Submitted by Monica Prihoda, Old Greenwich
I agree with Dan Quigley, Greenwich RTC Chair, on his Jan 29th letter (Local zoning control is a cause worth fighting for. Jan 29, 2022)
As a lifelong Democrat and a former two-term RTM member representing Old Greenwich, that may come as a shock. Strange bedfellows one may think.
Well, the issue of zoning and the 8-30g requirements for affordable housing is a bi-partisan issue.
What I now understand and Mr. Quigley states so clearly, is that requiring 10% affordable housing in a building sounds like and is the decent thing to do. What was not entirely understood by me – and perhaps others – is the fact that this presents a goldmine for developers and others such as Mr. Rich Granoff, an architect, in his separate letter supporting 8-30g. (The Need for Apartments in Greenwich Jan 30, 2022)
That is, regardless of the size of the building, the Town of Greenwich will have a tough time achieving the 10% required for the Town. A particular building yes, but not the Town.
If the town were to build 8-30g exclusively from now on, Greenwich would need to add roughly 5,600 total units to have the 30% affordable units to bring us to 10%. But again, that assumes you aren’t building anything at all except 8-30g.
The Town of Greenwich has created an Affordable Housing Trust Fund seeking private donations.
My question is shouldn’t taxpayers have some skin in the game? Don’t we want to have some control over the size of buildings to fit in with existing Greenwich buildings while we work toward increasing the number of affordable units?
In this way we as a Town can hope to achieve the 10% requirement – maybe even more – as well as shape and maintain the character of Greenwich.
The character, the trees – the everything about Greenwich which is why we moved here. The charm and character is worth keeping for everyone, including people just like us who need an affordable place to live and work.
Respectfully,
Monica Prihoda
Old Greenwich