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CT landlords join calls for lawmakers to incentivize housing

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CT landlords join calls for lawmakers to incentivize housing


Another group on Wednesday added its voice to the cohort clamoring for lawmakers to take action to push towns to make it easier to build more apartments: landlords.

At a press conference in Newington, the Connecticut Apartment Association asked lawmakers to take steps to increase the number of multi-family units in the state, especially near public transit, make the permitting process easier for builders and enact measures to help developers more easily turn commercial properties into apartments.

This is the start of a more public push than in years’ past by landlords to put their political weight behind housing development. Landlord groups have typically gotten support from Republican lawmakers and pro-business legislators.

“We are here to engage the discussion now because there’s no easy fix and the old approaches must change. This is what we’ve been talking about with legislative leaders and will continue to do so leading up to the January legislative session,” said apartment association member and New Haven landlord Dondré Roberts. “Our message is simple and direct: Connecticut needs to make it easier to develop and build multi-family housing affordably now.”

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Connecticut’s housing crisis has been a problem for legislators for years. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Connecticut has a shortage of over 98,000 housing units that are affordable and available for low-income renters. 

State legislators have been pushing for housing reforms for the past couple of legislative sessions. Roberts said his group supports legislation like House Bill 5474, which passed last session and includes measures to provide incentives for middle housing development, require written notice of rent increases and develop ordinances for short-term rental properties, among other actions.

“Last year, H.B. 5474, which tackles the missing middle of duplexes, triplexes and housing that’s between single-family and multi-family communities like this one, is a great start and they need to keep going,” Roberts said.

Although members said they supported the bill, they did not testify publicly on it. The bill changed substantially between the public hearing and final votes, and members said Wednesday they’re working toward more support this session.

“It’s time,” Roberts said, of the need for more action. “Just as someone who lives in the state … it’s tough out there, especially when you are looking for housing that sometimes doesn’t exist for your budget.”

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The landlords’ support may create tension within the coalition of people supporting zoning and land use changes. Typically, those in favor of zoning reform have aligned themselves with tenants’ rights groups.

But the apartment association has opposed bills pro-housing coalition members have supported and on Wednesday it called for lawmakers to stop focusing on landlord-tenant issues and get to what they called the root of the problem — the lack of housing.

“The legislature needs to turn away from the landlord-tenant battles like rent caps and forever leases that held us back last year,” Roberts said. “Those proposals were rejected. They took everyone’s eye off the ball, stalled progress, and they don’t add a single unit of housing.”

Lawmakers in past sessions have considered proposals to cap rent increases and to stop no-fault evictions, or evictions that occur when leases end. Neither proposal has gotten through the House or Senate.

Broadly, the apartment association members said they wanted to make it easier to build more housing of many types, including higher-density developments. They said lawmakers should explore methods such as tax incentives, among other solutions.

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They pointed to data that shows the vast majority of Connecticut’s residential land is zoned for single-family housing and said that needs to change.

Landlords said they also wanted to see ways to make it easier to convert vacant commercial properties into apartments. The strategy has been used across the country in cities like Providence, where a shopping mall was transformed into apartments.

A major concern for the apartment association and other groups is the development process for housing around Connecticut. Kevin Santini, a principal at the family-owned property management and construction company Santini Homes, said developers struggle in Connecticut because of the extensive permitting process.

“If you go into a piece of land that isn’t zoned for multi-family, it’s very daunting and very unattractive to go in and try to go through the processes that you need to go through,” Santini said.

He emphasizes the need for predictability with infrastructure. 

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“You can’t make the process take two to three years, especially if you’re rezoning a parcel by that time,” Santini said. “It’s years and it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars if not seven figures.”

Roberts said the group supports incentive-based solutions rather than mandates for towns. That issue is one of the biggest debates in the conversation about zoning reform and housing development in Connecticut.

Top lawmakers and housing experts have said leaving control in the hands of local government isn’t working. But Gov. Ned Lamont and many opponents of statewide zoning reform have argued for incentive-based, locally driven solutions.

Santini said the responsibility for building the housing will lie with developers.

“To make positive changes, politics can’t be involved,” Santini said. “And I know that’s crazy to say, and maybe even naive, but we have to do what’s best for the state of Connecticut, and we have to put our agendas aside. And right now, the state needs us. The state needs builders.”

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A 300-Year-Old House, the Oldest in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Is Selling as Part of an Amenity-Filled Family Compound

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A 300-Year-Old House, the Oldest in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Is Selling as Part of an Amenity-Filled Family Compound


This two-house, two-barn compound includes the oldest home in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and stands right on the town’s historic and famously charming Main Street.

“It’s actually two distinct houses, two really iconic landmark properties on Main Street” that have been carefully restored and renovated, said listing agent Laura Ancona, of William Pitt/Julia B Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. 

“Over $10 million has been spent in top-of-the-line improvements and designer appointments inside and out,” according to the listing.

The older home, known as the Hawley House, was built in 1713 for the Rev. Thomas Hawley, a minister who was also the schoolmaster and town clerk, Ancona said. “It’s quite a stylish home for the time, with high ceilings, wide-board floors and multiple fireplaces,” she said.

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Other features include a gambrel roof, original paneling on the fireplace wall of one living room, original fireplace mantels, many of the original hand-blown glass windows, an original Dutch door and hand-hewn beams, according to information provided by the agent. An original double-seated, white clapboard outhouse rests about 100 feet behind the home.

The 300-year-old house is on the National Register of Historic Places as well as being one of the 32 “Stations of History” on Ridgefield’s “Museum in the Streets” tour, Ancona said.

MORE: Tour More One-of-a-Kind Homes In Out Listing of the Day Series

The 1777 Battle of Ridgefield in the Revolutionary War was fought on Main Street and it was also where Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s horse was shot out from under him, she said. “We’re very historic, very Colonial.”

“It’s one of the top Main Streets in the country,” Ancona said. “It’s a Norman Rockwell-esque, tree-lined Main Street. Ridgefield is very protective of its Main Street.”

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The second house on the compound, a Gothic Revival Victorian, was built by Hawley’s descendants in 1826, she said. “It’s very grand, very colorful,” now with four finished levels. 

“It was not as well upkept as it should have been” when the sellers bought it in 2002 and began a multiyear renovation soon after, Ancona said. They were able to recreate much of the original architectural details from old photos.

The gray barn/carriage house associated with the Victorian has been renovated to now include a kitchen and great room that opens to the pool area, a gym and sauna, a poker room, a game room with a bar, an arcade and a movie theater for 30-plus people, she said. “It’s a completely tricked-out party barn.”

There’s also a circa-1900 red barn that now holds an indoor basketball court, an arts-and-crafts studio and a second-floor office with a conference room, according to the listing. It was updated and redone in 2012.

Both lots, which together are 3.16 acres, are quite deep with long driveways, which offers a great deal of privacy, even while being on Main Street, Ancona said. 

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“You can walk to town and still have all of this privacy,” she said. 

Stats 

The 8,934-square-foot compound has eight bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and two partial bathrooms. It sits on a 3.16-acre lot.

Amenities 



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Amenities include a heated pool and spa, a pool/carriage house, two two-car garages (one with two Tesla chargers), seven fireplaces, a gym and sauna, an indoor basketball court, a brick courtyard, a pergola, an outdoor kitchen, a home office with a conference room, an arts-and-crafts studio, a bar and game room, a poker room, an arcade and a movie theater.

Neighborhood Notes 



The home is within walking distance of everything Main Street has to offer, including museums, the library, Ballard Park, an old-fashioned hardware store and lots of independent shops and restaurants, Ancona said. “There is no fast food in all of Ridgefield.”

Ridgefield is adjacent to Westchester County in New York, and it’s about a 30-minute drive to the Westchester County Airport, she said. Ridgefield is about 90 miles from Manhattan. 

Agent: Laura Ancona, William Pitt/Julia B Fee Sotheby’s International Realty

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Child hospitalized after drowning incident at Connecticut campground

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Child hospitalized after drowning incident at Connecticut campground


GRANBY, Conn. (WWLP) – A juvenile was brought to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon after a reported drowning at a campground pool in Granby, Connecticut.

According to the Granby, Conn., Police Department, the incident was reported around 2:30 p.m. at High Meadow Day Camp, located at 311 North Granby Road. A Simsbury officer working a private detail at the campground was called to the pool area and began providing medical care. The patient was identified as a juvenile, whose name has not been released.

The juvenile was treated at the scene before being brought to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Officials have not released information on the child’s condition.

Azell Cavaan, the Chief Communications Officer for Springfield Public Schools, confirmed with 22News that a SPS student was taken by ambulance from High Meadow on Wednesday. It is unclear if the two incidents are connected.

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Police said numerous children who witnessed the incident later became emotionally distressed. Ambulance crews from Granby, Windsor Locks, Simsbury, and Suffield all assisted in response. In the aftermath of the incident, police encouraged anyone affected to seek support services.

“Witnessing traumatic incidents can be very unsettling. If you need to access support, the best way is by calling 211, which can connect individuals with crisis support services and other community resources,” the department said in its release.

Counseling and support services are also available through local municipalities, including the Granby Youth Service Bureau for residents.

This incident remains under investigation. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

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