Affordable Housing: Now comes the hard part

Westport has a five-year plan designed to provide more “affordable housing.”

The plan, mandated by the state, was adopted in June by the Planning and Zoning Commission. It followed a months-long series of public “conversations” and meetings on the thorny topic.

Westport’s affordable housing plan, a 46-page document, reviews the existing inventory of housing units that qualify as affordable under state criteria, as well as proposals that might help boost that supply. 

Those suggestions range from acquiring land for housing development, establishing a trust fund to promote such projects, expanding the scope of the town’s “inclusionary housing” zone overlay, exploring ways to allow denser development within residential zones and initiatives such as “pocket neighborhoods” of affordable homes.

The local plan was rated among the better proposals prepared by Fairfield County communities, according to an analysis by a group that promotes housing opportunities.

Now comes the hard part — taking action on the plan.

The P&Z’s Affordable Housing Subcommittee begins that process when it meets at noon Wednesday, Nov. 16, to consider concrete steps that might be taken to implement some of the broad suggestions in the plan.

Read the full story in the Westport Journal.