Affordable Housing Can’t Come at the Cost of Local Control
Rep. MJ Shannon voted to strip local control of zoning from the people of West Haven, Orange, and Milford. In one vote, he sided with his party and large developers over the residents who actually live here. His decision didn’t just change a policy, it weakened the ability of our towns to decide what belongs in our own neighborhoods.
Housing costs are too high. Young families struggle to stay. Seniors worry about the future of the communities they’ve built their lives in. We need more housing options, but not by silencing the voices of the people who know our communities the best.
Shannon’s support of the sweeping housing legislation forces changes on our towns and expands the power of developers to bypass local rules. Combined with the long-standing 8-30g law, this approach gives large developers leverage to ignore local zoning and push 100-unit complexes into single-family neighborhoods.
That is not a solution. It is a takeover. We can do better. Real solutions start by eliminating or rolling back 8-30g and H.B. 8002 in a way that restores flexibility to our towns and cities. Large developers should not be able to override our local zoning.
If 8-30g remains, we must allow more forms of naturally occurring affordable housing, transit-oriented and mixed-use development, and senior housing to count toward the requirements. We should reform the percentage-based incentive into a fixed number that actually aligns with real incentives. We need height and size limits, just as Massachusetts has done. And towns that adopt reasonable Housing Growth Zones should earn an indefinite reprieve from these mandates.
As your next State Representative, I will fight in Hartford to restore and defend local control of zoning. I will work to roll back the laws that let developers ignore the wishes of our towns. And I will push practical reforms that increase housing supply while keeping decision-making right here in the 117th District.
Enough is enough. Let’s make housing more affordable without giving away the power of our local voices. Our communities deserve both.
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