Connecticut 2023 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB01141 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
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2	2
3	3	LCO No. 4522 1 of 6
4	4
5	5	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1141
6	6	January Session, 2023
7	7	LCO No. 4522
8	8
9	9
10	10	Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
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12	12
13	13	Introduced by:
14	14	(PD)
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19	19	AN ACT CONCERNING TRANSIT -ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
21	21	Assembly convened:
22	22
23	23	Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2023) (a) As used in this section, 1
24	24	(1) "as of right" means able to be approved in accordance with the terms 2
25	25	of a zoning regulation and without requiring that a public hearing be 3
26	26	held, a variance, special permit or special exception be granted or any 4
27	27	other discretionary zoning action be taken, and (2) "dwelling unit" 5
28	28	means any house or building, or portion thereof, that is occupied, 6
29	29	designed to be occupied, or rented, leased or hired out to be occupied, 7
30	30	exclusively as a home or residence of one or more persons, without age 8
31	31	restrictions, and suitable for families with children. 9
32	32	(b) Any zoning regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-2 of the 10
33	33	general statutes, as amended by this act, shall allow, as of right, housing 11
34	34	developments that (1) have a minimum overall average gross density of 12
35	35	fifteen dwelling units per acre, and (2) are located within a one-half-mile 13
36	36	radius of any passenger rail or commuter rail station or any bus rapid 14
37	37	transit station. A municipality with multiple such stations may calculate 15
38	38	overall average allowable gross density across all such stations. 16 Raised Bill No. 1141
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42	42	LCO No. 4522 2 of 6
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44	44	(c) Any development permitted pursuant to subsection (b) of this 17
45	45	section may be subject to zoning regulations that impose parking 18
46	46	requirements not to exceed (1) one parking spot for any studio or one-19
47	47	bedroom dwelling unit, and (2) two parking spots for each dwelling unit 20
48	48	that contains two or more bedrooms for any housing development with 21
49	49	a minimum overall average gross density of at least fifteen dwelling 22
50	50	units per acre located within a one-half-mile radius of any passenger rail 23
51	51	or commuter rail station or any bus rapid transit station. 24
52	52	(d) Any development permitted pursuant to subsection (b) of this 25
53	53	section that includes six or more dwelling units on one lot shall set aside 26
54	54	not less than ten per cent of the dwelling units in a manner that meets 27
55	55	the requirements of (1) assisted housing as defined in section 8-30g of 28
56	56	the general statutes, or (2) affordable housing as defined in section 8-30g 29
57	57	of the general statutes. Any municipality may provide for incentives, 30
58	58	including, but not limited to, higher density development standards, for 31
59	59	developers that include assisted housing, as defined in section 8-30g of 32
60	60	the general statutes, in any such development. 33
61	61	(e) The following lands are exempt from the requirements of 34
62	62	subsection (b) of this section: Roadways, railways, regulated inland 35
63	63	wetlands and watercourses areas, steep slopes of fifteen per cent or 36
64	64	more in grade change within a single lot, ledges, special flood hazard 37
65	65	areas defined by the Federal Emergency Mana gement Agency, 38
66	66	wetlands, as defined in section 22a-29 of the general statutes, public 39
67	67	parkland, land subject to conservation or preservation restrictions, as 40
68	68	defined in section 47-42a of the general statutes, coastal resources 41
69	69	protected by the Connecticut Coastal Management Act, areas necessary 42
70	70	for the protection of drinking water supplies, areas identified as likely 43
71	71	to be inundated during a thirty-year flood event by the Connecticut 44
72	72	Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation pursuant to the 45
73	73	institute's responsibilities to conduct sea level change scenarios 46
74	74	pursuant to subsection (b) of section 25-68o of the general statutes and 47
75	75	areas that are not served by water and sewer infrastructure. 48
76	76	(f) The as of right application and review process for approval of 49 Raised Bill No. 1141
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80	80	LCO No. 4522 3 of 6
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82	82	housing described in this section shall require that a decision on any 50
83	83	such application be rendered not later than sixty-five days after receipt 51
84	84	of such application by the applicable zoning official, except that an 52
85	85	applicant may consent to one or more extensions of not more than an 53
86	86	additional sixty-five days for each such extension or may withdraw such 54
87	87	application. 55
88	88	(g) If a municipality fails to adopt new regulations or amend existing 56
89	89	regulations to comply with the provisions of this section prior to 57
90	90	October 1, 2024, any such noncompliant existing regulation shall be void 58
91	91	and such municipality shall approve or deny applications in accordance 59
92	92	with the requirements of this section until such municipality adopts or 60
93	93	amends a regulation in compliance with the provisions of this section. 61
94	94	(h) No municipality shall (1) use or impose standards to discourage 62
95	95	through unreasonable costs or delays the development of housing 63
96	96	developments described in this section, or (2) condition the approval of 64
97	97	such housing developments on the correction of a nonconforming use, 65
98	98	structure or lot. 66
99	99	Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 8-2 of the general statutes is repealed 67
100	100	and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 68
101	101	(d) Zoning regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this 69
102	102	section shall not: 70
103	103	(1) Prohibit the operation of any family child care home or group 71
104	104	child care home in a residential zone; 72
105	105	(2) (A) Prohibit the use of receptacles for the storage of items 73
106	106	designated for recycling in accordance with section 22a-241b or require 74
107	107	that such receptacles comply with provisions for bulk or lot area, or 75
108	108	similar provisions, except provisions for side yards, rear yards and front 76
109	109	yards; or (B) unreasonably restrict access to or the size of such 77
110	110	receptacles for businesses, given the nature of the business and the 78
111	111	volume of items designated for recycling in accordance with section 22a-79
112	112	241b, that such business produces in its normal course of business, 80 Raised Bill No. 1141
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116	116	LCO No. 4522 4 of 6
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118	118	provided nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit such 81
119	119	regulations from requiring the screening or buffering of such receptacles 82
120	120	for aesthetic reasons; 83
121	121	(3) Impose conditions and requirements on manufactured homes, 84
122	122	including mobile manufactured homes, having as their narrowest 85
123	123	dimension twenty-two feet or more and built in accordance with federal 86
124	124	manufactured home construction and safety standards or on lots 87
125	125	containing such manufactured homes, including mobile manufactured 88
126	126	home parks, if those conditions and requirements are substantially 89
127	127	different from conditions and requirements imposed on (A) single-90
128	128	family dwellings; (B) lots containing single-family dwellings; or (C) 91
129	129	multifamily dwellings, lots containing multifamily dwellings, cluster 92
130	130	developments or planned unit developments; 93
131	131	(4) (A) Prohibit the continuance of any nonconforming use, building 94
132	132	or structure existing at the time of the adoption of such regulations; (B) 95
133	133	require a special permit or special exception for any such continuance; 96
134	134	(C) provide for the termination of any nonconforming use solely as a 97
135	135	result of nonuse for a specified period of time without regard to the 98
136	136	intent of the property owner to maintain that use; or (D) terminate or 99
137	137	deem abandoned a nonconforming use, building or structure unless the 100
138	138	property owner of such use, building or structure voluntarily 101
139	139	discontinues such use, building or structure and such discontinuance is 102
140	140	accompanied by an intent to not reestablish such use, building or 103
141	141	structure. The demolition or deconstruction of a nonconforming use, 104
142	142	building or structure shall not by itself be evidence of such property 105
143	143	owner's intent to not reestablish such use, building or structure; 106
144	144	(5) Prohibit the installation, in accordance with the provisions of 107
145	145	section 8-1bb, of temporary health care structures for use by mentally or 108
146	146	physically impaired persons if such structures comply with the 109
147	147	provisions of said section, unless the municipality opts out in 110
148	148	accordance with the provisions of subsection (j) of said section; 111
149	149	(6) Prohibit the operation in a residential zone of any cottage food 112 Raised Bill No. 1141
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153	153	LCO No. 4522 5 of 6
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155	155	operation, as defined in section 21a-62b; 113
156	156	(7) Establish for any dwelling unit a minimum floor area that is 114
157	157	greater than the minimum floor area set forth in the applicable building, 115
158	158	housing or other code; 116
159	159	(8) Place a fixed numerical or percentage cap on the number of 117
160	160	dwelling units that constitute multifamily housing over four units, 118
161	161	middle housing or mixed-use development that may be permitted in the 119
162	162	municipality; 120
163	163	(9) Require more than one parking space for each studio or one-121
164	164	bedroom dwelling unit or more than two parking spaces for each 122
165	165	dwelling unit with two or more bedrooms, unless the municipality opts 123
166	166	out in accordance with the provisions of section 8-2p; [or] 124
167	167	(10) Be applied to deny any land use application, including for any 125
168	168	site plan approval, special permit, special exception or other zoning 126
169	169	approval, on the basis of (A) a district's character, unless such character 127
170	170	is expressly articulated in such regulations by clear and explicit physical 128
171	171	standards for site work and structures, or (B) the immutable 129
172	172	characteristics, source of income or income level of any applicant or end 130
173	173	user, other than age or disability whenever age-restricted or disability-131
174	174	restricted housing may be permitted; or 132
175	175	(11) Prohibit the as of right development of housing developments 133
176	176	with a minimum overall average gross density of fifteen dwelling units 134
177	177	per acre that are located within a one-half-mile radius of any passenger 135
178	178	rail or commuter rail station or any bus rapid transit station, in 136
179	179	accordance with the provisions of section 1 of this act. 137
180	180	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
181	181	sections:
182	182
183	183	Section 1 October 1, 2023 New section
184	184	Sec. 2 October 1, 2023 8-2(d)
185	185	Raised Bill No. 1141
186	186
187	187
188	188
189	189	LCO No. 4522 6 of 6
190	190
191	191	Statement of Purpose:
192	192	To allow for the as of right development of housing with a minimum
193	193	overall gross density of fifteen dwelling units per acre located within a
194	194	one-half-mile radius of any passenger rail or commuter rail station or
195	195	any bus rapid transit station.
196	196	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
197	197	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
198	198	underlined.]
199	199