Old Lyme committee urges municipal plan, infrastructure audit as state housing mandate looms

Old Lyme's Planning, Zoning and Affordable Housing Committee met to map how the town will respond to the state's new housing law, Public Act 25-1, and to the regional housing assessment RiverCOG will deliver under the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) process.

Jim, a guest presenter invited to outline options, framed two central tensions for the town: "People love the town and they don't want to see change," he said, while "due to housing decisions we've made...young families are priced out of town" by prevailing single-family zoning. Jim warned the state law, set to take effect July 1, could alter local zoning outcomes if Old Lyme does not prepare: "we can either default to a regional framework where RiverCOG presents a plan to us or we can work towards our own municipal plan" that preserves local priorities.

Why it matters: Committee members agreed that the town should be proactive. Several members urged Old Lyme to stay engaged with RiverCOG's steering and housing committees but to develop its own municipal housing growth plan and data so RiverCOG's allocation reflects Old Lyme's local conditions and values. The committee identified four near-term priorities recommended by Jim: (1) an infrastructure and buildable-land audit; (2) calculation of exemption targets tied to statute references in the discussion (referred to in the meeting as "830G"); (3) drafting objective architectural and design guidelines for developers; and (4) a focused decision on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and whether to opt out or expand allowances in specific zones.

Details and evidence: RiverCOG and OPM are preparing a data package that will include town-level buildable land estimates, infrastructure capacity and vacancy-rate metrics. Committee members repeatedly cautioned that Old Lyme's vacancy rate is skewed by seasonal homes and that high vacancy alone does not equal readily developable housing stock. A staff representative said the state's OPM will supply base data and RiverCOG will assemble and augment it; the town's role will be field checks and vetting.

On zoning: To meet the July 1 deadline, zoning staff enacted interim zoning responses that favor mixed-use in commercial districts rather than allowing a default of pure residential development in commercial zones. Michael Foglaniano and other staff said the interim rules were intentionally written to preserve commercial viability (favoring mixed-use where the statute allowed an "either/or" interpretation), and that a fuller zoning rewrite is underway with a target to update planning regulations by March 2027. The committee set a public hearing for the July 1 interim changes and scheduled a housing-focused community workshop for July 29 (6:30 p.m.) and follow-up focus groups in August and September.

Public input and next steps: Public commenter Edie Twining urged the committee to prioritize the infrastructure audit as the first step: "you need to know what you have and where you can be," she said. Staff responded the audit and base maps will come from OPM/RiverCOG and that the town will perform field checks and local corrections. Committee members asked that the municipality's representatives stay closely engaged on the RiverCOG steering committee and use local data to negotiate allocations rather than accept a regional plan by default.

Outcome and procedural actions: The committee voted to add the RiverCOG planning and housing report to the agenda at the start of the meeting and approved the minutes from the prior meeting (one abstention was recorded by Harold Thompson because he was not present at the prior meeting). No formal vote on a housing plan or zoning rewrite occurred; next procedural steps are the July 1 public hearing and the July 29 community workshop. Committee members said they will monitor incoming RiverCOG/OPM data closely and use the committee to coordinate the town's field review and public outreach.

What remains unresolved: The committee agreed on goals but not on final policy choices: whether to opt out of ADU allowances in certain zones, the precise boundaries to designate as transit-community districts, and the town-level exemption targets tied to state statutory formulas (referred to in the meeting as "830G"). Those details will depend on the incoming RiverCOG data package and subsequent local analysis.

The committee adjourned after setting the next outreach steps and public hearing dates.