By John Schwing

WESTPORT — A group promoting statewide housing development around transit hubs — multi-use projects with affordable units — advocated for its “Work Live Ride” initiative for a second year at a Wednesday meeting with local zoning officials, touting revisions in its proposal made at the suggestion of Westporters last year.

Pete Harrison, director of Desegregate Connecticut, told an online meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission’s Affordable Housing Subcommittee, that the latest legislative version of its proposal to create transit-oriented communities, or TOCs, reflects changes made in reaction to subcommittee comments made during a sometimes-rocky presentation of its initiative last year.

This year’s Work Live Ride proposal, H.B. 5390 filed with the General Assembly, is expected to face a vote Friday by the legislature’s Planning and Development Committee, which will determine if it advances for further action.

The re-introduced legislation, Harrison said, includes modifications made after with conversations with planning and zoning officials around the state, particularly noting input from Danielle Dobin, then the Westport P&Z chair, who in November was elected to the Board of Finance.

He credited Dobin for suggesting the group drop the proposed housing-density requirements.

Work Live Ride, which Harrison said is primarily a land-use proposal, aims to promote development of “post-sprawl” communities around the state. It is designed to “align” state and local planning authorities to foster more “walkable, bike-able, transit-rich” multi-use developments linked to public transportation, he said.

Although the entirety of last year’s Live Work Ride proposal did not win approval, one element — the Office of Responsible Growth — was enacted as part of an omnibus housing bill. That office, under this year’s proposal, would oversee implementation of the revised legislation, if approved.

The proposal is “opt-in” for municipalities that want to participate in promoting development of transit-oriented communities, Harrison said, with no penalties for those that do not.

It is not designed to be a “one-size-fits-all” initiative, he added, but would give localities that choose to participate a role in shaping any TOC project proposed within their borders.

Benefits for participating towns and cities, Harrison said, would include extra financial support for planning costs, infrastructure upgrades and other expenses such as brownfields remediation.

He said the legislation would allow local “nuances” in applying general requirements, and ensure that local zoning bodies have a role in the approval process, including public hearings, before applications move forward.

And, tailoring his remarks for his Westport audience, Harrison said the town’s sweeping rezoning of Saugatuck in 2022 to accommodate the multi-faceted “Hamlet at Saugatuck” project, abutting the town’s main railroad station, could likely be “grandfathered” in as a qualified transit-oriented community — without having to comply with several of the legislation’s latest provisos.

That could benefit Hamlet backers’ recent application for up to $12 million in state aid to remediate three brownfield sites of environmental pollution within the proposed development zone.

Dobin, who joined the noontime Wednesday meeting conducted via Zoom, said while she was pleased the revised Work Live Ride proposal reflects changes suggested by Westporters, she still has reservations.

Her primary concern was that the legislation would allow developers to include “missing middle housing” as “of right” in any TOC project. Dobin said that in towns like Westport and other wealthy communities that requirement would not “translate into the missing middle in terms of pricing,” and instead of middle-income housing, would unintentionally foster construction of townhouses sold for millions of dollars.

The as-of-right “missing middle” housing component of the Work Live Ride legislation, Dobin said, should be dropped because it would likely discourage Westport and other towns from applying for a TOC designation.

Matthew Mandell, chairman of the Representative Town Meeting’s Planning and Zoning Committee, voiced stronger criticisms of the proposal.

He faulted the “as-of-right” aspects of the legislation, which he said would essentially remove the decision process on TOC proposals from the hands of local zoning officials.

Mandell also argued that communities that decide not to participate in the program would be “de-prioritized” for state grants for a range of infrastructure projects.

Ultimately, Mandell said, the state’s new Office of Responsible Growth would make final decisions about TOC developments and priorities for infrastructure grants. “It’s still a state mandate instead of turning it over to the municipalities themselves,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mandell noted, Westport on its own has been making progress in addressing goals set in its state-mandated Affordable Housing Plan. Those steps include changes in zoning regulations to ease development of more affordable housing units, he said, as well as the recent creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which will be used to finance a range of initiatives.

Harrison responded that, if the latest version of Work Live Ride wins state legislative approval this year, Westport could consider these options:

• Do nothing, and the law would have no local impact.

• Decide to participate in the program, and the rezoning of Saugatuck for the transit-adjacent Hamlet project would likely be grandfathered in for TOC incentives without having to comply with any other requirements.

• Or, under another opt-in scenario, consider designating TOC sites on the Post Road corridor, where multi-unit developments with affordable components have already been built and are serviced by regional Coastal Link buses.

P&Z Chair Paul Lebowitz, along with two other commission members who joined the meeting, thanked Harrison for the presentation. They indicated they would review additional materials he plans to submit about the Work Live Ride legislation to provide additional feedback.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.