Affordable Housing Committee readies annual report, outlines path to second housing moratorium

The Fairfield Affordable Housing Committee reviewed its annual report and set priorities for the March 16 presentation to the Representative Town Meeting. Staff summarized the town's accomplishments over the past year — including the April adoption of the town’s first housing moratorium and partnership projects with Habitat for Humanity at Parkview Commons and Greenfield Street — and walked members through the point totals used to qualify for moratoria.

"We did allocate some money from the housing trust fund this past year to support the Fairfield Housing Corporation's development at 980 High Street," said Mark Barnhart, summarizing last year's actions and ongoing projects. The committee's tracker shows completed and under-construction projects totaling about 267 points, after reserving roughly 22.25 points from the first application; staff estimated a remaining gap of about 63 points to reach the threshold needed for a second moratorium and said the target to close that gap is March 2029.

Committee members offered edits to the presentation slides, asked for clearer footnotes and requested inclusion of deed-restricted unit counts and permit-year breakdowns so RTM members can quickly see both historical trends and current pipeline counts. "I could provide, you know, we Right. We reserve 22.25 points from our first so far completed... So all told 267," staff said when asked how close the town is to the moratorium threshold.

The Committee agreed that Mark and staff will update the slides with clarified figures and footnotes and coordinate who will present which parts with RTM logistics. The revised report will emphasize the practical outcomes — units committed, projects under construction, and trust-fund allocations — and be submitted to the RTM packet for March 16.