Connecticut Governor Vetoes Rewrite of Affordable Housing Standards

An attempt to rewrite Connecticut law to enable municipalities to qualify for moratoriums on appeals of local zoning denials for affordable housing developments was vetoed by the governor.

 

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy rejected the legislation, House Bill 6880–An Act Concerning the Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Procedure, which would have lowered the minimum number of housing unit-equivalent points needed for a moratorium, expanded the unit types that count towards a moratorium, and redefined median income for purposes of the incentive housing zone statutes. The legislation would have expired after five years.

 

In announcing his veto, Malloy cited the historical precedent of redlining and voiced his concern that the legislation would encourage discrimination in housing.

 

“For many lower-income residents who must work in areas of the state where the cost of housing is high, a long history of decisions and discriminatory policies has made securing that housing persistently difficult,” Malloy said. “Those decisions include the historical practice of redlining—denying mortgages to entire neighborhoods because of the residents’ race or ethnicity—and passing restrictive zoning rules that make it nearly impossible to build multifamily housing, or that require home lots to be so large that only the wealthy can buy them. These kinds of rules effectively price people of limited means who work in such towns out of the market. It is our responsibility as a state, and the responsibility of every city and town in Connecticut, to correct this injustice.”

 

The legislation’s authors vowed to fight to override the governor’s veto.

---