhaps there would be an opportunity for a collaborative state-local project.

The idea of an affordable housing trust fund also came up during the Monday, Apr. 13 P&Z public hearing on the proposed redevelopment of the former Wilton Baptist Church at 254 Danbury Rd. During the public hearing, Wilton architect Rob Sanders suggested the idea as a way to pool funds charged to developers as a way to subsidize the construction of new affordable units in projects where they might not otherwise be feasible due to the scale of the project, or to acquire land designated for the construction of an affordable housing development.

Switch to State Median Income Would Help Town Achieve 8-30g Moratorium

The seven commissioners in attendance during Wednesday’s special session unanimously agreed that the town should use the state median income as the basis for calculating at least some affordable housing rates, rather than relying solely on the much higher town rate. The state median offers two advantages: it would make housing more affordable to a larger number of people, and it would allow the town to qualify for provisions in the state’s 8-30g affordable housing statute.

The statute grants certificates of affordable housing completion to municipalities that acquire sufficient “housing unit-equivalent points” to equal 2% of its total housing stock. Wrinn told the commissioners that Wilton, which has approximately 6,600 dwelling units, would require roughly 132 points to earn the certification. Points are only granted to towns that use the state median income to determine pricing.

When a town achieves its certification, the law grants it a four-year moratorium from having to meet 8-30g requirements. Wilton previously qualified for a moratorium, but it has since expired. Hoffman noted that the town is close to reaching the 2% threshold, even under the current zoning regulations, to qualify for a new moratorium.

The math involved in calculating affordable housing under 8-30g is complex: in a qualifying development, 30% of the units must be designated as deed-restricted affordable. Of those, half must be priced at 80% of the median income level, and the other half at 60%.

Commissioner Jill Duncan suggested the town use a combination of state and area median incomes as a way to both meet the POCD’s goal of greater housing diversity while also helping the town reach the moratorium goal.

“I think there is an argument to be made that it should just, in general, be more of the state [median] because … there’s people that we think of being able to afford a certain level but they actually can’t meet that,” Duncan said. “I am in favor of moving it more towards the state. However, I do think that there’s a space as well for people who … may make too much to qualify for the lower, but they may not still be able to afford market-rate housing.”

Affordability Requirement for All Developments Also Considered

The commissioners also discussed creating a blanket affordable housing percentage applicable to all residential zones. Wrinn noted that recent overlay districts, such as the Danbury Rd. East and West Overlay Districts and the Transit-Oriented Development district, already have a minimum 10% requirement.

“You have that ability to set your own number, it’s not a state mandated number,” Wrinn told the commissioners. “You’ll see towns around that … bounce all over the place. They may have some zones that are lesser requirements, some are even higher. They may have a downtown area where they have a higher percentage of affordable.”

However, while some developments such as the eight-building apartment complex on 64 Danbury Rd. have a 10% requirement, they use the local median income level, which means they don’t count toward the 8-30g moratorium.

While the commissioners were generally in favor of applying a consistent percentage of affordable housing across all developments, Wrinn noted that developments of between two and nine units in commercial zones would be exempt from affordability requirements under Public Act 25-1.

Clock Ticking on Parking Compliance

The other main topic discussed during the special P&Z session was ensuring compliance with the parking requirements of Public Act 25-1. As GOOD Morning Wilton previously reported, the law says that housing developments of up to 16 units are not required to provide off‑street parking unless they are located within a TMZ.

“Regardless of where it is, I think looking at how we’re configured as a town, I don’t think there’s too many locations where we feel comfortable to say you can build 15 units and not provide parking,” Wrinn said. “I don’t think we want to take the chance that someone builds 15 units and puts in eight parking spaces.”

To mitigate against that, Wrinn said, the law allows Wilton to designate up to 8% of its land as TMZs, which would grant the town at least some control over its minimum parking requirements. The Planning and Zoning Department is proposing to create two TMZs of 4% each in areas where the town can expect to see such smaller developments proposed, to ensure those developments will have an appropriate minimum number of parking spaces.

Wrinn said he is working with a team of geographic information system engineers to prepare an overlay map for submission to the state for review and approval. Although P&Z had hoped to hire an expert consultant to help prepare the TMZ application, a $100,000 discrepancy in planning funds identified in February forced P&Z to prioritize its remaining consultant budget toward the long-planned update to the town’s zoning regulations instead.

Next Steps

Wrinn will work with his team to write up the suggestions and recommendations proposed by P&Z during this first special session into what Hoffman called a “good straw man” for the commissioners to review and fine-tune. Commissioner Margit Ritz volunteered to assist Wrinn with the drafting of the language, as Wrinn said he and his team are “pretty maxed out” participating in meetings and making calls to try and get answers to their many questions about Public Act 25-1 implementation — a common issue in towns across the state, he noted.

Once the commissioners have language they’re happy with, P&Z will hold a public listening session to get residents’ feedback. In the meantime, Hoffman volunteered to go before the Board of Selectmen (BOS) and other town officials to propose the forming of a housing authority and the establishment of a housing trust fund.

The commissioners agreed that it made sense to take the BOS’ temperature on the proposals before proceeding too much further with them.

“There’s no reason to spend a lot of research [time] if they’re going to say no,” Commissioner Trevor Huffard said.