Planners explain benefits of 'overlay zones' for affordable housing

FALLS VILLAGE — The Northwestern Connecticut Planning Collaborative  sponsored a pizza party for town officials and other interested parties Monday, March 16.

In between slices, representatives from Salisbury, Sharon, Falls Village, Cornwall, North Canaan, Kent, Norfolk and Goshen, plus a few from farther-flung towns such as Barkhamsted, listened while planners Jocelyn Ayer and Chris Wood explained what the collaborative has been doing.

They also introduced consultants Ted Carman and Karen Cullen from Concord Square Planning and Development in Boston.

Carman was intimately involved in the creation of Massachusetts law 40R, which creates what are known in Connecticut as Incentive Housing Zones — areas identified as appropriate for developing affordable housing without wholesale rewriting of local zoning regulations.

In Massachusetts, since 40R was passed in 2004, 26 communities have signed on (or are close to it); about 9,600 potential units have been identified; and 2,234 units have been built or are under construction, according to a handout from Concord Square.

Ayer, who has been working on surveys of the collaborative’s towns, stressed that creating “overlay†zones to allow for accessory apartments does not necessarily create undue congestion. “The density we are talking about already exists†in town centers.

Accessory apartments are built into existing houses; they used to be known in some areas as “mother-in-law†apartments. They are considered a way to create new residences without building new structures; and they are often beneficial for older homeowners, empty nesters who have more living space than they need and who benefit from having a younger person on the premises to help with chores.

Carman said of the traditional New England village, “We are, I think, all agreed that this is perhaps the best way to live. But today the traditional New England town could not be built†because of restrictive zoning laws.

Cullen noted that overlay zones are “regulatory bliss.â€â€¯Towns can be as specific about dimensions, mixed uses, environmental concerns, site features, designs, architecture, landscaping — and anything else — as they like.

Which is preferable, Wood said, to having these types of decisions made by developers. “You really want to be out in front on this,†he said.

For more information on the Planning Collaborative, visit nwctplanning.org.