Affordable Housing Committee Adopts 2026 Calendar, Plans April Forum
Other Committee · Meeting of February 9, 2026
New Canaan Affordable Housing Committee sets April public forum, seeks $225,000 for site design. The panel, meeting Feb. 9 with a quorum of five members present, adopted its 2026 calendar and unanimously approved December's minutes. A project subcommittee reported it has narrowed three unnamed town-owned sites for a new affordable development after a January session with its design consultant, and plans a public forum the week of April 20 followed by a three-week online survey.
The committee has asked the town for roughly $225,000 in fiscal 2027 pre-development funds to stay on pace for occupancy before Connecticut's 8-30g moratorium window closes around 2032, a figure member Chris Wilson said drew "a bit of shock" from town officials. New Canaan currently sits just below 5 percent affordable housing. "I am regularly surprised how little people know about affordable housing," Wilson told the committee.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 891 words
Source: the Other Committee meeting of February 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
NEW CANAAN — February 9, 2026 — The New Canaan Affordable Housing Committee voted Monday to adopt its 2026 meeting calendar and outlined plans for the town's first public forum on three unnamed development sites, part of a push to keep New Canaan in compliance with the state's affordable-housing law before a moratorium window closes around 2032.
Five members, a quorum, were present at the start of the meeting: Kristen Nielsen, Bob Strong, Maria Weingarten, Jane Williams and Chris Wilson. Bill Pratt joined later. Hillary Orand, Mike Sweeney and Jeff Williams were absent. The committee also disclosed it has asked the town for roughly $225,000 in the fiscal year 2027 budget to fund pre-development design work.
The Full Story
The committee's project subcommittee told the full board it has met twice since December, including a mid-January session with the committee's design consultant, who presented two site plans for each of three town-owned or town-leased properties under consideration. A follow-up meeting focused on scheduling: the subcommittee is targeting the week of April 20 for a first public meeting, avoiding February and spring school breaks, budget season and a scheduling conflict with the Planning and Zoning Commission's own zoning-subcommittee public meeting that week. An online SurveyMonkey survey would open after the forum and run about three weeks, closing in mid-May. The subcommittee asked the full committee for input on the survey draft but said members should route comments individually rather than "reply all," to avoid creating an improper quorum discussion outside a posted meeting.
The three candidate sites were not named publicly at Monday's meeting. Wilson said the sites emerged from a scoring exercise the committee ran roughly a year ago, using the town's GIS consultant to map all town- and state-owned parcels and any parcel over five acres in New Canaan, then rank them for sewer and water access, walkability to downtown, the train station, schools and parks, with deductions for steep slopes and wetlands. Morris Court, a downtown parking lot, scored well but was described as too small to be practical, comparable in size to Richmond Hill.
On the budget request, Wilson said the roughly $225,000 figure covers pre-development design work, not construction, that must be completed in fiscal 2027 to keep a project on pace for occupancy by late 2031 or early 2032, ahead of the close of the state's 2028-to-2032 affordable-housing moratorium window. He said the New Canaan Housing Authority is not in a financial position to fund the work itself this round, and the committee decided not to draw on the town's affordable housing trust fund. Wilson said early reaction from town officials to the number included "a bit of shock."
Committee members also reviewed the town's standing toward the next moratorium under Connecticut's 8-30g affordable housing law, which requires accumulating unit-equivalent points rather than a raw percentage of affordable units. Members said the town needs 151 points, with 74 already credited from Canaan Parish, 46.5 from Millport and 3 from Berdis Avenue, leaving 18 to 20 points to come from converting roughly 20 of the 102 units at the Riverwood housing authority property. Weingarten separately presented an analysis showing that if New Canaan continues adding affordable units at its current pace, the town would reach 10 percent affordable housing over time, though members noted that math is not tied to the 2032 moratorium deadline. The town's current affordable-housing rate is just below 5 percent, members said, citing an internal figure of about 4.8 percent.
"I attended one of the subcommittee meetings and it was very helpful. I thought it was really useful, but I'm intrigued as to how the public will view that we've only looked at three sites." — Bob Strong, committee member
"I am regularly surprised, in groups of random fellow New Canaan residents, how little people know about affordable housing, how little people know about 8-30g and why we are doing this." — Chris Wilson, committee member
"I did a very basic analysis assuming modest growth in the number of housing units in New Canaan. If we keep going on this, it would get us to 10 percent affordable eventually." — Maria Weingarten, committee member
Why It Matters
New Canaan's affordable-housing committee has spent about 18 months narrowing sites for a new development meant to help the town qualify for its next four-year exemption, or moratorium, from certain state-mandated affordable-housing approvals under Connecticut's 8-30g law. Missing the 2032 deadline would leave the town more exposed to future 8-30g development applications it cannot easily control. The panel's roughly $225,000 pre-development funding request is now moving through the town's fiscal 2027 budget process before the Board of Finance, and members said a delay could jeopardize the project's timeline given the months required for design, construction-document approval and a moratorium application that itself can take three to six months to process, with no guarantee of approval on the first try.
Key Motions & Votes
- Vote: Approve December 8 meeting minutes Tally: Approved unanimously
- Vote: Approve the committee's 2026 meeting calendar (March 9, April 13, May 11, June 8, July 13, August 10, September 14, October 19, November 9 and December 14) Tally: Approved unanimously
- Vote: Adjourn the meeting Tally: Approved unanimously
Source
Town Of New Canaan: Affordable Housing Committee meeting, February 9, 2026