Monster housing bill gives Hartford more zoning control

If you think Hartford should dictate your neighborhood zoning, then you will love CT House Bill 5002 coming up for a vote this week. Among many bad ideas, this bill includes:

Local parking rules eliminated

Town zoning boards would no longer be allowed to require off-street parking for most new developments—even if streets are already overcrowded. Think more restaurants approved without parking considerations on Greenwich Avenue.

Transit-oriented housing mandates

The bill forces towns to allow dense, multifamily housing “as-of-right” in commercial zones near transit, overriding local zoning and planning decisions. Think new high rises at Riverside, Cos Cob and Old Greenwich train stations.

State-imposed housing quotas (“Fair Share”)

Unelected bureaucrats would assign every town a mandatory affordable housing target based on income —regardless of infrastructure, land availability, or resident input. Think overused sewers and waste disposal, flooding and less greenscape.

And more

Some other bad ideas floating around include allowing churches to build migrant sheds (Greenwich has many churches) and how about the one limiting lot sizes to no more than one acre throughout the state (goodbye Mid and Back Country Greenwich as we know it).

These housing mandates aren’t about solving housing—they’re about stripping towns of the right to decide what gets built, where, and how.

Here is a helpful update from our State Representative Tina Courpas (R). Haven't heard anything yet from our Greenwich Democrat State Representatives.

Here is what the Greenwich head of Planning & Zoning thinks about this.

Here is what one of your neighbors thinks about this.

Between the Lines: Already Hartford has been flooded with complaints from residents. This has already helped slow down the bill. Our politicians think they can get away with this because we aren't paying attention. Here is an easy-to-complete petition that will get to our local reps Steve Meskers (D), Hector Arzeno (D) and Tina Courpas (R); our State Senator Ryan Fazio (R); and our governor Ned Lamont (D).

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