Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday said he wants to see more towns build more housing and develop businesses near train stations, but he stopped short of calling for mandated changes to local zoning policies.
Lamont spoke Thursday from the Meriden train station. The town reconfigured its zoning to allow more density and mixed-use development near the train station and has built hundreds of units of housing nearby, a town official said Thursday.
The governor said he wanted to see more towns mimic Meriden and increase density near public transit stations.
Asked about his housing priorities for the upcoming legislative session, he said he wants to implement the work of the Municipal Redevelopment Authority. The authority — also called MRDA — was established in 2019 without funding.
MRDA is a quasi-public agency that aims to encourage economic growth and transit-oriented development. Transit-oriented development is a land-use concept that encourages density near public transit to create walkable neighborhoods.
In the 2023 legislative session, Lamont proposed a bill that would have required towns that work with MRDA to adopt certain zoning regulations that encourage development near transit stations or in downtowns. The bill also would have made working with MRDA optional.
“For housing, I want to put in place the MRDA program that builds off what they did in the Greater Hartford area,” Lamont said. “I’ve got to get that implemented.”
It would offer certain planning assistance and funding to towns if they implement transit-oriented development measures.
Lamont wants the agency to help towns establish “housing growth zones,” or downtown transit-oriented development. The towns would have to show that they’re going to increase housing production by creating these zones.
MRDA got $60 million in the legislature’s most recent two-year bonding package.
The details of his housing legislative priorities are still being worked out. The session begins next month.
Lamont stopped short Thursday of calling for some of the statewide zoning reform proposed during the last session or mandates for towns to build more affordable housing.
“It says, ‘Look, I believe in local control, but now locals have to take control,’” he said of the MRDA proposal.
“They have to show us where they want that housing to be. Maybe speed up the zoning approval process in those particular downtown areas where they want that housing to go. Give the developer some assurance that we’re going to step up as a state to be their financial partner where needed.”
Zoning reform
It’s similar to other statements from Lamont over recent years. He supports policies that encourage but don’t force municipalities to implement zoning reforms that would allow developers to build more affordable housing.
The state lacks more than 92,000 units of housing that are affordable and available to its lowest-income renters. The number of people experiencing homelessness is up, and housing choice vouchers are often hard for people to use because of the lack of affordable housing.
Housing experts and advocates have said the lack of multifamily housing that’s typically more affordable to people with low incomes is largely because of restrictive local zoning ordinances that make it hard to build apartments throughout much of the state. They’ve said Lamont needs to take a harder approach — that towns have had the chance to voluntarily change their zoning to add more housing, and there needs to be statewide zoning reform.
It’s a political battle that advocates are fighting across the country as many states are hit by rising rents and a lack of housing. The local ordinances, advocates say, also create more segregation between economic classes. Where a person lives determines many of their life outcomes, including where they go to school, their access to outdoor space and healthy food, and it has been tied to variations in health outcomes.
In Connecticut, zoning reform has been hotly contested. Local leaders — both Democrats and Republicans — have opposed proposals, saying they dilute local control and impose one-size-fits-all solutions on towns.
At least two other bills introduced last session aimed to change the ways towns use their land. One concept, called “fair share,” would have evaluated housing needs regionally and divided that need up between towns. The bill died before it got a vote on the House floor, but lawmakers have said they may revisit it in 2025.
The other was another push for transit-oriented development from Desegregate Connecticut. It would use certain infrastructure money to incentivize towns to increase residential density near train and bus stations.
Those opposed to the transit bill said it would mean towns that didn’t create transit-oriented development areas would miss out on certain grant opportunities. The bill died before it reached the floor.
The Desegregate bill focused more on the Office of Responsible Growth than the governor’s proposal last year. It also would have offered financial incentives from different pots of money than the governor’s proposal.
Transit
Speakers at Thursday’s press conference pointed to some of the widespread benefits of building near public transportation. Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati said the town had seen more housing developments and businesses near the train station since they re-worked their zoning regulations.
Ben Limmer, bureau chief at the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Public Transportation, said the Hartford Line has seen records in the number of riders over the past couple of months. It’s surpassed pre-pandemic numbers, he said.
“All of these riders certainly bode well for the future,” Limmer said. “And as a result, we’re looking at a variety of capital enhancements.”
The state has ordered 60 new train cars and is planning two new stations: one in Windsor Locks scheduled to open in 2025, and the other in Enfield scheduled to open in 2026, Limmer said.
The Department of Economic Development has also invested millions to encourage business in transit-oriented districts. The Community Investment Fund and the CT Communities Challenge Program were both state programs to encourage transit-oriented development, said Matt Pugliese, deputy commissioner at DECD.
“This is really about infrastructure investment that is creating the vibrant, walkable, livable, workable communities like what we’re seeing down here in downtown Meriden today,” Pugliese said.
Homelessness
Brandon McGee, deputy commissioner at the Department of Housing, said working with municipalities is key to addressing the state’s housing crisis.
He also said in an interview that the state is evaluating its Homeless Management Information System. Providers at shelters typically enter information into that system — also called the HMIS — to keep track of the number of people experiencing homelessness.
Recent data from providers showed more than 4,000 people experiencing homelessness in Connecticut. More than 1,000 of them were living outside. Providers have said the system is strained and they’re struggling to keep up with the need without more resources.
“In our streets, we’re seeing a rising tide of homelessness caused by an affordable housing crisis that we’re working to obviously manage as best we can,” said Sarah Fox, chief executive officer of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, during a press conference last month. “With families facing skyrocketing rents and our seniors being forced out of their housing, we have 1,000 people who today are outside. They’re cold. They’re scared. Lives are at risk.”
Advocates have recently been calling attention to the growing number of people experiencing homelessness and people staying longer in shelters. During the next legislative session, they plan to ask for $20 million to help meet the need.
McGee said the state wants to evaluate the system and see how reliable the data is and more details about the people experiencing homelessness.
“How real are those numbers?” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to question. … We utilize those numbers to help inform what our strategies would be to increase housing. And where, right? There are some places where, OK, they might be doing OK. But we still need to increase housing throughout the state, in some places more than others.”
Providers have said they enter and update the information in the system often and share information to best serve people experiencing homelessness
McGee added that the department is putting more money into services such as eviction prevention, although he knows it’s not enough to meet the need. He said he wants to find more solutions, such as increased partnerships.
“It’s never enough, he said.
“They’re doing a yeoman’s job with not enough. And that is training for frontline staff, that is providing the necessary pay increase for them. All of that is true. They need it. But on the same token, we’ve made historic investments into the overall system.”