All carrot, no stick: Affordable housing advocates mark fresh push to incentivize affordable housing near mass transit
Michael Puffer
Peter Harrison, director of affordable housing advocacy group DesegregateCT, announced a new legislative push Monday during a press conference at GastroPark in West Hartford.
Gathering near a West Hartford rapid bus commuter lot Monday, affordable housing advocates and political allies held a press conference celebrating a fresh push for state support for affordable, multifamily housing near mass transit sites.
DesegregateCT Director Peter Harrison was joined by West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor, State Rep. Kate Farrar, D-20th District, and a handful of social service advocates and activists.
Harrison said he’s confident the latest proposal, dubbed “Work, Live, Ride,” will fare better than a previous, failed proposal to require an increase in allowable housing density around train, bus and other mass-transit options.
This time the proposal would allow municipalities to opt in and – if state lawmakers agree – could marshal hefty financial incentives for those that voluntarily adopt “transit-oriented districts.”
The Desegregate proposal would beef up the state Office of Responsible Growth, granting it more authority, funding and staff. Using this newfound authority and bandwidth, the office would help interested municipalities craft and adopt transit-oriented districts, and then channel existing state resources, like infrastructure and brownfield grants, to capitalize on the new districts.
Harrison said advocates also want to empower the office with a new grant pool to support development in new TOD districts. A specific amount for that request has not been specified but Harrison said somewhere in the range of $50 million would be appropriate.
Advocates say the proposal would alleviate the scarcity of housing options and lack of affordable housing that, among other problems, makes it hard to recruit workers to Connecticut.
“We are happy to support this because we know that Connecticut’s future really depends on whether we are going to build the amount of housing we need to sustain our growth and make this a family friendly state for generations to come,” said Eli Sabin, legislative director for CT Voices for Children.
Cantor said about 6,000 West Hartford households struggle to make ends meet, which is one of the reasons the town strives to add to its housing stock. About 1,000 new housing units are expected to be added within two years, Cantor said, and the town has set aside $6 million of its federal COVID-19 relief funds to incentivize additional affordable housing development. The town has also already created a TOD district.
“This is really important,” Cantor said. “We have, I think, 22 homes for sale. Normally we have 200.”
DesegregateCT had the backing of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities for its most recent effort. This year, advocates are also coordinating with the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.
The CBIA, the state’s largest business advocacy group, was not represented at Monday’s press conference. Harrison said he is confident that group will support the bill when it comes up for debate at the state legislature. Harrison said the proposal’s fate will also depend on support and funding, Gov. Ned Lamont.
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