Connecticut towns would report affordable housing appeals for public tracking

Towns would report affordable housing appeals to the Department of Housing, which would publish an online database. These duties cover special affordable housing appeals, housing agency programs, and projects developed under the housing commissioner’s authority in section 8-37r. The database would list each appeal, the town involved, its reason for rejecting the application, and the appeal’s status or outcome. Housing agencies would report whom their programs serve by income and race, along with efforts toward fair housing and integration. Applicants and occupants would not have to disclose their race. Before using the covered project-development authority, the housing commissioner would report site choices and household selection factors to the Council on Housing Development. The commissioner would work with local planning and zoning officials to publish the report and hold a public hearing. The project report would address whether the site suits the development, including whether it fits a town or regional housing growth plan. Sections 4, 8, and 9 would take effect October 1, 2026, if enacted. Agency reports would be due annually by December 31, covering the year ending the preceding September 30.

Developments that qualify through promises written into property deeds would keep designated homes affordable for at least 20 or 40 years. These rules cover developments qualifying through deed restrictions rather than government assistance. Income limits use the lower state or local median income, adjusted for family size. At least 30% of homes would have affordability restrictions. At least 15% of all homes would serve households earning no more than 60% of the applicable median income. The remaining restricted homes would serve households earning no more than 80% of that income. Prices would keep housing payments at 30% of household income or less. The minimum period would be 20 years on town-owned land or land a town transfers to a developer for the project. It would be 40 years on other land. Section 1 would take effect October 1, 2026, if enacted. The affordability period would run from the development’s first occupancy.

Courts would pause covered housing appeals at a town’s request while the housing commissioner considers its application for a temporary exemption from special appeals. The appeal route covers developers whose affordable housing plans are denied or face restrictions that seriously harm feasibility or affordability. Housing credits measure completed homes toward a town’s exemption. The court would dismiss the appeal if the commissioner approves the town’s application and grants the exemption. The exemption would not cover housing applications filed before it starts, government-assisted projects with 40 or fewer homes, or assisted projects reserving 95% of homes for households earning no more than 60% of median income. The usual exemption threshold would be housing credits equal to the greater of 2% of the town’s homes or 75 credits. Towns holding the specified final eligibility letter would need the greater of 1.75% or 65 credits and must remain eligible. A 1.5% threshold would apply to towns with at least 20,000 homes, a previous exemption, and the required town or regional housing growth plan. Census counts would determine the number of homes used in these thresholds. Sections 2 and 3 would take effect October 1, 2026, if enacted. Exemptions would generally last four years; repeat exemptions for towns with at least 20,000 homes would last five years.

Town zoning rules would allow specified housing or mixed-use projects on commercial or mixed-use lots through a streamlined review. The zoning provisions cover projects called transit community middle housing developments, whose full definition is in another law, and mixed-use projects. The residential-lot option applies only to the specified housing developments. Towns could also allow the specified transit community middle housing developments on residential lots through the streamlined review. Completed homes in those residential-lot developments would earn one-quarter housing credit each, including homes without income restrictions. These credits would count toward temporary exemptions from special affordable housing appeals. A town that earns these credits and uses them to qualify for an exemption could not repeal or substantially change the related zoning rules during that exemption. Eligible homes built by or with a neighboring town’s housing authority would earn an additional one-quarter credit. Sections 3 and 5 would take effect October 1, 2026, if enacted. Section 5 describes zoning rules adopted or amended on or after July 1, 2026. Residential housing credits require permission to occupy the homes.

Towns could follow an approved regional housing growth plan instead of preparing their own plan. The regional option would cover towns within the planning region served by the regional council of governments that developed the plan. A town would have to choose the regional plan within 30 days after receiving notice of its housing goal. Its chief executive and planning commission or combined planning and zoning commission would have to approve it. After the state approves the regional plan, a town’s housing goal could not be revised because other towns leave that plan. The Council on Housing Development would approve or modify plans if the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management misses the review deadline. The council could reject a plan that fails the stated legal requirements. Sections 6 and 7 would take effect October 1, 2026, if enacted.