Connecticut 2022 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB05429 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	LCO No. 3038 1 of 6
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7	7	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5429
8	8	February Session, 2022
9	9	LCO No. 3038
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12	12	Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
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15	15	Introduced by:
16	16	(PD)
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21	21	AN ACT CONCERNING TRANSIT -ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
23	23	Assembly convened:
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25	25	Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2022) (a) As used in this section, 1
26	26	(1) "as of right" means able to be approved in accordance with the terms 2
27	27	of a zoning regulation and without requiring that a public hearing be 3
28	28	held, a variance, special permit or special exception be granted or some 4
29	29	other discretionary zoning action be taken, and (2) "dwelling unit" 5
30	30	means any house or building, or portion thereof, that is occupied, 6
31	31	designed to be occupied, or rented, leased or hired out to be occupied, 7
32	32	exclusively as a home or residence of one or more persons, without age 8
33	33	restrictions, and suitable for families with children. 9
34	34	(b) Any zoning regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-2 of the 10
35	35	general statutes, as amended by this act, shall allow, as of right, housing 11
36	36	developments with a minimum overall average gross density of fifteen 12
37	37	dwelling units per acre located within a half-mile radius of any 13
38	38	passenger rail or commuter rail station or any bus rapid transit station, 14
39	39	provided a municipality with multiple such stations may calculate 15
40	40	overall average allowable gross density across all such stations. 16 Raised Bill No. 5429
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44	44	LCO No. 3038 2 of 6
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46	46	(c) Any zoning regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-2 of the 17
47	47	general statutes, as amended by this act, may impose parking 18
48	48	requirements not to exceed one parking spot for any studio or one-19
49	49	bedroom dwelling unit, and two parking spots for each dwelling unit 20
50	50	that contains two or more bedrooms for any housing development with 21
51	51	a minimum overall average gross density of at least fifteen dwelling 22
52	52	units per acre located within a half-mile radius of any passenger rail or 23
53	53	commuter rail station or any bus rapid transit station. 24
54	54	(d) The following lands are exempt from the requirements of 25
55	55	subsection (b) of this section: Roadways, railways, regulated inland 26
56	56	wetlands and watercourses areas, steep slopes of fifteen per cent or 27
57	57	more in grade change within a single lot, ledges, special flood hazard 28
58	58	areas defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 29
59	59	wetlands defined in section 22a-29 of the general statutes, public 30
60	60	parkland, land subject to conservation or preservation restrictions as 31
61	61	defined in section 47-42a of the general statutes, coastal resources 32
62	62	protected by the Connecticut Coastal Management Act, areas necessary 33
63	63	for the protection of drinking water supplies, areas identified as likely 34
64	64	to be inundated during a thirty-year flood event by the Connecticut 35
65	65	Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation pursuant to the 36
66	66	institute's responsibilities to conduct sea level change scenarios 37
67	67	pursuant to subsection (b) of section 25-68o of the general statutes, and 38
68	68	areas that are not served by water and sewer infrastructure. 39
69	69	(e) Any development permitted pursuant to subsection (b) of this 40
70	70	section, which includes six or more dwelling units on one lot, shall set 41
71	71	aside not less than ten per cent of the dwelling units in a manner that 42
72	72	meets the requirements of (1) assisted housing as defined in section 8-43
73	73	30g of the general statutes, or (2) affordable housing as defined in 44
74	74	section 8-30g of the general statutes. Any municipality may provide for 45
75	75	incentives, including, but not limited to, higher density development 46
76	76	standards, for developers that include assisted housing, as defined in 47
77	77	section 8-30g of the general statutes, in any such development. 48
78	78	(f) The as of right permit application and review process for approval 49 Raised Bill No. 5429
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82	82	LCO No. 3038 3 of 6
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84	84	of housing described in this section shall require that a decision on any 50
85	85	such application be rendered not later than sixty-five days after receipt 51
86	86	of such application by the applicable zoning official, except that an 52
87	87	applicant may consent to one or more extensions of not more than an 53
88	88	additional sixty-five days for each such extension or may withdraw such 54
89	89	application. 55
90	90	(g) If a municipality fails to adopt new regulations or amend existing 56
91	91	regulations to comply with the provisions of this section prior to 57
92	92	October 1, 2022, any such noncompliant existing regulation shall be void 58
93	93	and such municipality shall approve or deny applications in accordance 59
94	94	with the requirements of this section until such municipality adopts or 60
95	95	amends a regulation in compliance with the provisions of this section. 61
96	96	(h) No municipality shall (1) use or impose standards to discourage 62
97	97	through unreasonable costs or delays the development of housing 63
98	98	developments described in this section, or (2) condition the approval of 64
99	99	such housing developments on the correction of a nonconforming use, 65
100	100	structure or lot. 66
101	101	Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 8-2 of the 2022 supplement to the 67
102	102	general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 68
103	103	thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 69
104	104	(d) Zoning regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this 70
105	105	section shall not: 71
106	106	(1) Prohibit the operation of any family child care home or group 72
107	107	child care home in a residential zone; 73
108	108	(2) (A) Prohibit the use of receptacles for the storage of items 74
109	109	designated for recycling in accordance with section 22a-241b or require 75
110	110	that such receptacles comply with provisions for bulk or lot area, or 76
111	111	similar provisions, except provisions for side yards, rear yards and front 77
112	112	yards; or (B) unreasonably restrict access to or the size of such 78
113	113	receptacles for businesses, given the nature of the business and the 79
114	114	volume of items designated for recycling in accordance with section 22a-80 Raised Bill No. 5429
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118	118	LCO No. 3038 4 of 6
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120	120	241b, that such business produces in its normal course of business, 81
121	121	provided nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit such 82
122	122	regulations from requiring the screening or buffering of such receptacles 83
123	123	for aesthetic reasons; 84
124	124	(3) Impose conditions and requirements on manufactured homes, 85
125	125	including mobile manufactured homes, having as their narrowest 86
126	126	dimension twenty-two feet or more and built in accordance with federal 87
127	127	manufactured home construction and safety standards or on lots 88
128	128	containing such manufactured homes, including mobile manufactured 89
129	129	home parks, if those conditions and requirements are substantially 90
130	130	different from conditions and requirements imposed on (A) single-91
131	131	family dwellings; (B) lots containing single-family dwellings; or (C) 92
132	132	multifamily dwellings, lots containing multifamily dwellings, cluster 93
133	133	developments or planned unit developments; 94
134	134	(4) (A) Prohibit the continuance of any nonconforming use, building 95
135	135	or structure existing at the time of the adoption of such regulations; (B) 96
136	136	require a special permit or special exception for any such continuance; 97
137	137	(C) provide for the termination of any nonconforming use solely as a 98
138	138	result of nonuse for a specified period of time without regard to the 99
139	139	intent of the property owner to maintain that use; or (D) terminate or 100
140	140	deem abandoned a nonconforming use, building or structure unless the 101
141	141	property owner of such use, building or structure voluntarily 102
142	142	discontinues such use, building or structure and such discontinuance is 103
143	143	accompanied by an intent to not reestablish such use, building or 104
144	144	structure. The demolition or deconstruction of a nonconforming use, 105
145	145	building or structure shall not by itself be evidence of such property 106
146	146	owner's intent to not reestablish such use, building or structure; 107
147	147	(5) Prohibit the installation, in accordance with the provisions of 108
148	148	section 8-1bb, of temporary health care structures for use by mentally or 109
149	149	physically impaired persons if such structures comply with the 110
150	150	provisions of said section, unless the municipality opts out in 111
151	151	accordance with the provisions of subsection (j) of said section; 112 Raised Bill No. 5429
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155	155	LCO No. 3038 5 of 6
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157	157	(6) Prohibit the operation in a residential zone of any cottage food 113
158	158	operation, as defined in section 21a-62b; 114
159	159	(7) Establish for any dwelling unit a minimum floor area that is 115
160	160	greater than the minimum floor area set forth in the applicable building, 116
161	161	housing or other code; 117
162	162	(8) Place a fixed numerical or percentage cap on the number of 118
163	163	dwelling units that constitute multifamily housing over four units, 119
164	164	middle housing or mixed-use development that may be permitted in the 120
165	165	municipality; 121
166	166	(9) Require more than one parking space for each studio or one-122
167	167	bedroom dwelling unit or more than two parking spaces for each 123
168	168	dwelling unit with two or more bedrooms, unless the municipality opts 124
169	169	out in accordance with the provisions of section 8-2p; [or] 125
170	170	(10) Be applied to deny any land use application, including for any 126
171	171	site plan approval, special permit, special exception or other zoning 127
172	172	approval, on the basis of (A) a district's character, unless such character 128
173	173	is expressly articulated in such regulations by clear and explicit physical 129
174	174	standards for site work and structures, or (B) the immutable 130
175	175	characteristics, source of income or income level of any applicant or end 131
176	176	user, other than age or disability whenever age-restricted or disability-132
177	177	restricted housing may be permitted; [.] or 133
178	178	(11) Prohibit the as of right development of housing developments 134
179	179	with a minimum overall average gross density of fifteen dwelling units 135
180	180	per acre that are located within a half-mile radius of any passenger rail 136
181	181	or commuter rail station or any bus rapid transit station, in accordance 137
182	182	with the provisions of section 1 of this act. 138
183	183	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
184	184	sections:
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186	186	Section 1 October 1, 2022 New section
187	187	Sec. 2 October 1, 2022 8-2(d)
188	188	Raised Bill No. 5429
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192	192	LCO No. 3038 6 of 6
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194	194	Statement of Purpose:
195	195	To allow for the as of right development of housing with a minimum
196	196	overall gross density of fifteen dwelling units per acre located within a
197	197	half-mile radius of any passenger rail or commuter rail station or any
198	198	bus rapid transit station.
199	199	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
200	200	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
201	201	underlined.]
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