New Canaan Zoning Panel Raises Affordable Housing Fee to 500 Percent
Planning and Zoning · Meeting of April 9, 2026
New Canaan zoning panel backs 500% affordable-housing fee, 1.5 density cap. The Planning and Zoning Commission, working through draft zoning text with consultants from BFJ Planning ahead of a June 2 public hearing, agreed to raise the town's inclusionary zoning fee-in-lieu from 300 percent to 500 percent of the state median income, or roughly $623,000 per required affordable unit. Commissioners also settled on a 1.5 floor-area-ratio cap for inclusionary developments in the business zone, paired with a rule limiting large units to 30 percent of a building's total.
Staff member Sarah Kerry told commissioners the town attorney has concluded new state "summary review" rules bar discretionary design guidelines on residential projects, prompting talk of a possible building moratorium or historic district designation. A public workshop on the broader zoning rewrite is set for April 21 at Lapham Community Center.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 1,075 words
Source: the Planning and Zoning meeting of April 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
NEW CANAAN — April 9, 2026 — The Planning and Zoning Commission agreed Thursday to raise the town's inclusionary zoning fee-in-lieu to 500 percent of the state median income, or roughly $623,000 per required affordable unit, as it worked through draft zoning text with outside consultants ahead of a June 2 public hearing.
Commissioners also settled on a 1.5 floor-area-ratio cap for inclusionary housing projects in the business zone and heard that the town attorney has concluded new state "summary review" rules may bar the commission from applying its discretionary design guidelines to residential development, a finding that could reshape how much control the town has over the appearance of future downtown conversions.
The Full Story
The commission opened with a closed-door executive session involving town attorneys on what one member called "a very involved situation," which was not detailed in open session. Members then moved into a previously scheduled work session on the town's broader zoning regulation update, joined by Frank Fish, Suzanne and Emily of BFJ Planning, the consultants hired to help rewrite the code, and Sarah Kerry of the Planning and Zoning Department.
Much of the meeting was devoted to reviewing a draft PowerPoint presentation for an April 21 public workshop at Lapham Community Center, the next step in a rewrite that began with the town's 2024 Plan of Conservation and Development and now must also satisfy a new state law, House Bill 802, that takes effect July 1 and sets requirements for residential development and parking minimums. Commissioners pushed repeatedly for simpler, less technical language in the presentation, worried that jargon like "floor area ratio" or "transit-oriented community middle housing" would alienate residents. They agreed to refer to the state-mandated housing category simply as "middle housing" and to describe an increase in downtown building heights, from 30 to 35 feet, as bringing commercial buildings into line with height limits already allowed in residential zones rather than as a new increase.
"The retail zone is meant to protect the Elm and Main Street corridors. We want to make that very clear." — Frank Fish, planner with BFJ Planning
On the inclusionary zoning fee, BFJ presented options for raising the fee-in-lieu from its current 300 percent of the state median income for a family of four, which stood at $373,800 in fiscal 2025, to as high as 500 percent. Commissioners, citing the roughly $725,000 per unit the town paid to acquire affordable housing at the Avalon development, agreed to recommend 500 percent, which would bring the fee to about $623,000 per unit. Staff noted the fiscal 2026 state median income figure, due out May 1, could adjust that total before the regulations are adopted.
The commission also revisited an unresolved density question tied to the Berdis AB development, which was approved with a 1.5 floor-area ratio under a current rule that exempts inclusionary projects from an FAR cap. After discussion of a memo prepared by BFJ, commissioners reached consensus to formally cap the bonus at 1.5 FAR, paired with a rule limiting no more than 30 percent of dwelling units in a building to more than 2,000 square feet, to prevent a repeat of the large-unit mix commissioners objected to in the Berdis application.
"I don't want to drop a bomb at nine o'clock at night, but I did speak with the town attorney last week, and their initial interpretation is that we cannot apply the village district design guidelines to residential developments." — Sarah Kerry, Planning and Zoning Department staff
That legal opinion, tied to the state's new "summary review" process replacing special permits for many residential applications, prompted a lengthy discussion of alternatives, including drafting objective, non-discretionary materials standards, such as barring vinyl siding or exterior insulation systems, or pursuing a historic district designation for the downtown, either of which could take about a year. Commissioners noted Darien recently imposed a one-year moratorium on residential projects over 25 units while it worked through a similar issue, and said New Canaan could consider the same step if applications surge before design standards are in place. For now, the commission agreed to proceed with area and bulk standards by the July 1 deadline and address design standards separately.
Commissioners also voted, in effect, to drop a provision that would have let owners of "overbuilt" 1970s- and 1980s-era office buildings in the business zone add a floor by special permit, a provision originally added to accommodate the Locust AB hotel project. Because that hotel already holds an approved special permit, members agreed the provision was unnecessary and could be shelved unless a future applicant needs it.
"Nothing gets decided unless there's a public hearing ahead of time, which many people don't understand." — unidentified commissioner
Other changes reviewed included restructuring parking approvals in the business zone, moving underground parking from special permit to site plan review while keeping multi-level structured parking at special permit; standardizing parking stall depth at 18 feet, the national norm; dropping an "on-site repairs" condition from the motor vehicle dealership definition; and declining to cap outdoor dining on private property, with members noting that sidewalk cafes fall under the Board of Selectmen, not the commission.
Why It Matters
The fee increase means developers who opt to pay the town instead of building affordable units on site will owe substantially more starting later this year, money commissioners said should better reflect what it actually costs New Canaan to replace affordable housing on the open market. The 1.5 FAR cap sets a ceiling on how dense future downtown redevelopment, including projects similar to Berdis AB, can get under the inclusionary bonus. The design-review question is the more open-ended issue: if the town loses discretionary say over the look of new residential conversions of commercial buildings, options on the table include a construction moratorium or a new historic district, either of which would take shape over the next year. The public gets its first look at the full package April 21 at Lapham Community Center, with a public hearing and formal adoption vote set for June 2.
Key Motions & Votes
- Vote: Motion to enter executive session Tally: Approved unanimously - Action: Draft zoning regulation update, including business zone standards, the inclusionary housing fee-in-lieu, and parking rules — Continued to June 2, 2026 public hearing for formal adoption
Source
Town Of New Canaan: Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, April 9, 2026