Manchester Road Apartments Approved — Erosion of Local Control
On July 19, the Glastonbury Town Plan & Zoning Commission voted to approve the application for a 74-unit apartment house at the intersection of Hebron Avenue and Manchester Road, despite overwhelming opposition from many Glastonbury residents. By the inclusion of 30% affordable units in the development plan, the Town’s zoning regulations are effectively nullified by CGS 8-30g. Otherwise, such a development would never have been approved.
The 8-30g law enabling affordable housing by superseding local zoning regulations was enacted in 1989, and efforts continue by Democrats in the General Assembly (GA) to further erode local control of land use and zoning. Even in the most recent GA session, there were new legislative proposals for even more radical state control over local zoning, all in the name of affordable housing. HB 5429 would have imposed mandatory zoning of 15 units per acre within a half mile radius of transit stations. HB 5204 would have empowered the state to determine and mandate the number of affordable units and a housing plan for each town (note that Glastonbury did recently adopt an affordable housing plan, as required). Thankfully, both bills died. You can be assured that they will arise again in a future session.
You can see the trend here. In the name of affordable housing, CT Democrats want to impose a “one-size-fits-all” urbanization template to the entire state, regardless of the myriad and unique economic, geographic and historic attributes from town to town. Given the state-defined affordable housing formula, a town like Glastonbury will be unlikely to ever achieve the 10% state goal, and thus be constantly under threat from state mandates.
Many residents moved to Glastonbury precisely because of its “town & country” character, with ample open space. The type and location of high-density housing needs to be carefully controlled, as it has been here for decades. The continuation of one-party Democrat control of the CT GA will ensure ongoing attacks on local control. It is time to change the composition of our government by electing Republican legislators who will respect the autonomy of Glastonbury, and all of Connecticut’s towns. In this upcoming Fall election, I urge you to vote for Jacqueline Crespan (4th Senatorial), Donna Meier (13th House), Gary Giannelli (31st House) and Steve Weir (55th House). It is time for a change in our state government and respect for local control.
Nick Korns
Chairman, Glastonbury Republican Town Committee
