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Land Use, Planning, Zoning, & Growth Management Issues
Some of the links below are for Members Only
For NEW state laws, year by year from 2000, go to our Legislative Summaries page.
For a separate page on Housing & Economic Development, click here.
RECENT NEWS
The legislature's Continuing Committee on the State Plan of Conservation & Development (POCD), a special committee of 10 legislators, held a field information hearing on Nov. 5, 2009, at The Willows, a new housing development in Wallingord. Testifying at the hearing were HBACT's CEO Bill Ethier, along with other representatives of the industry with first-hand experience on how the state POCD is misued by state agencies to stop or delay housing and economic development in CT. Other members and public at large also testified. See Bill's testimony. 
Land Use, Planning & Zoning (see also Smart Growth below)
HBA of CT CEO, Bill Ethier, serves on the Board of Directors of the CT Partnership for Balanced Growth - see YouTube video on what CPBG is about.
HBACT seeks land use permit expiration extension so approved permits survive the extraordinary economic recession. See HBACT's testimony on HB 5254 delivered to the state legislature's Planning & Development Committee on 2-18-09. During testimony, the HBACT suggested changing the effective date to all site plan, subdivision and inland wetland approvals obtained prior to July 1, 2009, which the committee accepted. HBA Talking Points on HB 5254
Smart Land Use, Growth & Tax Policies - Our 23 recommendations to fix Connecticut's land use permitting system and get our economy back on track, sent to the state legislature's Smart Growth Task Group November 26, 2008. The task group, on which the HBA of CT sits, met throughout 2008 and in January 2009 to finalize its recommendations to the full legislature for action in the 2009 regular session.
Special Permits for Subdivisions Over Certain Size Not Allowed: The CT Supreme Court ruled in Lord Family of Windsor v. Windsor PZC on Sept. 16, 2008, that municipal planning and zoning commissions cannot require subdivisions over a certain size to obtain a special permit or special exception. The HBACT funded the developer's appeal to the state Supreme Court due to its significance to the entire industry. The Court confirmed that planning and zoning commissions can regulate the use and density of a development, but not its size if the underlying use, density and otherwise valid regulations are met. See the PZC Decision and a brief Article from attorney Mike Zizka (who represented the developer). A companion decision on the developer's inland wetlands application was also ruled upon against the town by the CT Surpreme Court on Sept. 9, 2008, confirming the law that local inland wetlands agencies must have evidence in the record of likely harm to a wetland to support a denial of an application. Inland Wetlands Decision
Eminent Domain Abuse: HBACT, along with NAHB, files a friend-of-the-court brief in the CT Supreme Court in the eminent domain case, New England Estates v. Branford. Following up on the infamous Kelo v. New London condemnation case (see below), the HBACT and NAHB argued to the Court that municipalities cannot condemn private property for baseless or misleading reasons that conceal the true reason (i.e., stopping development) for taking private property.
Eminent Domain policy statement - HBA urges key state legislative committees and leaders to limit the power to take private property in the wake of the US Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision. See our 2-15-06 testimony on Raised Bill 34 and on Raised Bill 5038. It's a shame and huge loss to property owners that the state legislature chose not to address condemnation abuses by government during the 2006 regular session. See our State Legislative Summaries. See also, the note above on New England Estates v. Branford.
See our support statement for HB 7040, Clarify Simultaneous Filing of P&Z and Inland Wetlands Applications - the bill was passed by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor on June 11, 2007, and became effective Oct. 1, 2007.
See our support statement on SB 1100, Purchase of Subdivision Lots - the bill passed the House and Senate and became effective July 1, 2007.
See our support statement for SB 1084, Allowing Reorganizing Local Land Use Commissions (unfortunately, this non-mandatory yet better way to organize local land use boards was not adopted in the 2007 legislative session)
Vested Rights to Zoning Regulations Clarified - (somewhat, almost, not quite, ...)
Why Requiring Consistency Between Land Use Regulations and Plans of Conservation and Development is NOT a Good Idea
Losing 50 Acres Per Hour = Efficient Use of Land When You Dig Into the Facts
Smart Growth, Responsible Growth, Growth Management
The legislature's Continuing Committee on the State Plan of Conservation & Development (POCD), a special committee of 10 legislators, held a field information hearing on Nov. 5, 2009, at The Willows, a new housing development in Wallingord. Testifying at the hearing were HBACT's CEO Bill Ethier, along with other representatives of the industry with first-hand experience on how the state POCD is misued by state agencies to stop or delay housing and economic development in CT. Other members and public at large also testified. See Bill's testimony.
Smart Land Use, Growth & Tax Policies - Our 23 recommendations to fix Connecticut's land use permitting system and get our economy back on track, sent to the state legislature's Smart Growth Task Group November 26, 2008. The task group, on which the HBA of CT sits, met throughout 2008 and in January 2009 to finalize its recommendations to the full legislature for action in the 2009 regular session (also linked above under Land Use, ...).
HBACT Executive VP, Bill Ethier, CAE, participates in debate on reaching common ground on responsible growth issues. Click here for CT-N's presentation of the CT Economic Development Association's Community Builders Institute program held 8-27-08 (click on the video; then fast forward to time index 3:43:30 to see the panel debate).
Smart Growth Myths - learn how "smart" growth and "responsible" growth are not necessarily so; Explore new, better "Balanced Growth" Principles to guide land use policy, plans and regulations.
Housing Affordability: Smart Growth Abuses Are Creating a "Rent Belt" of High-Cost Areas: Demonstrates how land use regulations are the primary culprit in causing high housing costs and housing affordability problems. One stated conclusion in this analysis: "To restore higher levels of economic growth, such areas will need to liberalize their land-use policies."
The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future. Also see much more on News & Knowledge.
Debunking Portland: The City That Doesn't Work (July 9, 2007): Portland, Oregon, held in high esteem by many "smart growth" advocates, is a great example of how not to plan.
War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life by Wendell Cox
Link to: From the Heartland: (http://www.fromtheheartland.org/blog/2006/09/) – blog posting by Wendell Cox, Sept. 26, 2006: “Europe: Commuting Faster in Suburbs than Cities: There are few public policy issues more driven by myth than land use and the currently fashionable strategies of ‘smart growth’ or ‘urban consolidation.’. . . .”
A Desire Named Streetcar: How Federal Subsidies Encourage Wasteful Local Transit Systems , by Randall O'Toole, The Thoreau Institute
See the 2007 new law on "responsible growth" - formerly called smart growth: On the last day of the session, June 6, 2007, a compomise amendment, supported by key legislative leaders from both parties and the Governor's office, was passed by both the House and Senate that addresses all HBA concerns with both SB 1215 and HB 7090. See HBA Testimony on SB 1215, An Act Concerning Responsible Growth (a proposal from 1,000 Friends of CT) and HBA Testimony on SB 7090, An Act Concerning Responsible Growth (Governor Rell's proposal).
Vanishing Automobile Update #64 - Judging Portland by Intentions, Not Results - by Randal O'Toole, The Thoreau Institute
Vanishing Automobile Update #59 - Lies My Transit Lobbiest Told Me - by Randal O'Toole, The Thoreau Institute
Affordable Housing; How Smart Growth Increases Housing Unaffordability; Residential Growth Increases Quality of Life - a collection of short articles from Connecicut Builder, Summer 2006
Regulations and House Prices in Boston - Lessons for Connecticut?
HBA Supports much of 2005 Smart Growth legislation - see 2005 Legislative Summary 
Where Should "Smart" People Live?
Statistical Smarts - How the "CT Metropatterns" Report Corrupts the Data About Growth
HBA Testimony - Supports Most Provisions of 2004 Smart Growth Bill (Raised Bill 39) - (Feb 2004)
HBA Testimony - Opposes Another Smart Growth Bill (Raised Bill 5044) - (Feb 2004)
Impact Fees
The State legislature's Office of Legislative Research has issued the following reports on impact fees:
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