Fairfield committee endorses lower threshold and higher set-aside for inclusionary zoning; will ask Planning & Zoning to consider changes

The Fairfield Affordable Housing Committee voted on April 8 to present a package of proposed revisions to the town's inclusionary zoning rules to the Planning & Zoning Commission.

The committee's recommended changes focus on three principal adjustments: lower the project-size threshold that triggers inclusionary requirements from 10 units to 5 units; increase the set-aside requirement town-wide from 10% to 12% (some members suggested 12.5% to simplify fractional calculations); and raise the inclusionary zoning fee from $5 to $6 per $1,000 of building-permit valuation.

Committee discussion and rationale: Staff presented exhibits that illustrate the fee and unit impacts and walked members through example permit-value calculations (staff noted a $5-to-$6 rise per $1,000 of valuation increases the permit-based fee by approximately 20% in example scenarios). Members debated whether rounding the requirement up (current method) or using fractional calculations better balances unit production with developer feasibility; several members favored lowering the threshold to encourage more small developments to include affordable units.

Policy preference: Committee members reiterated a preference for producing deed-restricted affordable units rather than relying solely on payment-in-lieu to a housing trust fund. As one committee member put it, "The preference not only of this committee ... is that we want the units. It's not about increasing our housing trust fund." The committee agreed staff should present the package and supporting exhibits to Planning & Zoning for a concept discussion.

Formal action: The committee moved and approved a recommendation to forward the inclusionary-zoning proposal (threshold change, set-aside increase, and fee increase) to the Planning & Zoning Commission for review and discussion; the meeting transcript records the outcome as "all in favor," and no roll-call vote tally was recorded in the minutes.

Next steps: Staff will provide detailed exhibits and a spreadsheet showing illustrative revenue and unit outcomes for the proposed fee and threshold changes ahead of the Planning & Zoning meeting. The Planning & Zoning Commission may ask for comparisons with neighboring towns and will review the proposal at its concept meeting.