Friday, State Senator Ryan Fazio, ranking member of the legislature’s Planning and Development Committee (R-Greenwich) expressed deep concerns with H.B. 6890, An Act Concerning Qualifying Transit-Oriented Communities, which secured committee passage.
Statement from Senator Fazio:
“While people on both sides of the debate have good intentions, the ‘Work Live Ride’ legislation is mistaken, aggressive, and should not have been voted past the Committee stage. At its core, this bill is an affront to local control and will not generate economic opportunity. Mandates on our towns from Hartford are not the way to go. Each town is unique, and we must acknowledge that fact. I have great faith in our local planning and zoning commissions, whose job it is to ensure appropriate development that incorporates a focus on infrastructure, the environment, historic preservation, and most importantly, the health and safety of residents.”
“In its current form, this bill only hurts communities unwilling or unable to adhere to the strict zoning mandates or else risk losing vital infrastructure funding. Water and sewer funding and brownfield remediation is about public safety. Those moneys should not be held hostage if towns and cities do not bend to Hartford zoning mandates. This bill is either too broad or too restrictive in various places, leading the Lamont administration to testify that the proposal would be ‘difficult to administer’ and ‘would not meaningfully support high-quality transit.”
“A strong bipartisan consensus has emerged around the need for developing more workforce housing that is actually attainable. Instead of one-size-fits all proposals like Work Live Ride, we should work together on workforce housing initiatives to bring young families in and stimulate our downtowns. I sincerely hope this bill will change significantly into a product that will not hurt the 36th District and others across the state. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to continue to improve policy so we can create affordable housing with community buy-in and protect local control of our towns and cities.”