Submitted by Svetlana Wasserman
If you’ve received mailings from the Greenwich Republicans or driven through town, you probably noticed the campaign hysteria to “stop the high rises!” You might be wondering, where are these high rises and who is in favor of them?
The Democratic state delegation all voted to preserve local control of zoning, precisely to prevent “high rises” and overdevelopment. And all of them have criticized the onerous state law called 8-30g that allows developers to bypass local zoning rules in towns that have not created 10% affordable housing.
The municipal candidates running on the Democratic ticket on November 7th, including Laura Erickson (First Selectperson), have uniformly opposed the 8-30g statute and rejected the idea that affordable housing in Greenwich should be determined by legislators in Hartford.
Further, no candidates in this municipal election cycle have ANY say in where, how or what type of buildings get built in Greenwich. That’s for our state Rep’s and state Senator to handle. The idea that electing Republicans for the Board of Estimate and Taxation will stop high rises is laughable.
Could it be that the local Republican party is trying to distract from the financial mismanagement, neglect and delay that is costing Greenwich residents tens of millions of dollars under their management?
The fact is that Greenwich continues to be exposed to pressure from developers because our town leaders have failed to make substantive progress toward the 10% affordable housing threshold. The 8-30g statute was adopted 35 years ago. Yet in the last 21 years, Greenwich has only added 1.3% to its affordable housing stock.
The same lack of planning that has led to crumbling schools and expensive cost escalations is also to blame for our continued vulnerability to oversized developments that add density to neighborhoods ill equipped to handle them.
It’s time to elect municipal leaders who can plan for the long term, and not just how to fix the latest ceiling collapse. The next time you drive past a “high-rise” hysteria lawn sign, consider that another reason to elect the Democratic slate on Row A.
NOTE: the deadline to submit letters to the editor about candidates in the Nov 7, 2023 municipal election was Oct 30 at 12:00pm.