Selectmen Approve Affordable Housing Trust Fund, RTM Votes Next

GREENWICH, CT—The Board of Selectmen on Thursday approved plans for the Greenwich Affordable Housing Trust Fund, sending the item to the Representative Town Meeting for a final vote. Town officials hope the fund will help Greenwich when it comes to offering affordable housing.

The fund would come at no cost to the town. An 11-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.

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

The proposal was first read to the Board of Selectmen in March after contentious public hearings at the state level on several zoning bills that many in Greenwich, including First Selectman Fred Camillo, said would strip local municipalities of zoning control.

Camillo said in public testimony at the time that the “worthy goals” of social equity and affordable housing can best be accomplished through local authorities.

Alban discussed several small "technical changes" to the trust fund language at Thursday's Selectman meeting before the unanimous approval.

Language related to appointing board members was changed to be completely consistent with the Town Charter and how the RTM Appointments Committee wanted it, Alban said.

Alban also noted that with the help of town attorney Aamina Ahmad, a "little teeny loophole" was found in the conflict of interest clause, which was tightened up.

"What we want to make sure of is that nobody who is involved in an affordable housing project gets any kind of involvement in voting on a project," Alban said.

Per Selectperson Jill Oberlander's request after the first read in March, Alban and her team worked with Mynarski to "ensure that the language regarding investment of trust funds was consistent with state statute and that the trust would have liquidity and not be in any long term investments that couldn't be broken up quickly should the money be needed."

Also, trust fund expenditures of $500,000 or more on a project will have to go before the RTM.

"I don't mind having the oversight [from the RTM] if it's for an amount of money that still leaves the trust flexibility," Alban said.

Selectperson Lauren Rabin said people have already asked her how they can donate to the fund. Alban added that there will be a link for contributions on the Affordable Housing Task Force website.

The idea for an affordable housing trust fund was first proposed to the RTM in 1988, but it was tabled. A year later, the 8-30g affordable housing statute was approved, and since then, Greenwich has not met the 10% affordable housing goal.

Sam Romeo, Chair of the Greenwich Communities (formerly Housing Authority of Greenwich) Board of Commissioners, said in March that the trust fund is an "excellent solution to a lot of our poblems."

"I'm grateful and pleased to see we're moving forward into the 21st century with some ideas that would make Greenwich even greater than it already is," he said during the first read of the proposal in March.

The RTM will consider the fund at its June meeting, but they typically don't vote on a first read. Because the RTM does not meet over the summer, a vote could come in September.

"This idea is 33-years-old. It didn't pan out in 1988, but I want to thank you for bringing it forward here. I think we're going to get it done this time," Camillo told Alban on Thursday. "This is another example of Greenwich leading the way on this. We'll continue working at things on the local level without Hartford mandating it."