Stonington — The revised draft of the town's proposed affordable housing plan, which the Planning and Zoning Commission could approve Tuesday, is now missing many of the recommendations contained in the initial proposal that was the subject of a public hearing earlier this month.

Those recommendations prompted criticism from residents at the April 5 public hearing.

The commission then met last week to consider what it had heard and made changes to the plan. The commission instructed Town Planner Keith Brynes to revise the proposal so that it meets the state law requiring the town to adopt a plan, but to leave the details to a new affordable housing commission that will be established by the Board of Selectmen.

The result is the original 33-page plan has now been reduced to five pages, just three of which contain recommendations. The town had used a $15,000 grant to hire the firm Goman + York to write the original plan. 

Gone are recommendations that the town establish an affordable housing trust fund that would provide loans or grants to affordable housing developments, or buy land or build affordable housing. Also eliminated is the recommendation that the town create tax increment financing districts in the areas around exits 90 and 92 off Interstate 95 to support affordable housing. With such districts, the town would have expended money up front to fund infrastructure improvements, land acquisition or other aspects of an affordable housing project, often through bonding, and then repaid the money with tax revenue from the project.

Instead, the revised plan calls for the creation of an affordable housing commission to study the two proposals as well as a property tax abatement policy.

Instead of the original recommendation that would require developers to make 10% to 20% of residential units in projects affordable, the new plan calls for considering a requirement that residential developments "of a certain size to provide a minimum percentage of units as affordable." The size of such developments and percentage of units are not specified.

Also eliminated were the first 16 pages of the report, which discussed in detail issues such as the impact of multifamily and affordable housing on property values, homelessness, flood and coastal issues, demographics and housing needs, what affordable housing means and other issues. The only paragraph that survived was one about universal human rights and equality by Eleanor Roosevelt.  

The plan now contains slightly more than a page and a half of zoning changes to consider.

These include considering reducing the 2,000-square-foot minimum requirement for building size to have an accessory apartment in an effort to allow such dwellings in smaller homes; considering allowing duplexes on the same minimum lot size as single-family homes where duplexes are allowed; and allowing multifamily uses in residential districts served by adequate public sewer and water or wells and septic systems, and also in commercial districts.

Also suggested is a comprehensive review of uses allowed in each zone and reviewing the maximum number of units, lot area requirements and minimum percentage of commercial use requirements in mixed-use projects. 

The PZC is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the former Pawcatuck Middle School to review the revised proposal and then vote on it.

Adoption of the plan does not mean the recommendations are in effect. That would take additional approvals and hearings by the commission to alter the zoning regulations or by the selectmen and residents.

State law requires municipalities to adopt an affordable housing plan by June 1. Under state law, when communities have less than 10% affordable housing, developers do not have to conform to zoning regulations when they submit projects that have 30% of the units considered affordable. Currently, about 6% of housing in town is dedicated as affordable.

Housing is defined as affordable when it is "sold or rented at or below prices for which a household pays 30% or less of their income;" in Stonington, the median family household income is $79,250.

Over the past several years, several projects with affordable housing have been built in Pawcatuck but not other areas of town. Late last year, residents rejected a tax break for a developer looking to build an 82-unit apartment building on the former Campbell Grain property in downtown Pawcatuck that would have contained some affordable units. 

j.wojtas@theday.com