Milford Looks to Add Affordable Housing by Tweaking Rules

November 19, 2024
by Christian Metzger, Staff Writer, Connecticut Post

City officials are trying to bring more affordable multi-family housing to Milford's lower south side and in turn encourage new families to move into the area and address what they see as an increased need for housing as home prices continue to rise.

A key part of the plan might be zoning changes, which the Planning and Zoning Board discussed at a recent meeting.

The changes would impact the city's CDD-2 Zone, which occupies Bridgeport Avenue — between the Washington Bridge and 1-95 Exit and Naugatuck Avenue. It's an area occupied largely by single-family homes and small commercial businesses near the West Shore Middle School and the Boys & Girls Club.

Board members said they hope this will address what they observed was a complete lack of affordable development in the area under the existing regulations. Currently the regulation stipulates that affordable units must make up 30 percent of new multi-family developments, but that has led to no affordable developments being constructed due to the lack of incentive for developers.

"If a developer can come in and they don't have to give 30 percent of the project — it's something that's less — it would give us something," said City Planner David Sulkis. "That's really an incentive for someone to develop and give us something as opposed to what we have now, which is nothing."

With more affordable housing units, members hoped they would be able to give more opportunities to lower income families who are strained by rising expenses, making note of teachers and emergency service workers who provide essential services, but are often paid slimmer wages.

Under the newly drafted regulations, the board looks to provide more incentives while decreasing requirements, while also keeping the multi-unit buildings relatively compact so as to not change the character of the area.

New mixed-use buildings cannot have more than six bedrooms on the site plan without approval and be located on 5,000 square foot minimum lots.

As an incentive for developers who might be looking to satisfy the affordable housing requirements, those who have 10 percent of the proposed units dedicated to more affordable units can have the overall maximum height of the building increased from 40 to 60 feet, and the amount of required parking reduced by 25 percent.

Members wanted to focus more on satisfying residential needs for the area, as some felt there would be an excess number of commercial properties in the coming years and didn't want to oversaturate the market.

"We do feel, I think, collectively, there is a housing shortage and one way to mitigate it is to encourage it," said board member Jim Quish "It helps existing Milfordites build some wealth by maximizing the potential of their properties, so I think doing something is a good thing."

The draft regulations will be put forward to get input from developers and the public in January, the board said.

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