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Old Saybrook housing task force presents findings, eyes regional plan
Summary
The board received a report from the housing task force summarizing education, outreach and recommendations; the report notes 10 detached ADUs and 79 total permitted ADUs and recommends coordinating Old Saybrook’s next five-year housing plan with a regional effort to meet new state requirements.
Nick Post presented the findings of the town’s housing task force and told the Board of Selectmen that the group had completed education and outreach steps, compiled recommendations, and prepared a report of its work dating back to 2024.
“This is the report of findings to say this is what the housing task force has done since they started,” Post said, summarizing the document’s purpose and next steps. The presentation reviewed developer briefings, housing-finance resources, zoning Q&A, and outreach including a town survey closed in October 2025.
The report records that 10 detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have been created since the plan’s adoption and that 79 ADUs in total had been permitted in Old Saybrook as of the writing of the document. It lists potential actions the town could study, including tax abatement, deed restrictions, incentives for retrofitting larger single-family properties into two- or three-family units, and promotion of USDA and Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) loan programs.
Post and other board members discussed the town’s option to join a regional housing plan rather than prepare an independent five-year plan. Board members cautioned that a required density analysis will be more difficult in a coastal town that relies on septic systems rather than sewer infrastructure, and that legislative changes during each session could alter plan requirements.
Board members said the region has offered technical support — including zoning-change assistance and study work — and that Old Saybrook expects to retain an individual section in any regional plan so local nuances (for example, the town’s septic-based parcels and flood-prone areas) are reflected. No formal action was taken; Post said the report is informational and a step toward the regional process. The board asked staff to coordinate with regional planners and notify members when the regional kickoff meeting is scheduled.
