The town’s Ad Hoc Affordable Housing Plan Committee is seeking resident input and feedback on what Madison taxpayers would like to see as the town continues the process of making affordable housing available in town. The committee has a new survey on the town’s website and, said Committee Chair Sarah Mervine, is seeking responses.

A regional survey conducted last year in conjunction with the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) provided valuable information on the attitudes of area residents about affordable housing, said Mervine. However, that survey was region-wide and the committee wanted to drill down to find more specific data for Madison and so launched this new survey.

“We ended up wanting to do our own to supplement to that one, with the idea it would be more Madison-specific,” said Mervine. “To get a sense of what residents feel and what their perceptions are. We really need this data and this opportunity for residents to say what they think.

“There were a lot of questions on the regional survey that were very specific and detailed about actual housing that we found people couldn’t answer, and quite frankly answer that we couldn’t even answer—’Do you need three bedrooms here?’—and we just don’t know the answers to detailed questions like that,” she continued. “So, this survey we wanted to be more focused on Madison.”

Committee member and former selectman Erin Duques said it is critical to the committee’s purpose that residents take the new survey and provide feedback.

“We want to continue to keep this in the minds of people in town,” Duques said of the Madison survey. “We wanted to do that because some of the other towns in our region are just not the same, and we wanted to get a sense from residents about what they want to see in Madison in terms of affordable housing. It’s also about understanding people’s perceptions and needs. What does affordable housing look like in Madison? What is the need? What does it look like? Where do people see it being done?”

According to Mervine, preliminary results haven’t been fully analyzed as of yet, but the survey is clearly indicating that a majority of respondents not only want more affordable housing, they appear to understand the diversity and opportunity that multi-level affordability can bring to the town.

“Overwhelmingly the preliminary results show that people think affordable housing is a benefit to the town,” Mervine said. “This is a way for people to say what they’re thinking. Where they would like to see this housing? The thing I found most encouraging is that we had a section that asked participants if you want to know more about the issue please provide an email, and a large number of people did that. That is unusual—it demonstrated that a large number of people here in town want to know more.”

Affordable housing continues to be a major component of many shoreline development proposals, including those in Madison, according to Mervine. There is a state mandate that not only requires municipalities to draft affordable housing plans by June 1, but that they eventually attain a minimum threshold of 10 percent of their total available housing as affordable.

Madison’s current affordable housing percentage now is less than two percent and the probability that the town will ever reach the 10 percent marker is quite low, given the available building space that could effectively move the needle that far, Duques said. However, the committee and the town still need to make headway and the new survey is now a vital component of that effort, Mervine noted.

“The biggest takeaway is that we want to create more affordable housing in Madison. I think that even now, that is pretty clear. There are statutes that say we should, and also there’s a need. But we want to make sure it’s something that the people of Madison understand,” said Mervine. “We want to make sure that this is something that the people of Madison can feel good about and that they can look at and be proud of—and don’t feel like it was shoved down their throats, and that they can have a voice in the process. The survey is truly important in that respect. We want to do this the right way.”

Duques said that the current indications are positive and that with a transparent and focused process, Madison can achieve a goal of substantially increasing affordable housing.

“I think the idea that the majority of people in town see the need for affordable housing is a great message,” said Duques. “This is why it’s so important to hear from residents. Their voices need to be part of this. People are busy and we understand that, but we want to keep getting the message out that this happening and that we want input from the community and that we welcome that.”

The survey is still open and the committee requests Madison residents and those employed in Madison take a few moments to complete it. There are several areas of the survey that allow for in-depth responses.

To take the Affordable Housing Survey, visit the Madison town site www.madisonct.org and click the Affordable Housing Committee link.

What is Affordable Housing?

There are a few nuances, but generally as calculated by Connecticut State statutes, a housing unit is considered affordable if people earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income must spend 30 of their income to live there.