Future Of Fairfield Affordable Housing Considered As Town Creates 5-Year Plan

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield officials are hoping to create the future of affordable housing in town on their own terms.

The Affordable Housing Committee and Town Plan and Zoning Commission met last week to discuss a draft of Fairfield's first state-mandated affordable housing plan. As is often the case in public conversations about Fairfield housing, state law Section 8-30g loomed large over the meeting.

The law, which applies to towns where less than 10 percent of housing stock meets the criteria to be recognized as affordable, requires local approval of residential proposals that include at least 30 percent affordable units, barring a threat to health and safety. In Fairfield, about 2.8 percent of housing is considered affordable.

“We’re not going to get to 10 percent,” Planning Director Jim Wendt said at the Monday meeting. “What we can and will be qualifying for is moratorium credit points.”

By expanding housing options, Fairfield accumulates “housing equivalency points” that count toward a four-year moratorium, which will exempt the town from most appeals under 8-30g, allowing it to regain control over which affordable developments are approved. Points range from 2.5 for certain affordable residences to 0.25 for specific market-rate units.

Fairfield is about 50 points shy of the 430 it needs to reach the moratorium, according to Community and Economic Development Director Mark Barnhart.

“We’re going to need one more project — pretty good-sized project — to put us over,” he said, noting the town wouldn't receive the points for such a development until after an 18-month construction cycle.

Fairfield’s strategies to increase local affordable housing include raising affordability set-aside requirements to as much as 15 percent or more; amending Designed Residence District regulations; and changing design and location guidelines for multifamily and mixed-use housing. The draft of the five-year plan also calls for the Fairfield Housing Authority to add 50 new affordable units, an expansion of the deed-restriction of existing units to make additional units affordable, and the allowance of more types of housing in a broader range of locations.

“We’re pretty developed in Fairfield,” zoning commissioner Alexis Harrison said. “What do we have to work with, realistically?”

Density has not deterred market drive and demand, according to Barnhart.

“There’s very few undeveloped parcels, but that hasn’t stopped development,” he said.

Contractor Glenn Chalder made a case for trying to add more “middle housing” to town, which he characterized as two- and three-unit buildings that would be “smaller and nestled into neighborhoods.” Wendt discussed increasing density in the Designed Residence District to allow developers a kind of freedom that would be “less onerous” for the town than 8-30g.

“Everybody’s looking at this issue and trying to figure out what the next step is,” Chalder said.

The new affordable housing plan, which will be Fairfield’s third since 1988, is due June 1. Nearly 1,200 people responded to a survey about the plan, and a public hearing will be held in May. To read the draft plan, visit https://bit.ly/3qouAGK.