This story is part of CT Mirror Explains, an ongoing effort to distill our wide-ranging reporting into a "what you need to know" format and provide practical information to our readers.

This story has been updated.

A significant piece of housing legislation, House Bill 5002, has been one of the most contentious bills of the session. The measure takes on zoning, homelessness and fair rent commissions, among other things.

The legislation was debated for hours in both the House and the Senate, before passing each chamber with narrow margins. Gov. Ned Lamont plans to sign the bill into law.

The bill aims to address Connecticut’s housing crisis. For years, the state hasn’t built enough housing, particularly multifamily housing, and now lacks tens of thousands of units. This has resulted in a constrained market, according to housing experts.

Here’s what you need to know about the bill.

Does it change my town’s zoning?

It depends.

Most of the proposals are opt-in, meaning that towns have a choice and there isn’t anything that forces them to take certain actions. But some state funding is prioritized based on whether towns decide to participate, which lawmakers say incentivizes the towns to change their zoning.

One piece of the bill known as “Towns Take the Lead” divides housing need among towns based on regional need and assigns each town a set number of units to plan and zone for. That means every five years, towns will have a certain number of units they need to plan for, and some of those units will have to be for families or set aside for certain income levels.

Another change to watch for is Lamont’s proposal to allow towns to establish “priority housing development zones” that set a minimum density of four units per acre for single-family housing, six for duplexes or townhouses and 10 for multi-family housing.

The zones allow this type of development “as of right,” or without a hearing before the local planning and zoning board. Towns that adopt these zones have easier pathways to temporary reprieves to a decades-old housing law known as 8-30g.

The housing law allows developers to sue towns if their affordable housing proposals are denied, unless it’s for a health or safety reason. Towns can get temporary pauses under the law by showing they’re making progress toward increasing their designated affordable housing.

If towns establish the housing zones under the new law, they can more easily be exempted from the developer lawsuits.

One provision that will affect all towns requires them to allow developers to convert commercial buildings to residential with nine or fewer units without a special hearing before the planning and zoning commission. Even if towns don’t actually change their ordinances, state law would supersede the local regulations, meaning towns would have to allow these conversions.

Will there be more housing options near public transit?

There could be if your town opts into a proposal known as “Work, Live, Ride.” It will also likely change the number of parking lots built in your town.

Work, Live, Ride aims to get towns to increase housing supply near train and bus stations by prioritizing certain infrastructure funding for towns that establish “transit-oriented districts,” where certain development is allowed without a hearing before a planning and zoning commission.

The bill, known as Work, Live, Ride, aims to increase the housing stock and encourage people to use public transportation, which advocates say is good for the environment.

The bill bans minimum off-street parking requirements for certain residential developments. This allows developers to cut down on building costs by not adding as many parking spaces.

Will this help the homeless population?

Advocates say it will.

H.B. 5002 includes a couple of measures to help the unhoused population. It bans towns from using so-called “hostile architecture” on public property. Hostile architecture is an urban design architecture in which certain public structures are designed to discourage behaviors such as sleeping or lying down in public. It often comes in the form of spiked surfaces under bridges, narrow benches or rocks strewn across grassy areas.

Homelessness has been increasing over the past few years in Connecticut, and as shelters reach capacity, more people are forced to stay outside.

What else might change in my town?

There are 32 more towns that will be required to create fair rent commissions.

The bill mandates that any town with a population of 15,000 or more establish a commission, which are local bodies that can make legally binding rulings on landlord-tenant issues such as complaints about unfair rent increases or housing conditions.

Previously, only towns with populations of 25,000 or more had to have fair rent commissions.

What makes this controversial?

While each measure had specific reasons for support or opposition, there were some themes across both. 

Supporters say that the state has to step in, that towns haven’t done enough in decades to make sure there’s enough housing to go around. They want to make it cheaper and easier to build housing and find other ways of keeping rents down.

Opponents fear a loss of local control and that towns that don’t opt in to specific measures will lose out on state grants they need, especially funding for bridges and roads.

Housing has long been a tough political issue in Connecticut, particularly when it comes to zoning reform. This was reflected in the tight margins in both the House and Senate votes, where moderate Democrats voted against the bill alongside Republicans.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect the portion of the bill that refers to commercial property conversions.