RTM Approves Affordable Housing Trust Fund For Greenwich

GREENWICH, CT — In an effort to address the shortage of affordable housing in Greenwich, the Representative Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved the creation of an affordable housing trust fund on Monday night by a vote of 176 in favor, 22 opposed with five abstentions.

The fund would come at no cost to the town. A seven-member board would oversee the fund, and allocate privately raised money to private developers to develop or purchase additional affordable units, renovate existing units, and potentially enhance the affordability of existing units. Town Comptroller, Pete Mynarski, would be the fiduciary custodian of the trust.

The RTM would get involved and vote on allocations starting at $500,000, and the threshold by which the RTM rejects an allocation will be by a two-thirds vote. Additionally, the chairperson of the board of trustees will present an annual report to the RTM each year summarizing the activities of the trust.

Under the 8-30g state statute, Greenwich has not yet achieved the 10 percent affordable housing mandate from the state. Chair of the Planning & Zoning Commission Margarita Alban has said the trust fund would help reach that 10 percent mark.

Roughly 1,200 units of affordable housing units are needed to bring Greenwich into compliance, said Alexis Voulgaris, Chair of the RTM Health and Human Services Committee as well as the special committee put together to work on crafting the trust.

Voulgaris noted that the trust is designed to "work in partnership with developers who are looking for financial assistance" in building projects.

She said municipalities that don't have a minimum of 10 percent of affordable housing stock are vulnerable to developers who can largely ignore local planning and zoning regulations and build large developments, as long as 30 percent of the units in the development are designated as affordable housing. The trust gives Greenwich more control.

"In exchange for receiving some financial assistance for the cost of the building, the developer would scale back the project," Voulgaris said. "With the potential of a smaller building comes the potential for less bulk, something that may be more aesthetically pleasing, a building that is more consistent with the Plan of Conservation and Development, a project that has less of an impact on parking, traffic, sewer, water."

The original proposal for the trust fund called for an 11-person board, but the special committee recommended seven.

"We felt that a smaller board comprised of members with very specific and targeted skill sets would be the most effective way to evaluate and review applications," Voulgaris said.

District 1 member Frederick Lee said that without the trust, the character of Greenwich's neighborhoods will be under attack by developers using 8-30g to build big developments

"Everything that we love and appreciate about Greenwich would be a thing of the past. Having the affordable housing trust fund and working with the Greenwich housing authority would alleviate this by increasing our affordable housing stock, prevent overdevelopment and overpopulation, maintain home rule where Greenwich will be able to decide what works for Greenwich, and allow the units to be created to be used for town employees who currently are unable to live in Greenwich," Lee said.

State Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-36) applauded the RTM's work on approving the trust fund.

"It's a very elegant and effective measure in order to assert more input and discretion over planning and development in the face of 8-30g," Fazio said. "8-30g is a problem no matter what, but this is the best alternative we have in front of us for asserting more local control. In the long run, we do need to make alterations on 8-30(g) at the state level."