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02/26/2024 12:36 PMThe Board of Selectmen (BOS) has scheduled a public hearing to consider two ordinances relating to affordable housing. The hearing will be on Monday, March 4, at 8:30 a.m. at Guilford Town Hall, 31 Park Street, Guilford, and will be available by Zoom as well.
The ordinances, if adopted, will establish an Affordable Housing Commission and an Affordable Trust Fund.
Traci Brinkman, the communications specialist in the Selectmen’s Office, said the proposed ordinances will be discussed at the public hearing and that the public will then have an opportunity to ask questions and comment on the proposed ordinances.
“The Board of Selectmen has the authority to enact and amend ordinances, and usually there is a vote later in that meeting,” she says. “If adopted, the ordinances’ effective date will be 30 days after it is published in the newspaper. During that time, it can be appealed through Town Meeting.”
If the Affordable Housing Commission ordinance is approved, after the 30 days, the BOS will appoint commission members, Brinkman said. The town currently has a Housing for Economic Growth Committee.
“I am sure some of the existing committee members would still want to serve,” Brinkman said.
As of July, members of the committee included co-chairs Sandy Ruoff and Kristie Rubendunst and members Mary Jo Kestner, Edward Seibert, Scott Edmond, Michael Teape, Peter Palumbo, Anne Hartjen, and Thomas Terribile.
At the BOS meeting earlier in February, town officials said the committee has been in existence for almost 10 years and has been effective in terms of studying the issue of affordable housing in town and how to improve the number of affordable housing units in a way that is consistent with the town and its plans for future growth.
The town adopted an affordable housing plan in May 2022, which formalized a housing committee with community advocates. The plan further implemented a tax abatement for the development of affordable housing units and set forth the intent of growing the town’s inventory of assisted housing.
Guilford Affordable Housing Commission proposed text:
1. Purpose
The purpose of the Affordable Housing Commission is, under the general supervision of the Board of Selectmen, to promote public awareness and understanding of affordable housing issues and to advise and interact with other municipal agencies to develop and expand affordable housing in the Town of Guilford. As used in this Chapter, “Affordable Housing” has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 8-39a of the Connecticut General Statutes.
2. Membership and Terms
There shall be and is hereby created the Guilford Affordable Housing Commission, the members of which shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen. The Commission shall consist of the following members:
The First Selectman, or an individual designated by the First Selectman; Town Planner; a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, designated by the Commission; a member of the Guilford Housing Authority, designated by the Authority; seven additional regular members and two alternates who must be residents of the Town, appointed by the Board of Selectmen.
The regular members shall serve terms of four years; provided, however, that the initial appointees shall have staggered terms so that four of the seven additional regular members shall serve for four years and the remaining three members shall serve for two years.
3. Powers and Duties
The Affordable Housing Commission shall:
A. Study the need for affordable housing within the Town and maintain familiarity with statutory and regulatory requirements relating to affordable housing;
B. Consult such other Town bodies and hold such public hearings as it deems necessary to assist it in conducting its studies and making its recommendations;
C. In consultation with other Town bodies and Town staff, maintain an inventory of sites within the Town which may be suitable for affordable housing;
D. Make policy recommendations to the Board of Selectmen relating to affordable housing and the diversification of housing in Town;
E. Review and make recommendations relating to zoning regulations that impact affordable housing;
F. Identify and make recommendations relating to sources of funding for affordable housing initiatives;
G. Make recommendations to the Trustees of the Guilford Affordable Housing Trust Fund for expenditures from the Fund;
H. Act as liaison and provide recommendations to the Guilford Housing Partnership, when active, with respect to financial assistance, grants-in-aid, grants and loans that may become available under the Connecticut Housing Partnership Program as established and administered pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Section 8-336f.
I. Advise the First Selectman and Land Acquisition Commission of site acquisition opportunities;
J. Perform the advisory roles described for an affordable housing committee as referenced in the Town’s Affordable Housing Plan.
K. Review and make recommendations for updating and implementing the Town’s Affordable Housing Plan;
L. Review and make recommendations, when requested by the Board of Selectmen, with respect to applications by not-for-profit entities under the Town’s tax abatement program for the development of affordable housing units.
4. Annual Report
The Commission shall submit an annual report to the Board of Selectmen concerning the state of affordable housing in the Town of Guilford, including policy recommendations.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND proposed text:
1. Purpose.
Pursuant to C.G.S. § 7-148(c)(2)(K), the Town of Guilford does hereby create a special fund to provide affordable housing for the Town of Guilford. The Fund shall be known as the "Affordable Housing Trust Fund," hereinafter the "fund." Such fund shall not lapse at the end of the municipal fiscal year. Said fund shall be in the custody of the Town’s Finance Director.
2. Sources of funding; investments; limitations on use of fund.
A. In addition to such sums as may be directly appropriated by the Town for deposit into said fund (if any), the Town is authorized to and shall deposit all other monies received and accepted by it for the purposes of affordable housing, from whatever source such monies are received (the "sources"). The sources may include, but are not limited to, Building Department fees, “fee in lieu” payments as described in Section 6.11.B.3.b of the Zoning Code, monetary gifts, grants, loans, and monies received from state and federal agencies.
B. Said fund shall be in the custody of the Town of Guilford. All or any part of the monies in said fund may be invested in any securities in which public funds may be lawfully invested. All income derived from such investment shall be placed into the fund and become a part thereof. The monies so invested shall at all times be subject to withdrawal for use as hereinafter set forth.
C. No sums contained in said fund, including interest and dividends earned, shall be transferred to any other account within the Town budget. However, in the event that work is performed by departments of the Town of Guilford pursuant to this chapter, the cost of said work may be reimbursed from the fund under Paragraph-3B herein. No expenditures shall be made from said fund except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. No expenditures shall be made from the fund in excess of the available balance in the fund.
3. Expenditures from fund.
A. The continuation of the fund shall be perpetual, notwithstanding that from time to time said fund may be unfunded.
B. The Board of Selectmen shall act as Trustees of the fund.
C. Expenditures shall be made from the fund only in accordance with the following procedures and requirements:
(1) Said expenditures shall be made exclusively for the costs associated with the investigation, appraisal, acquisition, constructing, rehabilitating, repairing, administration, fees and maintenance costs relating to parcels of land, both improved and unimproved, or development rights, easements, deed restrictions, options, interests or rights therein, the use of which shall be limited to retention or designation of parcels for their long-term use in providing affordable housing within the meaning of C.G.S. § 8-30g.
(2) The Board of Selectmen may authorize on its own expenditures from the fund. All other proposed expenditures from the fund shall be submitted to the Affordable Housing Commission (AHC) for its review and approval. Recommendations from AHC for expenditures from the fund, including the sum to be expended and the proposed purpose, shall be submitted to the Board of Selectmen which shall have sole authority to authorize such expenditures.