Affordable Housing In Fairfield: Residents Invited To Share Input

FAIRFIELD, CT — A new law requires Connecticut municipalities to update their affordable housing plans every five years — and Fairfield residents are invited to share their opinions on housing in town at a public meeting next month.

Fairfield's Affordable Housing Committee is currently updating its 2014 Affordable Housing Plan, which town officials said outlines ways to develop and implement housing options over the next five years.

The committee has finished a draft report, and it will solicit public comment on it via the meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, May 11 from 7-9 p.m. in the Board of Education Conference Room (501 Kings Hwy E., Fairfield, Room 295 A/B).

Read the draft report here.

"This issue is important to many people, and having an opportunity to share ideas will help the Town make good choices and develop a plan to proactively address these challenges," said Mark Barnhart, Fairfield's director of community and economic development.

Anyone unable to attend the meeting can email their comments by May 11 to AHCCommittee@fairfieldct.org, or mail them to the Office of Community and Economic Development (Old Town Hall, 611 Old Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824).

After the public meeting, the Affordable Housing Committee will complete a report and present its findings to the Board of Selectmen.

In Fairfield, a family of four making less than $80,480 per year or an individual making less than $56,336 per year is considered low-income and could qualify for affordable housing.

The State of Connecticut considers housing to be affordable if the total costs do not exceed 30 percent of a household's income for persons or families whose annual income does not exceed the statewide or area median income (AMI).