By Thane Grauel
WESTPORT — “Fair rent” probably isn’t a phrase that comes to mind when people ponder the housing pickings in lower Fairfield County.
But a little over a year ago the state General Assembly mandated that each municipality with 25,000 or more people establish a fair rent commission, under guidelines it provided. The Census Bureau’s latest estimated headcount (July 1, 2022) puts Westport at 27,427.
The amended state statute signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont in May 2022 directs towns to establish fair rent commissions:
“Any town, city or borough may, through its legislative body, create a fair rent commission to make studies and investigations, conduct hearings and receive complaints relative to rental charges on housing accommodations, except those accommodations rented on a seasonal basis, within its jurisdiction, which term shall include mobile manufactured homes and mobile manufactured home park lots, in order to control and eliminate excessive rental charges on such accommodations, and to carry out the provisions of sections 7-148b to 7-148f, inclusive, section 47a-20 and subsection (b) of section 47a-23c,” the statute states.
“The commission, for such purposes, may compel the attendance of persons at hearings, issue subpoenas and administer oaths, issue orders and continue, review, amend, terminate or suspend any of its orders and decisions. The commission may be empowered to retain legal counsel to advise it.”
Housing advocacy groups have noted that renters have faced double-digit fee increases in Connecticut, as high as 20 percent in a year, since the COVID pandemic.
Westport, and other area towns, were to pass ordinances by July 1. But that didn’t happen here and elsewhere. (Relax, there’s no apparent penalty.)
On July 11, the full Representative Town Meeting will get a look at what might become Westport’s fair rent commission ordinance. It was endorsed unanimously by the Health and Human Services Committee on June 12.
“We received it the day before we were to meet on something else,” Wendy Batteau, chair of the committee, said Tuesday of the proposed ordinance drafted by the Town Attorney’s Office and a meeting a couple months ago.
“They came up with this a year ago,” she said of the legislature.
“I’m not quite sure why but the Westport ordinance didn’t get written,” she said, adding that perhaps further legislation in Hartford was being watched.
Batteau’s committee had two hearings on the ordinance. From the minutes, the discussion sounded rushed. The ordinance in its latest form was not available Tuesday but should be available to RTM members and the public prior to the July 11 RTM meeting.
“None of the changes are very major,” Batteau said. “It’s a state mandate so the towns were not given much leeway in terms of language.”
The administration and the committee used existing ordinances from other towns for a blueprint, and did some tweaking.
While some towns appointed seven members, the first selectwoman recommended five because volunteers are not abundant.
The Health and Human Services Committee added an amendment, regarding the commission’s makeup.
“The committee voted unanimously … of which 1 must be a residential renter, 1 a residential landlord, and 3 of neither category; 3 alternates – 1 in each category; and that a quorum must include an equal number of renters and landlords, to prevent even an appearance of bias,” read the committee’s draft report.
Another amendment was not successful. It would have had the RTM oversee the appointment of commission members rather than the first selectwoman. It was proposed by committee member Sal Liccione, District 9, and seconded by Harris Falk, District 2.
“Two Committee members also spoke for an amendment … requiring that the RTM oversee member selection,” the committee report read. Assistant Town Attorney Eileen Flug “was to check the legality of this process and will have the answer for our July meeting,” the committee report states. “The amendment did not pass at that time.”
The RTM meets at 7:30 p.m. July 11 in the Town Hall auditorium. Its meetings also are usually broadcast on the town website.
Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.
I’m not a lawyer, and I am not commenting on the pros and cons of such a commission, but why is it considered a state mandate when it says that the town “may” create such a commission? Wouldn’t a mandate say “shall” create?
The current CT statute passed in 2022 reads: “Any town, city or borough may, and any town, city or borough with a population of twenty-five thousand or more, as determined by the most recent decennial census, shall, through its legislative body, adopt an ordinance that creates a fair rent commission…”. Westport’s population is over 27,000 so “shall” applies to us.
I want to be clear: I didn’t contact the Journal about this. The information came from a draft report I sent to committee members for approval before it would become final Contrary to the idea that the discussion was rushed, we in fact met twice about it for several hours. While I didn’t have an e-copy of its latest version to send to the Journal on request. I suggested the Assistant Town Attorney could supply one. Anyone interested in the ordinance should of course attend the RTM meeting on the 11th, but be aware that it the last item on a fairly long agenda.
Thanks Wendy. All I could see in the article as written was the word “may.” Thanks for providing the statute language which makes it clear that “shall” is the key word in the statute.
Once established, what will the Commission be empowered to do? Set rents on a one-off? Establish an annual ceiling on increases?