STAMFORD — Stamford could join the list of towns opting out of new statewide rules allowing an extra building on private property to be used as a rental, the city Zoning Board has announced.
The Zoning Board unanimously voted to have Land Use Bureau staff draft rules that could govern ADUs — auxiliary dwelling units or secondary homes on single-family lots — specific to Stamford. Zoning Board chair David Stein said that he and the zoning board’s staff, which Land Use Burea Chief Ralph Blessing leads, both favored the idea of Stamford-specific rules over state ones.
“I believe that we should have our own regulations which will better fit Stanford’s needs and would be narrower than what the state law has,” Stein said during the meeting.
State officials and housing reform advocates call ADUs the low-hanging fruit of affordable housing reform. The units, which could be anything from a converted garage to a pool house, are smaller and cheaper than traditional homes, they say. Introducing ADU in more towns could diversify the housing types available in them.
But the state legislature’s attempt to tackle Connecticut’s affordable housing crisis has also triggered an intense statewide debate over local zoning control. Politicians far and wide have argued that the ADU law endangers single-family zoning, which broadly disallows multi-family housing.
The city has until January 2023 to pull out of the state accessory dwelling unit rules. The regulations, which were passed as part of a 2021 zoning reform bill, legalize these tiny homes in any part of a town or city that allows single-family homes.
Other towns and cities have already moved to reject the state ADU rules. The Western Connecticut Council of Governments — a planning organization that serves the region — recommended to all its members that they opt out of the state law. So far, many have.
Of the 20 WestCOG members, 11 have opted out so far, according to documents provided to Stamford from the organization. Darien last week began pursuing an opt-out, though the town legislature must finalize that decision in the coming months.
Though state law hands municipal zoning authorities the reins in the opt-out process, some members of the Stamford Board of Representatives last month made it clear they favored creating their own rules. Representatives Nina Sherwood, D-8; Jeffrey Stella, D-9; and Virgil De La Cruz, D-2, argued ceding power to the state was a bad idea and that creating local regulations would allow Stamford to tweak its ADU rules easily if necessary.
The Planning and Zoning Boards would have to approve any potential ADU regulations. If the boards decide to pass them, then the Zoning Board will move forward with opting out of state law, Stein told The Stamford Advocate this week.
To finalize the opt-out process, the Zoning Board and Board of Reps must both approve.
Stein added that the Zoning Board expects to introduce ADU regulations when it returns from its summer recess in September.
veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com
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