MetroCOG adviser says state will set large housing need and regions will negotiate five-year municipal targets
Loading...
Summary
Matt Folba of MetroCOG told Fairfield's Affordable Housing Committee that the state will set a large, statewide housing-need figure that will be broken into a 10-year regional affordability goal and then five-year municipal targets; he stressed the numbers are planning goals, not mandates to build, and described funding eligibility and timelines.
Matt Folba, executive director of the Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments (MetroCOG), told the Fairfield Affordable Housing Committee on April 8 that the state will set an overarching housing-need number that is then distilled into a 10-year regional affordability figure and five-year municipal housing-growth-plan targets.
The new statute creates a multi-step planning process in which the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) first estimates long-range statewide need (for market-rate and affordable housing). OPM's statewide estimate will be refined to a 10-year affordability target for each of the nine councils of governments; MetroCOG will then work with Fairfield and neighboring municipalities to allocate that regional number into five-year municipal targets.
Why it matters: Folba said the statewide number is deliberately large and intended to capture long-term need across many housing types. "That large state number is not the number that then gets put down to the regions," he said, adding that the law creates a collaborative process so towns are not surprised by final allocations.
Folba described several protections for towns: municipalities may opt into a regional plan or draft their own municipal housing-growth plan, and there is a statutory review step that allows towns to present alternate targets with supporting evidence to OPM for review. "This is not the COG doing work and just sending a number down to the town of Fairfield," Folba said, describing planned regional workshops that will include municipal staff, elected officials and stakeholder groups.
Funding and eligibility: Folba said the bill establishes a housing growth fund intended mostly to pay for infrastructure (roads, sewer, trunk lines and utilities) tied to new housing. Eligibility for that funding requires an approved growth plan and participation in either the transit-oriented communities opt-in or enrollment in the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority (CMDA), which can provide direct support for housing development.
Timetable and next steps: Folba told the committee the state intends to set targets well before formal deadlines; he said allocations must be finalized by June 1, 2027, and that the required adopted municipal housing-growth plans for some regions are due by June 1, 2029. MetroCOG is hiring a dedicated housing planner to support municipalities and expects extensive local engagement before numbers are finalized.
Committee members pressed for clarity about how demographic shifts and household turnover would be folded into modeling. Folba said OPM and MetroCOG staff are studying demographic patterns and best practices from other states, including Oregon and New Jersey, to ensure the targets and recommended strategies are implementable rather than purely aspirational.
What's next: MetroCOG will convene regional and municipal discussions, provide technical assistance by hiring additional staff, and work with Fairfield to craft five-year targets. The committee discussed timing for a regional allocation review and confirmed follow-up meetings and public engagement sessions would be scheduled.
