Connecticut General Statue 8-3 states regarding a change in zoning that "If a protest against a proposed change is filed at or before a hearing with the zoning commission, signed by the owners of twenty per cent or more of the area of the lots included in such proposed change or of the lots within five hundred feet in all directions of the property included in the proposed change, such change shall not be adopted except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of the commission." This is a right that is granted to every resident of the State of CT. The right to appeal to the RTM and to protest under the CT General Statues has been exercised by Westport residents on multiple zoning applications in 2009.
This is the right that the Democratic Majority seeks to circumvent in order to make the process easier for developers to build multi-family housing with 20% of the units affordable on the single family residential zoned portions of split zoned lots in Westport.
The need to address the State of Connecticut's requirement under 8-30g for affordable housing is not in disputed. The underlying question is whether rights granted to property owners under Westport's Town Charter and the Connecticut General Statutes should be circumvented to further the development of affordable housing.
The Republicans on the Planning and Zoning Commission wish to respect the rights of all property owners, insure their concerns with any development are addressed and their voice and leverage at the table is not diluted. The proposed language of the text amendment would deprive neighbors of effected properties of the rights they currently have. The proper process to significantly change the use of a property from single family to multi-family is through a change of zone.
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Westport P&Z commissioners
