The state zoning override law known as 8-30g is the most common issue I hear as I walk around visiting residents as I campaign in the 132nd General Assembly District. And for good reason – this 35-year-old law leads to large, out-of-scale developments which are more easily developed due to severely restricting zoning commissions’ authority.
This is bad enough, but worse land use bills are being proposed in Hartford session after session, such as so-called ‘Fair Share’, ‘Work Live Ride’ and others. These are bills which would erode local zoning authority and effectively replace it with centralized land use planning at the state level.
In testimony before the state legislature, I vigorously opposed Work Live Ride, because it would replace local zoning decision-making with an unelected state official on large project areas near bus or train stations. It was passed in the House, but luckily, the Senate did not approve that bill. It will certainly be reintroduced in the next legislative session, as it is being supported by RPA, a powerful New York City-based organization.
There is more. In 2023, the “Fair Share” (Part 1) legislation was approved as a law which sets up a bureaucratic process with the goal of mandating minimum quotas of new affordable housing development to be built in most towns statewide. “Fair Share” Part 2, the implementation phase, is expected to be considered in the 2025 legislative session. This phase would require many towns including Fairfield to add thousands of housing units. Neither Fair Share nor Work Live Ride would end or reform 8-30g and will therefore add further development pressures placed on towns.
We do need greater diversity of housing, including affordable housing, and I have supported the liberalizing of our town zoning regulations to do just that. Fairfield has expanded our Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU’s) regulations, our inclusionary zoning requirements for affordable housing, and our transit-oriented district regulations around the Commerce Drive area.
We are working on the next 10-year master plan which will expand on these initiatives. Fairfield was one of the first communities to create an affordable housing plan in the 1980s – long before they were mandated. As much as we need housing, we also must be mindful of the need to maintain our small businesses, unique neighborhoods, school districts, and preserve our precious historic and open space resources- once they are gone they are lost forever. This is all best accomplished by local decision making – not by state officials far from our town.
Statute 8-30g ties the hands of our locally elected and accountable zoning commission — preventing the commission from using its own zoning regulations when it reviews 8-30g housing developments. This has many negative results. It encourages massive, out-of-scale apartment complexes as developers seek to maximize profits by offsetting the 30% of units that must be affordable with market rate units; it eats up existing ‘middle housing’-like duplexes and triplexes that fit into the local area; and it replaces small businesses with all-residential apartment buildings. It also doesn’t create permanent affordable housing units. And because the law is stacked against local zoning authority, towns lose about three-quarters of all 8-30g court appeals. In the last month in Fairfield, we have lost several significant court cases.
The recent push in Hartford to pass bills limiting local zoning authority or imposing housing density mandates has not addressed 8-30g. Some bills would add density without much affordability, leaving towns with a worsening ratio of affordable to market-rate housing, thus making them perpetually subject to its draconian reach.
I believe that 8-30g reform is needed, and as a top priority this is what I will support if I am elected to the General Assembly. There are a number of serious flaws that should be corrected- for example:
The 10% ‘exemption’ ratio should be eliminated because it irrationally includes components outside of a town’s control and yet towns are judged on progress towards that ratio.
The temporary moratorium includes a complex calculation which is weighted against senior housing. This must be changed to encourage housing for those who invested decades into the towns they wish to remain in.
The law’s unfair shifting of the burden of proof (from applicants appealing decisions, to the zoning board) should be removed.
Zoning boards should not be prevented from using the regulations they have adopted with great care and public input. Zoning regulations enable towns to grow in a planful and orderly way, without overly burdening infrastructure, school facilities and town budgets, while preserving neighborhood stability, open space and historic resources. Towns know best what growth is needed, and where multifamily housing is best suited.
The various flaws and deficiencies of 8-30g seems to lead to as much litigation as affordable housing, and the recent influx of new housing bills have repeated similar mistakes.
The legislative process is too often concluded without enough consideration of the down side — the unanticipated negative impacts. Better legislation is needed, following a more nuanced approach when seeking to expand the diversity of housing statewide, including affordable housing. That should include inviting public participation throughout the process, relying on input from stakeholders and experts, and ensuring transparency and communication as bills are crafted. When I was elected to the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, I started a bi-monthly newsletter to inform the public and encourage participation, because I believe town residents’ voices lead to better decisions.
We owe it to our future generations to protect our natural and historic resources, our quality of life, and the cohesion of our many and diverse neighborhoods that we love. We also owe it to future generations to create laws that work. This cannot be done by enabling state officials to supersede our locally accountable (and elected) zoning commissioners.
I will vigorously oppose any legislation that would remove public hearings or restrict local zoning and planning boards’ ability to pass zoning regulations, or to rely on those regulations when reviewing proposed developments. And I will support better public participation into all phases of the legislative process as well as “legislative due diligence” to understand real world impacts before voting on new bills. In this way, we can achieve the goals of expanded housing opportunities, while preserving and enhancing the best parts of our local municipalities.
I want to remind you that land is not partisan, and land use decisions are not partisan, and state laws governing land use authority must not be partisan. I am an independent thinker and will honor the endorsement I received from the Connecticut Independent party. If elected as your state representative in the 132nd House District, this is how I will represent the residents of our town.
Alexis Harrison is a commissioner on the Fairfield Town Plan and Zoning Commission, and is a candidate for State Representative in the 132nd district.