Town getting some help with affordable housing

SALISBURY — The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee met with Leslie Higgins-Biddle of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. for an informational session Monday, Feb. 2, at Town Hall.

Higgins-Biddle said her organization helps groups that are examining the question of affordable housing to organize; assists with the formulation of public policy (e.g., zoning regulations); and helps groups with “actual projects†connect with consultants, builders and funds. 

“We’re signposting, not driving the car,†she said.

Studies and projects are starting

Meanwhile, the Northwestern Connecticut Regional Planning Collaborative is close to announcing the hiring of an engineering firm and a consultant to begin the infrastructure studies for the towns, according to Jocelyn Elder, one of the two planners hired by the collaborative. The collaborative was formed last year to provide technical land-use planning assistance to northwest Connecticut (with an emphasis on the towns of Falls Village, Cornwall, Goshen, North Canaan, Norfolk, Kent, Salisbury and Sharon).

The collaborative has helped member towns obtain some $235,000 in state grants to study affordable housing options. By pooling resources, the collaborative, operating under the auspices of the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governments and the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials, hopes to develop a regional approach to the problem that is adaptable to different circumstances in each town.

The Council of Governments is a group of first selectmen from nine Northwest Corner towns, including all six towns of the Region One school district. The Council of Elected Officials is a group of 11 Litchfield County first selectmen.

The infrastructure gap studies will help the towns make the decisions on what kind of affordable housing to create — new rental units, small single-family houses or condominiums, accessory apartments. 

For towns like Salisbury, with established municipal sewer and water systems, the question is one of capacity, Elder said. If an incentive housing zone — typically established in a village center — is created according to the water system capacity, then the Planning and Zoning Commission can adopt “overlay†zoning within the identified area to allow for building on smaller lots.

This is not as radical as it sounds, Elder added. “A lot of towns already have smaller lot housing at the same density we’re talking about,†she said. “We will be able to show people what it looks like, because it’s there already.â€

“We will end up focusing on a few key areas. We’re not going to be zoning huge swaths of a town†for affordable housing.

Making concrete plans

And where will the money for affordable housing come from? Rick Cantele of the town’s Affordable Housing Committee asked Higgins-Biddle, who replied, “In general, people first worry about the money. Focus first on what you want to accomplish. A good project will get funded.â€

She added, as committee members began stirring in their chairs, “That said, the money situation is changing rapidly,†but emphasized that Local Initiatives Support Corp. specializes in steering towns to the consultants who know their way around state and federal bureaucracies and how to shepherd an idea through the application process.

First Selectman Curtis Rand observed from the audience, “The thing I see missing [for Salisbury] is private developers. We need to find incentives for local builders to cooperate. And availability of land is a hurdle.â€

Higgins-Biddle said there is no single template for creating affordable housing, but by sharing experiences with other towns through Local Initiatives Support Corp. or by direct meetings, solutions can be found.

Think big but start small

Selectman Jim Dresser and fellow committee member Geoff Rossano have had detailed discussions with representatives of affordable housing groups in Cornwall, Kent, Washington and Litchfield in the last six weeks, learning what has worked — and what has not.

Once the infrastructure studies are completed, the Salisbury committee, which has met regularly as a full group and in subcommittees since its formation, should be in a position to make specific recommendations to the town.

During the Feb. 2 meeting, Dresser said he felt the town, compared with others in the collaborative, was somewhat behind the pace and needed to “leap-frog.â€

But Higgins-Biddle said, “You have a lot of the ingredients,†and advised starting off with a modest project.

For more information see nwctplanning.org and lisc.org.

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