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STOP the High-Rises
Vote for all SIX BET Republicans
High-rises are being proposed by developers around Greenwich, bypassing local planning and zoning laws. Are you worried about a development coming to your neighborhood? Are you concerned they will adversely impact traffic, flooding, or your property price?
Republican BET members have proposed a plan to stop these high rises by obtaining a moratorium from the state Department of Housing. Meanwhile, Democrats are encouraging developers to skirt local zoning and overdevelop. The truth is many of these high-rise projects do little to move the needle on affordable housing and instead serve to worsen traffic congestion and increase flooding risks in our neighborhoods.
This will be a close election, and we need your vote to ensure we can keep local control of zoning and end this overdevelopment.
What is 8-30g?
How can we stop this overdevelopment?
What is the menace of 8-30g? State law 8-30g allows builders to bypass local zoning and build high rises in neighborhoods if they rent a small percentage of the units in that building at below market rates. Builders, with support from Democrats, are using this law to build oversize developments in Greenwich neighborhoods with total disregard for any local rules and ordinances. Under this law, even if one lived in a 2-acre single family zoning, a builder could construct a 50-unit apartment complex next door. This is the menace of 8-30g.
We need affordable housing, but not through 8-30g: Our state and our town needs more affordable housing. Teachers, policemen, firemen, who work here and protect our town should be able to live in our town. However, affordable housing still needs to conform to our local laws. Greenwich Communities is our local public housing agency (PHA), which is authorized by the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and leases over 1,200 housing units at affordable market rates in Greenwich to eligible tenants. Greenwich Communities has several anticipated projects to increase affordable housing in Greenwich. Unlike some of the proposed high-rise projects, 100% of housing built/repurposed by Greenwich Communities counts as affordable.
Applying for a moratorium (put 8-30g on hold): Under existing statute, towns can apply to the state Department of Housing for a moratorium if they put forward a plan to increase affordable housing in the next four years by 2%. BET Republicans plan to support Greenwich Communities to develop a plan in conjunction with state Department of Housing (DOH) that would make Greenwich eligible for a moratorium. This would put a pause to 8-30g, hopefully one that was permanent, and ensure no high-rises were built in our neighborhoods.
