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Canaan planning commission begins rewrite of Incentive Housing Zone; resident asks for 2013 limits to be codified
Summary
At its March 26 meeting the Planning & Zoning Commission opened work to update the town's Incentive Housing Zone (IHZ) regulations and flagged affordability percentages, density caps, waiver language, and overlay-structure clarifications for revision. Resident Denise M. Cohn asked the commission to codify a 2013-presented cap of 14 units and 27 bedrooms.
The Town of Canaan (Falls Village) Planning & Zoning Commission on March 26 began a formal review of the town’s Incentive Housing Zone regulations to improve clarity and to align the text with state statutory language and local policy goals.
The commission identified specific tasks for the rewrite: review regional affordability benchmarks and set an affordability percentage, rewrite the density section and consider density caps, insert statutory waiver language, clarify the overlay-zone structure, and prepare a revised draft for public review and submission to the state. The commission described the work as an updating and modernization effort intended to ensure the IHZ text aligns with Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 124B.
Resident Denise M. Cohn submitted a written comment included in the meeting packet asking the commission to amend the IHZ regulations to match the development program presented and approved in the 2013 application and hearing record. Cohn wrote that the original application and the December 2013 hearing minutes repeatedly described a development program capped at nine single-family homes or 14 duplex-style units — in other words, up to 14 dwelling units — and up to 27 bedrooms in total. She asked the commission to codify those maximums in the zoning text so the regulations “accurately reflect both the approved application and the official public hearing record.”
The commission did not adopt regulatory text at the meeting; members instead set policy points for staff and legal review and asked for a revised draft for public review. No formal vote on IHZ text changes occurred on March 26.
What happens next: staff will prepare draft language that incorporates the commission’s direction on affordability, density, and waiver language. The commission signaled it will circulate the revised draft for public comment and then, if ready, move it forward to the state's review process required for zoning text amendments.
Why it matters: the IHZ is one of the town’s tools for encouraging housing development that includes affordable units. Changes to the text can affect how many units a developer can propose, the percentage that must be affordable, and when statutory waivers can be used. A resident’s request to memorialize specific unit and bedroom caps from a prior application focuses attention on whether the new regulations should honor limits presented during a prior adoption process or instead set different thresholds based on current policy objectives.
