Planning and Zoning to Focus on Affordable Housing, Data Centers
At its meeting Tuesday night, the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission took steps to address two hot-button issues: affordable housing, and data centers.
P&Z Chair Steve Walowski announced that he was appointing Commissioner Denis Bougie to be the chair of a subcommittee on affordable housing. Its purpose, he said, was to work with the town planner and other town staff to identify areas in Southington that would be desirable for affordable housing, and to improve the town’s affordable housing stock moving forward.
Walowski said that the aim of the group is to make the town more proactive, facilitating the development of projects rather than waiting for developers to submit them.
The ultimate goal, he said, is “to get to 10%.” This was a reference to the State of Connecticut’s goal for all municipalities to have 10% of its housing stock be affordable.
Currently about 5% of Southington’s housing stock meets the state’s official definition of affordable. Many Republicans in town and some Democrats argue that the state’s definition is overly restrictive, only counting a residence as affordable if there is a deed-restriction on the property that would keep it that way for at least 40 years. Connecticut’s affordable housing statute gives developers the right to fast-track new residential projects that are at least 30% affordable as long as the town’s affordable stock remains under 10%.
Bougie said that affordable housing is a topic he is passionate about, adding, “I was on the Southington Housing Authority for three years, so I think I have a very good understanding of affordable housing and the need for it in the town.”
After that proposal was made, Commissioner Dave Scott proposed the creation of a P&Z subcommittee on data center construction. He cited the experience of other municipalities across the nation that have not had regulations on the books regarding the plants. As a result, when developers propose the construction of such centers, many communities have found that there is little that they can do, legally, to stop them.
“When a municipality decides ‘we don’t want this’,” Scott said, “the developers sitting on mountains of money have sued these municipalities and sort of bulldozed those data centers in.”
While data centers can contribute to a town’s tax base, large, ‘hyperscale’ facilities can put a significant strain on the local power grid and create unwanted heat and noise that affect the neighborhood in which they are located.
Scott said that while there is an easy answer – a moratorium or outright ban – it would be more prudent to set up a framework of stringent requirements that a developer would need to meet. Such requirements might include specific plans for the center’s power and cooling needs.
Speaking in support of the proposal, new P&Z Director Brandon Peate cited the experience of Bristol, where a relatively small data center (15,000 square feet) generated intense local opposition.
Walowski said that he would work with Bougie and Scott to finalize the details of the two subcommittees.
