New Canaan wins affordable housing moratorium

New Canaan announced on August 19 that it had successfully re-applied for and received a moratorium on 8-30g applications within the town.

8-30g is a law which allows developers to bypass many zoning restrictions on multifamily and mixed-use structures in municipalities where less than 10 percent of the housing is deemed affordable by the state of Connecticut.

New Canaan has secured a four-year moratorium on new 8-30g applications, although existing applications including the controversial Weed Street development, may continue to move forward as the developers have brought cases involving their applications before the state Superior Court.

According to the press release from New Canaan, Department of Housing Commissioner Selia Mosquera-Bruno said in a letter, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the town of New Canaan for continuing to address the affordable housing needs in your community.”

The specific goals reached and plans set to be implemented that demonstrate New Canaan has made sufficient progress towards meeting housing affordability goals were not disclosed by the town.

“New Canaan has worked tirelessly in partnership with the New Canaan Housing Authority to provide affordable housing solutions for our community,” said First Selectman Dionna Carlson. “We will continue to identify strategic opportunities to add to our affordable housing stock in an effort to earn future moratoriums and maintain control of local development.”