Plainville Seeking To Develop State-Required Affordable Housing Plan

By Brian M. Johnson, The Bristol Press

February 17, 2022

The Town is asking residents to participate in a survey as they seek to develop a state-required Affordable Housing Plan.

Residents can participate in the survey through Feb. 28. The survey is being overseen by the Planning Commission, the staff of the Land Use Department and Cheshire-based consulting firm, SLR International Corporation. Town Planner Mark Devoe said that the town is expected to complete its Affordable Housing Plan by this June.

Town Manager Robert E. Lee said that the town received a $15,000 grant from the State Department of Housing to put together an Affordable Housing Plan.

“Per state legislation, municipalities are required to develop a plan this year,” said Lee. “We applied for a state grant, went through the advertisement process and interviewed firms to conduct the survey. After receiving resident input, it will be brought before Planning and Zoning to adopt a plan.”

The results of the survey will be presented at a Community Workshop. More information on this workshop will be announced at a later date.

Devoe said the state legislation tags on to the Affordable Housing Appeals Act.

“Each town has, by legislative edict, to do a study,” said Devoe. “It’s not so much looking at what each community has got for affordable housing, but the delta between what it has and what the state says it should have. The state says that communities should have 10% of the units in their town be affordable housing.”

Devoe said that affordable housing can be naturally occurring, such as apartments with low monthly rent, or can result from various types of assistance. To meet the criteria of Connecticut General Statute 8-30g and to be considered affordable, housing can occur in the following ways:

. Government Assisted- property that received financial assistance that require the housing be provided to lower income households at affordable rates.

. Tenant Assisted- property occupied by households receiving housing assistance.

. Single family properties purchased with CHFA or USDA mortgages.

. Deed Restricted- property legally restricted to occupancy by lower income households at affordable rates.

Affordable Housing is described as housing that costs 30% or less of household income for households making less than 80% of state or Area Median Income (AMI), whichever is lower.

Income limits are updated on an annual basis by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to HUD, as of 2019, about 3,265 Plainville households (42.7% of total households) make less than 80% of AMI.

“This means that if a family of four makes less than $79,900 per year and spends more than $1,998 on monthly housing costs (including utilities and insurance), then housing is considered unaffordable,” said Devoe. “The same is for an individual who makes less than $55,950 per year and spend more than $1,398 per month.”

Devoe said that the study will help the town to make recommendations for incentives plans that are put into place and for the construction or conversion of existing housing. There is no “one size fits all” approach, he said, to creating housing affordability.

“We want to avoid the old, broken model of building a concentration of block low income housing in one place,” said Devoe. “This plan calls for the construction of percentage of housing development as affordable. They are calling it ‘inclusionary zoning.’”

The state legislature requires that municipalities update their Affordable Housing Plan every 5 years. This is separate from the towns’ Plan of Conservation and Development, which is updated every 10 years, but it will be included in the Plan of Conservation and Development.

The Affordable Housing Plan Survey can be found at surveymonkey.com/r/PlainvilleAffordableHousing. All answers are confidential.

Physical copies can be picked up at the Plainville Town Hall, Planning Office, Plainville Senior Center and Plainville Library. Copies can also be mailed to residents who request them by calling the Planning Department at 860-793-0221, EXT. 7177.

Completed paper copies of the survey can be left at the Plainville Library, Senior Center, Planning Office, or mailed to the Planning Department, Plainville Municipal Center, Once Central Square, Plainville, CT 06062. Scanned responses can be emailed to devoe@plainville-ct.gov.

Brian M. Johnson can be reached at 860-973-1806 or bjohnson@bristolpress.com.