Face the Facts: Bill aims to combat affordable housing crisis

Solving the housing crisis in Connecticut is one of the biggest challenges we've had year after year, and now both market rate and affordable housing options are very much in short supply.

Connecticut, in fact, was recently on a list of the tightest real estate markets in the whole country.

So how do we address that? NBC Connecticut's Mike Hydeck spoke with Erin Boggs, the executive director of Open Communities Alliance.

Mike Hydeck: She's supporting a bill she hopes will change the way affordable housing is taken care of here in Connecticut. It is called 'Towns Take the Lead,' is the name of the bill. Describe what it does.

Erin Boggs: Absolutely, so we are the most housing constrained state in the nation, and for years, we've tried a system where we had towns across the state sort of work in a vacuum to try to solve this. What Towns Take the Lead does, is it takes the existing affordable housing process, where every town has to do some planning around this, and gives it a little bit of a scaffolding, some guidance from the state. The state has commissioned and has the first part of a study that estimates how much affordable housing we need. Part two of that will come out with allocations out to every town that's town by town developed in a very...

Mike Hydeck: Allocations meaning money?

Erin Boggs: Allocations, meaning units of affordable housing. And it's a guide for towns. And what Towns Take the Lead does is it says, "look at this number, see if it works for you. If you can't do it, let us know why, and tell us what you can do instead," and then plan and, within a year, zone for that amount of housing.

Mike Hydeck: So to push back a little bit, or at least give the opposite side of the coin, the Republicans I've talked to over time said, "Look, we don't want a one size fits all bill." So the affordable housing needed in Killingly is not going to be the same as it's going to be in Bridgeport. You may need, you know, 400 units, or 40 units in Killingly and 4,000 in Bridgeport. Can this address that?

Erin Boggs: Absolutely, the number to begin with is tailored for every town. And then, in addition to that, towns get to say, "actually, here's why that's a problem here. We need to do a little less, or we can do a little bit more, and here's why."

Mike Hydeck: So then does the state have to have a board where…So I grew up in Monroe. So say, for argument's sake, we need 800 units in Monroe. Monroe goes, I don't know. I think we probably only need four. Is there going to be a board on the state level to sit and hear the complaint? Does another board have to be created for somebody to do this?

Erin Boggs: No this all goes through the Office of Policy and Management, and there's a discussion that happens. Maybe one town thinks they can't do a certain amount of housing for X, Y, Z reason. But in fact, there's some other solutions they weren't aware of. I mean, that's a thing about our zoning commissions in the state. They're basically everyday people who have volunteered to help out their town. They're not necessarily experts in planning and zoning. There may be all kinds of innovative techniques that they would love to learn about and would help them contribute to their region's need for affordable housing.

Mike Hydeck: So we also need to include the people who are building these units, right? How are developers kind of figured into this larger plan? Because if they get down the road and say, "Look, I want to try to build this affordable housing unit, and I'm coming up against this pushback from the town," or "I'm just not going to make any money if I try to embark on this project." How are they figured into the process?

Erin Boggs: So the goal here is that municipalities are creating a realistic opportunity for the housing to be built. They have their number, and then this is what's great about it. They can go and recruit the developers whose products they like, that look the way they want it to look, that have the scale they want it to have. And then they develop those partnerships, bring that into town in a way that works with their vision.

Mike Hydeck: So where is Towns Take the Lead now, as far as in the process of being considered in the state capitol?

Erin Boggs: It's House Bill 6944 and it just made it out of the housing committee, and we're waiting to see if it's referred and if it gets additional information about what it will take to get it done.

Mike Hydeck: So one of the other things that needs to be addressed, if you look at this issue, is in the past, zoning boards. So if I'm a developer and I come up to a certain town and I say, "look, I want to put X amount on this property," local zoning boards kind of slow roll things. So if they say, "well, we need to reconsider it. We're going to table it this time." All of a sudden, two years goes by, the developer loses interest, or they just can't waste that much time on legal fees. That's sort of like a passive-aggressive way of getting around it. Does this address that?

Erin Boggs: Absolutely because what you have here is a change to zoning to allow the housing and not have to go through the rigorous process of getting some kind of change to the zoning ordinance. It's now embedded within the ordinance, and it can speed along.

Mike Hydeck: So I wonder if there'll be any consequences, though, if it's slow rolled again, right? Because they can still try to do that.

Erin Boggs: I mean, there will be a discussion with the municipalities in the state to sort of clear the path. Also, towns that are really stepping up and playing their role will be prioritized for state discretionary funding.