WESTPORT–More than two dozen Westporters met this morning at town hall for an “Affordable Housing Update,” presented by Michelle Perillie, Director of the Planning and Zoning Department. A link to the presentation is here.

A joint meeting of the Commission On People With Disabilities, the Commission On Senior Services and the Human Services Commission gathered, with members of the public, to look at the human side of affordable housing.

The conversation focused on the “housing” angle. Disabled citizens need places to live. As do seniors. And working people.

Disabled people need housing

Jim Ross, chair of the Commission On People With Disabilities, said the whole idea of “community-based living” came out of a landmark 1999 lawsuit Olmstead v. L.C., in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that  people with disabilities should be able to live in their community. Housing is so expensive in Westport that not only is it unaffordable for disabled people, but it’s “impossible to find nursing here,” Ross said.

Stacie Curran, a member of the Commission On People With Disabilities said special needs and disabled kids are, for their early years, nurtured by the community and by the school system. “It makes no sense for our sons and daughters to have to move an hour away” to live on their own. They are a part of the community, they should be able to stay where they grew up.

Seniors need housing

On seniors, Paul Lebowitz, the Chairman of the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission, said folks moving to Westport meet with a “tsunami of Seniors” who want to stay. Young families are drawn to Westport for the schools. They come here and buy houses with lots of bedrooms, lots of square footage, huge backyards and pools. Seniors want just the opposite. “The land use issues are stark–we’ve got a group coming up and a group coming down in terms of land use,” Lebowitz said.

Jim Foster, the Chair of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, said that while he was “not an expert” on affordable housing,  he attended the meeting  to become more involved in “solving things, getting things done.” He said he was “here to listen,” he wanted to hear “more community conversation” and to “find a way to make progress.”

Working people need housing

The conversation shifted to households that struggle to pay for housing. These are referred to as ALICE households (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). P&Z Director Perillie explained that the criteria for who qualifies for affordable housing is based on a family’s “earned income in their tax return.” Working families qualify for affordable housing if their income is no more than 80% of the state median. 

The state median income for a family of four is more than $124,000; 80% of that is $99,000.

So, any Westport family of four earning less than $100,000 qualifies for affordable housing. Lebowitz opined that, “if you’re at Trader Joe’s in Westport and you see seven people in the checkout line, two of them would qualify for affordable housing.”

Westport must innovate

Lebowitz said the town must “build better units” and must “encourage smart building.” In pursuit of innovative solutions, Lebowitz said we may “have an answer that’s coming–converting commercial to residential.” He added that, “It’s not a perfect answer,” but said the town has “got to find a middle ground.”

When asked about a proposal discussed at this week’s P&Z meeting to allow higher density for affordable housing, Lebowitz said it  could make sense. “What’s wrong with high density if it solves another problem?” he asked.

He called for a mindset of compromise; a workable solution to a  major problem may be worth its cost. He pointed at the progress the P&Z has made with the office of the First Selectwomen and Text Amendment 849, which designated five buildings on Baron’s South to be converted to 21 units of affordable housing. The next step on that initiative is for the town to appeal to the P&Z with an “8-24,” a state-mandated process to change the use of a town-owned parcel of land.

Somebody must own this

Michele Paquette, a candidate for a seat on the Planning and Zoning Commission endorsed by the Republican Town Committee, the Coalition for Westport and the Westport Alliance for Saugatuck, said “somebody’s got to own” the process of coordinating and organizing Westport’s affordable housing. 

Foster, from the Affordable Housing Fund, closed the meeting by saying it was the “best dialogue I’ve ever sat through” on affordable housing.