A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF “HOME RULE” IN MUNICIPAL ZONING DECISION MAKING
WHEREAS, Connecticut’s towns and cities successfully use local zoning and planning processes to balance private property rights, the community’s interests, demands on infrastructure, housing needs, and economic growth; and
WHEREAS, local control and decision making empowers the residents and taxpayers of each town and city to carefully tailor zoning policies that reflect its unique geography, economy, and housing market; and
WHEREAS, localized decision making ensures the greatest level of accountability while allowing affected community members the greatest level of input and the platform through a public hearing to provide specific, relevant information on potential impacts that only they would have knowledge of; and
WHEREAS, local control and local input enable neighbors and the local community to provide beneficial suggestions, identify errors and maximize community buy-in on zoning proposals; and
WHEREAS, proposals have been introduced in the General Assembly to strip local planning and zoning processes from towns and cities; and
WHEREAS, proposals have been introduced in the General Assembly to allow BY RIGHT market value multi-family development that will not generate any new affordable housing units; and
WHEREAS, proposals have been introduced in the General Assembly to allow outside Housing Authorities within 15 miles radius to develop affordable housing projects within our [town/city]; and
WHEREAS, BY RIGHT multi-family development can lead to exponential market value overbuilding and can cause adverse impacts to town infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, BY RIGHT development gives outsized rights to builders over all other property owners and prevents local Planning and Zoning Commissions from identifying the potential impacts of their project and imposing conditions upon a developer to address those direct impacts; and
WHEREAS, eliminating public hearings and community input on zoning matters would have unintended consequences such as increased infrastructure costs, increased local property taxes, and reduced home and business values which will be born by the town residents; and
WHEREAS, each town and city already have the choice to modify or abolish its zoning ordinances if the elected town or city government decides it best serves the community’s interests; and
NOW BE IT RESOLVED the __________________[] of the [town/city] of _______________ opposes and State Mandated one size fits all Zoning Legislation and the ability of any outside housing authority to have jurisdiction on our town’s Affordable Housing plan and any similar legislation that would further overrule, remove or diminish local control and decision making related to planning and zoning or affordable housing from the [town/city] of [___________________________]; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution shall be sent to all State Representatives and State Senators representing this town, to all members of the State Legislature’s Planning and Development, Finance, and Housing Committees, and to all legislators sponsoring bills that remove local control of planning and zoning and affordable housing.
