An updated rendering for the proposed affordable housing project on Hiawatha Lane in Westport, Conn.

WESTPORT — The Planning and Zoning Commission recently adopted the 2022-2027 Affordable Housing Plan with five members voting in favor of it and two abstaining.

The plan follows Connecticut General Statute 8-30j, which requires municipalities to prepare and adopt an affordable housing plan at least once every five years.

“I want to thank our amazing staff... who worked so hard on drafting and creating this plan,” said Danielle Dobin, the Planning and Zoning Commission’s chairwoman, who also led the plan’s subcommittee.

This week’s approval is the culmination of a months-long effort.

The affordable housing plan says its purpose is “To encourage the pro-active development and preservation of affordable (and below market rate) housing, including the development of affordable housing designed specifically to attract new families to Westport.”

The plan says that 30 percent of homes in Westport are cost burdened, which means at least 30 percent of the annual income is spent on housing costs. It also says that while detached, single-family homes are the predominant housing in Westport, there are other housing types with various density, location and inclusionary housing requirements.

Residents had a chance to share what they wanted in the plan through various hearings and meetings, as well as an online survey that garnered more than 1,250 responses.

Both Patrizia Zucaro and Amie Tesler Bentley abstained, saying they wanted more time with the document.

“I’m happy that Westport’s come this far… and we all, absolutely, want the same thing,” Tesler Bentley said. “But I would prefer to have a little more time.”

The document was already extended past the June 1 deadline.

Zucaro also brought up the second moratorium in the plan that the town is working toward. She noted the additional language added to the section but said she wondered if it could be clearer.

According to the plan, a moratorium “is granted when the number of new affordable units reaches a threshold amount determined by a formula.”

Zucaro said, “I just don’t want folks to say, ‘Oh, we’re really on our way to a second moratorium,’ when, in fact, we’re not that close because we haven’t actually obtained the certificate of occupancy.”

Zucaro also said that there is pending litigation with Hiawatha Lane property owners, and if they are successful, there would not be 157 affordable housing units included in the second moratorium.

Dobin suggested adding a section that mentions the pending litigation.

A member of the public, Candace Banks, thanked P&Z members for the plan and mentioned the language about Westport’s history within it, including the the use of redlining, which was the practice of discriminatory lending in government-backed mortgages by the Federal Housing Administration beginning in the 1930s.

“I think most of Westport likes to think of us as an inclusive, welcoming town, but maybe you’re unaware of our history,” she said. “I think it’s important to acknowledge our past and I think (the document) does it in an official way.”

There are various tactics in place to establish more affordable housing within Westport.

The first item within the plan is to create a new affordable community designed specifically for families, spearheaded by local elected officials with the assistance of the Department of Housing. It would be located on about two acres of state-owned land located within Greens Farms, adjacent to public transit, grocery stores and retail shops. This is also within walking distance of one of the state’s highest-ranked elementary schools.

Another is the formation of a town-funded Affordable Housing Trust Fund which will direct resources toward future development of affordable housing. It says that the fund should be utilized for providing loans or grants to create affordable housing units, targeting households at or below 80 percent of the state median income.

There are other points of the plan, such as immediately developing location-specific plans for town-owned land to expand or create affordable housing, allocating $1.7 million in the town’s Real Property Fund to acquire land for affordable housing and deed restricting existing town-owned properties to become affordable.

Each of the items comes at different points within the five-year plan. It starts with deed restricting existing town-owned rental properties at year one and ends with encouraging sustainably developed modular construction kits and prefabricated cottages, as well as providing new methods to build small and multi-family houses quickly and efficiently at year five.