An Affordable Housing Public Forum, arranged by Linda Snelham-Moore, will be held on Wednesday, August 20 at 7pm, at Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Ave., Southport. Focused on Connecticut's Law (8-30g) governing Affordable Housing's impact on Fairfield, the forum continues the important dialogue between Fairfield residents, our State Representatives and town officials on this critical topic.
Speakers will include:
State Sen John McKinney (not conf'd)
State Rep Kim Fawcett
State Rep Tony Hwang
State Rep Brenda Kupchick
Michael Tetreau, First Selectman
Mark Barnhart, Director of Fairfield's Office of Community and Economic Development
Steve Grathwohl, Chair, Fairfield Affordable Housing Committee
Kathryn Braun Esq, RTM 8
David Sturges, Lower Bronson Neighborhood Alliance
State Law 8-30g is an appeals statute that provides developers with the ability to circumvent most local zoning ordinances in order to build housing that includes 30% affordable units. Fairfield is seeing attempts by developers to create oversized, dense development on land that is too small and in neighborhoods where such development is out of character. There are also important safety issues and strains on Town infrastructure that result from these ill-advised efforts by developers. Applications for development using 8-30g have skyrocketed, leaving Fairfield with a loss of control over our zoning regulations and our ability to plan for Fairfield's future.