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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7062
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4959
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TEMPORARY SHELTER UNITS FOR
PERSONS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS OR REFUGEES AND
AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS LOCATED ON REAL
PROPERTY OWNED BY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section 1
and section 2 of this act: 2
(1) "As of right" has the same meaning as provided in section 8-1a of 3
the general statutes; 4
(2) "Municipality" has the same meaning as provided in subsection 5
(a) of section 7-148 of the general statutes; 6
(3) "Refugee" means any person located in the state who has been 7
admitted to the United States under the United States Refugee 8
Admissions Program established pursuant to the Immigration and 9
Nationality Act and who is outside such person's country of origin for 10
reasons of feared persecution, conflict, generalized violence or other 11
circumstances that have significantly disturbed public order; 12
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(4) "Religious organization" has the same meaning as provided in 13
section 49-31k of the general statutes; and 14
(5) "Temporary shelter unit" means a nonpermanent commercially 15
prefabricated accessory structure that is designed to be easily 16
dismantled or removed, but does not include tarps, tents, other nonrigid 17
materials or motor vehicles. 18
(b) In each municipality with a population of twenty-five thousand 19
or more, as determined by the most recent decennial census, any zoning 20
regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-2 of the general statutes by 21
such municipality shall allow, as of right, the installation and 22
maintenance of temporary shelter units to provide shelter for persons 23
experiencing homelessness or refugees upon any real property owned 24
by a religious organization, provided any such temporary shelter unit 25
shall be an accessory use to a house of religious worship owned by such 26
organization. A municipality may: 27
(1) Prohibit the installation of more than eight temporary shelter units 28
on any single lot; 29
(2) Prescribe a maximum size of four hundred square feet for any 30
temporary shelter unit; 31
(3) Require that each temporary shelter unit be structurally sound, 32
protect occupants from the elements and not pose a threat to the health 33
or safety of any occupant; 34
(4) Require that each temporary shelter unit be equipped with 35
necessary heating and cooling equipment in proper operating condition; 36
(5) Require that each temporary shelter unit have sufficient electrical 37
sources to permit the safe use of personal electrical appliances and 38
devices and lighting fixtures in the unit; 39
(6) Prohibit the occupancy of any shelter unit by more than one family 40
or two unrelated individuals; 41
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(7) Prohibit any individual from occupying a temporary shelter unit 42
for a period exceeding twelve consecutive months; 43
(8) Prohibit the installation of any temporary shelter unit within one 44
thousand feet of any public or private elementary or secondary school 45
or cemetery; 46
(9) Require any religious organization that installs a temporary 47
shelter unit on the real property of such organization to provide 48
sufficient numbers of male and female toilets and shower facilities to 49
accommodate the occupants of any such unit, including (A) a minimum 50
of one toilet for every eight such occupants per gender, and (B) a 51
minimum of one shower for every eight such occupants per gender; 52
(10) Require that any temporary shelter unit be set back not less than 53
ten feet from any adjacent real property not owned by the religious 54
organization; 55
(11) Require that any outdoor storage of the personal belongings of 56
any occupant of a temporary shelter unit be obscured from public view 57
by a minimum six-foot-tall wall or fence; and 58
(12) Require the illumination by exterior lighting of the entire outdoor 59
and parking area of the property upon which any temporary shelter unit 60
is installed. 61
(c) The as-of-right permit application and review process for 62
approval of any temporary shelter unit shall require that a decision on 63
any such application be rendered not later than sixty-five days after 64
receipt of such application by the applicable zoning commission, except 65
an applicant may consent to one or more extensions of not more than an 66
additional sixty-five days or may withdraw such application. 67
(d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to exempt a temporary 68
shelter unit from any applicable provision of any building code or fire 69
safety code, except no provision of the State Building Code that would 70
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have the effect of limiting the duration of the permitted use of a 71
temporary shelter unit shall apply to such unit. 72
(e) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit a religious 73
organization from using any building, or portion of a building, located 74
on real property owned by such organization to provide temporary 75
shelter for persons experiencing homelessness or refugees. 76
(f) A municipality shall not condition the approval of a temporary 77
shelter unit on the correction of a nonconforming use, structure or lot. 78
(g) A municipality, special district or sewer or water authority shall 79
not (1) consider a temporary shelter unit to be a new residential use for 80
the purposes of calculating connection fees or capacity charges for 81
utilities, including water and sewer service, or (2) require the 82
installation of a new or separate utility connection directly to a 83
temporary shelter unit or impose a related connection fee or capacity 84
charge. 85
(h) If a municipality fails to adopt new zoning regulations or amend 86
existing zoning regulations by July 1, 2026, for the purpose of complying 87
with the provisions of subsections (b) to (g), inclusive, of this section, 88
any noncompliant existing zoning regulation shall become void. No 89
municipality shall use or impose additional standards concerning the 90
installation and maintenance of temporary shelter units to provide 91
shelter for persons experiencing homelessness or refugees upon any real 92
property owned by a religious organization beyond those standards set 93
forth in subsections (b) to (g), inclusive, of this section. 94
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) Any zoning regulations 95
adopted by a municipality pursuant to section 8-2 of the general statutes 96
shall allow for the development of affordable housing, as defined in 97
section 8-39a of the general statutes, upon any real property owned by 98
a religious organization as of right, provided such real property is not 99
used as a cemetery. 100
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(b) The as-of-right permit application and review process for the 101
approval of the development of affordable housing on real property 102
owned by a religious organization shall require that a decision on any 103
such application be rendered not later than sixty-five days after receipt 104
of such application by the planning commission, zoning commission or 105
combined planning and zoning commission, except an applicant may 106
consent to one or more extensions of not more than an additional sixty-107
five days or may withdraw such application. 108
(c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to exempt affordable 109
housing constructed pursuant to this section from any (1) applicable 110
provision of any building code or fire safety code, or (2) requirements 111
pertaining to wells or private sewerage systems, provided approval for 112
any such affordable housing shall not be unreasonably withheld. 113
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To allow on real property owned by religious organizations (1) the
installation of temporary shelter units for persons experiencing
homelessness or refugees, and (2) the development of affordable
housing as of right.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]