Subcommittee finalizes survey, workshop plans for May 19 event
Other Committee · Meeting of May 13, 2026
New Canaan's Affordable Housing Committee subcommittee locked down plans for a May 19 public workshop on where to site new affordable housing. Members present, per roll call, were Chris Dannells, Hillary Ormond, Mike Sweeney and Jane Williams, with Chair Chris Wilson attending as a guest; Bill Parrett, Bob Strong and Jeff Williams were absent. The group finalized a resident survey it will publish on SurveyMonkey, splitting a contested question about the state's 8-30g statute in two after member pushback that the original wording, calling it a question of "strategy" versus "a right thing or a wrong thing," could skew results.
Officials said the town needs roughly 75 to 80 affordable units across sites including the Lumberyard, Riverwood and Locust Avenue. The workshop runs 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, at the Lapham Community Center's Douglas Room.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 785 words
Source: the Other Committee meeting of May 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
The Full Article
NEW CANAAN — May 13, 2026 — The Project Development Subcommittee of the New Canaan Affordable Housing Committee spent a special meeting Wednesday locking down logistics, presentation materials and a resident survey ahead of a May 19 public workshop on where the town should site its next affordable housing development.
Subcommittee members reported public outreach for the workshop is essentially complete, with notices posted to New Canaan Moms, the New Canaanite and the town website, a flyer on the back cover of last week's Sentinel, and a mention expected in a town newsletter. The subcommittee also revised its site-evaluation criteria to use plainer language for residents, replacing planning jargon such as "site control" and "density and massing" with "town control" and "neighborhood fit," and rewording its rating scale from "exceeds expectations" to a "lower impact" to "higher impact" range meant to reduce the appearance of subjectivity.
The Full Story
Members present for roll call were Chris Dannells, Hillary Ormond, Mike Sweeney and Jane Williams. Bill Parrett, Bob Strong and Jeff Williams were recorded absent. Affordable Housing Committee Chair Chris Wilson attended as a guest. The subcommittee unanimously approved the minutes of its previous meeting by voice vote before moving into planning for next Tuesday's event.
Logistics dominated the meeting. The workshop will run from 7 p.m. next Tuesday, May 19, in the Douglas Room at the Lapham Community Center, with organizers setting up between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. Plans include a cookie platter from Walter Stewart's, a sign-in sheet to capture attendee names and emails, name tags, an overflow table near the entrance in case turnout exceeds room capacity, and large reference boards for staff to walk residents through site details in small breakout groups. Dannells said the room comfortably held roughly 90 to 100 people without a microphone at a prior planning-related event held in the same space.
The subcommittee also finalized a resident survey it plans to publish on SurveyMonkey by the night of the workshop or the following day, then keep open for about three weeks so it closes before schools let out for summer. The group spent significant time reworking a survey question asking whether the town should build affordable housing "as a response to" the state's 8-30g statute, ultimately deciding to split it into two separate questions, one gauging general support for affordable housing and a second testing support for the committee's specific strategy of pursuing a moratorium under 8-30g.
"I think my concern is that what you're asking is a question about strategy, and to some people it might be a question about a right thing or a wrong thing," — Mike Sweeney, subcommittee member.
Members also discussed a numerical target for the sites under review, saying the town needs roughly 75 to 80 units, achievable through a single development or a combination of parcels, to reach its housing-credit goal. Sites referenced during the discussion included town-owned parcels informally called the Lumberyard, Riverwood and Locust Avenue.
"I've had that conversation several times about the workshop that we're having, and I've been very, I'm like, just so you know, this is not, we don't do this. We have a strict mandate, and that's to identify sites for potential 100 percent affordable, deed-restricted in perpetuity," — Chris Dannells, subcommittee member.
"I did spend more time than I expected really trying to go back in and pare down the survey to get the length and the volume of it down, and also really tighten it up," — Chris Dannells, subcommittee member.
Members agreed each will record their assigned portion of the presentation individually so it can be assembled into a single narrated version for posting online, with a Monday deadline for turning in recordings.
Why It Matters
The May 19 workshop is the subcommittee's main public-facing effort to gather resident input before recommending sites for 100 percent affordable, deed-restricted housing to elected officials. The push is tied to the state's 8-30g affordable-housing statute, which the committee said it is trying to satisfy in order to pursue a building moratorium that would give the town more local control over future development approvals. The survey results and workshop turnout will factor into the site recommendation the committee ultimately brings forward, with a target of 75 to 80 units across the parcels under consideration.
Key Motions & Votes
- Vote: Approval of minutes from the subcommittee's previous meeting Tally: Approved unanimously - Action: Public workshop on affordable housing site selection — Continued to May 19, 2026, 7 p.m., Douglas Room, Lapham Community Center - Vote: Motion to adjourn Tally: Approved unanimously
Source
Town Of New Canaan: Affordable Housing Committee Project Development Subcommittee meeting, May 13, 2026