The Connecticut Department of Housing has determined that Darien meets the legal requirements for a moratorium from state rules that would allow developers to get approval for low-income housing projects from a judge rather than town land use boards.
First Selectman Jayme Stevenson announced the state’s approval of the moratorium for Darien in a news release which the Darien Times published an article about on Wednesday but that Stevenson didn’t email to Darienite.com until 2:49 p.m. on Thursday. (Darienite.com has requested that Stevenson release news releases to all news organizations at the same time.)
Here’s the news release:
On Sept. 30, 2016, the Town of Darien officially heard back from the State Department of Housing regarding its application for a second moratorium as specifically allowed under Section 8-30g of the Connecticut General Statutes.
In order to qualify, the Town needed to establish 141 “housing unit equivalent points”. That number is 2 percent of the housing units in Darien as of the last US Census (the 2010 Census).
After reviewing the application, the state Department of Housing determined that Darien had achieved those necessary 141 points, and met the requirements for a four-year moratorium.
In 2010, Darien became the third community in the State to qualify for a four-year moratorium, after Berlin and Trumbull. That moratorium was officially granted by the State in October 2010, after they were able to confirm that the construction of units at AvalonBay Communities and Clock Hill Homes created enough housing equivalent points for the town to qualify. Since that time, the Town of Ridgefield has also applied for and been granted a moratorium.
Darien began this second moratorium application process in October 2014, with its “Intent to Apply”, and then sent its official application into the State Department of Housing in December 2014. At that time, the State determined that Darien fell 4.5 points short, solely based upon calculations related to The Heights at Darien. Since that previous application, three deed-restricted affordable units were created at 269 Hoyt St., which allowed the town to be credited with those necessary 4.5 points.
“The Town of Darien continues its strong commitment to efforts to provide affordable housing, within the Town”, explained First Selectman Jayme Stevenson. “At this point, we have just received notification from the State Department of Housing on Friday. In the meantime, additional units will be coming on-line shortly with the near completion of the Leroy-West project. This will create five new deed-restricted units. After that, the Town expects the reconstruction of Old Town Hall Homes to occur, which will further expand housing opportunities within our community.”