Norwalk council committee adopts Affordable Housing Action Plan amendment to POCD after lengthy discussion; one council member opposes

The Economic and Community Development Committee on March 17 voted to amend the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) to adopt Norwalk’s Affordable Housing Action Plan and implement its recommendations.

Michelle Jeske of the Planning and Zoning Department presented the plan’s background, outreach and priority actions. She said the plan responds to a state requirement and to local housing needs, identifies zoning and land-use changes, public-private partnership opportunities on underused city land, tax and financing innovations and state and federal advocacy priorities. The plan will be updated every five years and the city already has used community outreach, stakeholder interviews, developer interviews and public meetings to shape recommended actions.

Michelle and Steve (planning and zoning staff) highlighted five priority actions from the consultant’s matrix: expand inclusionary zoning provisions; construct affordable units on underutilized city-owned land; create a program to update and deed-restrict naturally affordable units; develop a local tax-incentive policy for affordable units; and advocate for additional state and federal funding. Staff said they are already pursuing zoning amendments (including a change counting two-bedroom units as 1.5 workforce housing units), working on legislative proposals for tax and condominium barriers, planning public forums and building an implementation tracker that assigns responsibilities, priorities and timelines.

Nora Nadal Skagner, chair of the ad hoc affordable housing committee, urged members to engage with the ongoing work and said redevelopment and the Norwalk Housing Authority will be involved in upcoming meetings. Council members praised staff for the outreach and data. Committee discussion flagged several notable data points in the plan: roughly 40% of Norwalk households pay at least 30% of income on housing costs; 14,000 Norwalk households are cost-burdened; and approximately 75% of people who work in Norwalk commute from outside the city. Several council members said those statistics indicate the need for both rental and homeownership options and for targeted policy work to support deeply affordable housing.

Council member Barbara Smith moved the authorization to amend the POCD. The committee approved the motion with one dissent: Council member Heather Dunn voted against taking the plan to the council; all other members voted in favor. Staff and committee members said adoption of the plan into the POCD creates a planning nexus that supports prioritization, potential grant applications and clearer accountability but does not automatically enact specific ordinances or funding. Staff noted that some proposed legislative or tax-incentive measures may require state enabling authority before local ordinances could be adopted.