After the police assassination of George Floyd, a Connecticut law professor invited architects, planners and land use lawyers to discuss how local zoning worsens the state’s racial disparities. More than 200 people logged her into the Improvement Zoom meeting.
Months later, the group evolved into a coalition of more than 60 organizations, called Desigrate Connecticut. It has compiled a package of zoning changes for lawmakers to consider in a legislative session detailing how to bring more equity to a state with some of the highest levels of income inequality.
“People can see with their own eyes that segregation exists in Connecticut and segregation, they don’t know why. And zoning is one reason, “Sarah Broinn, law professor at the University of Connecticut and Yale University. “This goes to the very core of the opportunities that families have to live in integrated communities and the opportunities they need to thrive.”
The nation’s racial count has made it easier for people to live wherever they want in the state, where Democrats control the state legislature, but there has been some resistance, especially from residents and leaders of small and often wealthy communities .
In recent hearings of housing-related legislation, opponents have argued that proposed zoning changes from the state could end local decision-making of zoning matters and that all fits of one size do not operate in a state with 169 unique cities And cities, many of which have plans to increase affordable housing opportunities.
“When we came here 25 years ago, one of the things that came to us was the character of the community, the small town feels we have,” New Cannon resident Erin Headley said during an online public hearing. Where it testified against a bill that would abolish certain public hearing requirements for accessory units, such as in-law apartments.
“I don’t feel like we need to ‘city-fire’ all the suburbs of our city, which is what makes our rural cities so desirable to start with,” she told state lawmakers.
Bronin says many concerns about her group’s efforts are unfounded.
Brian said, “Studies at the national level have not shown that the people who have been the most targeted at their rhetoric, single-family homeowners … have lost anything and in fact, they have a lot to offer.” . ” “Not only from rising property values, but also the benefits that come with living in a more integrated society.”
In addition to making it easier to allow ancillary housing units, Desigrate Connecticut proposes capping parking mandates, encouraging transit-oriented development, training local zoning board members, and creating model zoning codes that allow cities and towns to choose , Which includes defining “character” with physical characteristics. .
Freshman state Rep. Kimberly Fiorello, a Republican from Greenman, said at the same hearing that she heard from both Democratic and Republican constituents, who are concerned about setting local zoning regulations. During his election campaign in 2020, Fiorello warned “the zoning and cancell culture continues on the ballots this November” and that “activists and legislators plan to change how we live in our cities.”
He told fellow MPs: “Yes, we want more diverse housing and a more efficient government, but not at the cost of giving up our local voices, local transparency and local accountability.”
Critics of the status quo have historically argued that some zoning policies negatively affect minority and low-income communities, and cause communities to move out of affluent areas.
Nationwide, some planners have worked to help make housing more affordable and boost equity. Sacramento, California; Portland, Oregon; And Minneapolis has been one of the few places in recent years to end single-family zoning, a policy that has received criticism because minority communities are statistically likely to live in a multi-family setting.
The killing of Floyd, coupled with the impact of the coronovirus epidemic on minority communities, has made many planners more aware of the social impacts of zoning laws, said Desri Powell, an urban planner in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Who founded the planning firm Blakespe.
“They now know history. They know the ugly side of history, not just the good things. “And I think it’s terrible for some of your more experienced planners or older planners, some white and black people. It is out of mystery. People know and people are doing their homework and people are actually finding ways to improve it, even if it is on a small scale. “
Zoning legislation has been under scrutiny in Connecticut cities for years. But recently the issue has intensified, notably in Woodbridge, a New Haven County community of about 9,000 with a city center on the National Register of Historic Places. Tim Herbst, a former Republican candidate for governor, is representing a dozen residents in protest against changes proposed by the Open Communities Alliance, an organization established in 2013 to improve access to affordable housing. Among other things, the group wants up to four units allowed in single-family homes applicable on the 1.5-acre trek in the city.
Herbst said he does not oppose the expansion of affordable housing, but does not respond to a top-up approach imposed by the state.
“What they’re saying is the planning and zoning commissions don’t matter,” Herbst said. “And if this law is passed and if the governor signs it into law, then I’m telling you all, Republicans and Democrats are the same, I believe you see a bipartisan rebellion in this state “The one you will never like is seen.”
The group’s executive director Erin Boggs said Woodbridge was targeted by the Open Communities Alliance because its “exclusive zoning policies” include, but are not limited to, a single-family home.
The coalition is also operating in Glastonbury and Fairfield and has conducted outreach in Connecticut, several other communities throughout the state, according to US Census data, the largest income inequality in the US in Columbia in 2018.
“We are working in many cities across the state and there has actually been real growth from white suburban cities since the summer and protests,” Boggs said.
Desegregate Connecticut has held workshops and meetings with thousands of people across the state since that first zoom call.
“Such a coalition has not been formed in support of land use in the past,” Bronin said. “And so I really hope that the legislature takes these ideas seriously … and we can adopt these incremental changes to begin the process of making Connecticut more integrated.”
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