Waterford to hold back-to-back discussions Tuesday on affordable housing plan
Waterford — Two virtual meetings on Tuesday will include discussion of the town's draft affordable housing plan.
Required by the state as part of Public Act 17-170, the plan has to explain how the municipality intends to increase its number of afforable housing developments. Muncipalities have until June to adopt a plan but not before receiving input from the community.
The town's consultant from Planimetrics will present the draft affordable housing plan to the public at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday via a Zoom link and will allow people to ask questions and comment. The webinar meeting number is 841 7189 5743.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will continue discussion on the plan during its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. via a separate Zoom link. Planning Director Abby Piersall said the consultant will review what was discussed at the first meeting with the commission and then talk about any changes or questions the commission has about the draft plan.
The term "affordable housing" means housing affordable to households earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income and spending no more than 30% of their income on housing. In Waterford, 80% of the area median income translates to $51,000 for a one-person household up to $79,000 for a household of five or more people, according to the draft plan.
When people at 80% of AMI and below spend more than 30% of their income on housing, they are considered "housing cost burdened," meaning they do not have funds for food, transportation, other bills, etc. According to the draft plan, more than 2,100 households in Waterford are "cost burdened" — 33% of which are renters, 28% homeowners with a mortgage and 22% mortgage-free homeowners.
As for Waterford's current housing situation, the town has 419 state-recognized affordable units and would need twice as many units to meet the state's 10% affordable housing threshold. Because of this, the town is subject to the Connecticut "Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure," in which courts may override local zoning denials of affordable housing proposals.
The draft plan's recommendations for increasing affordable housing include establishing an affordable housing committee, reinvigorating the town's Housing Authority, implementing inclusionary zoning and more.
The draft plan can be found on the town's website under the project page.
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