For the past nine months, the RiverCOG has been developing a set of goals to increase housing stock at all price points, according to Executive Director Sam Gold, who led a PowerPoint presentation centered on Middletown at the March 9 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
These regional housing reports are required by the state under Section 8-30j of the state’s housing code to be conducted every five years. Middletown’s will end in June, Gold said.
“Connecticut has not been planning in the way it should,” Mayor Ben Florsheim said during the online meeting. “That is what this law is seeking to correct.”
The Essex-based RiverCOG adopted its regional Plan of Conservation and Development last year, according to Vernon-based SLT Consulting senior planner Karen Martin.
The analysis is being done in conjunction with other towns, as well as the regional plan, “so we understand how the housing markets in the city and surrounding towns interrelate, and how we can all work together in various ways to not only increase affordable housing, but also address the number of housing issues we have that are affecting our demographics,” Gold said.
According to the presentation, the RiverCog work is data-driven and considers a number of factors: The geography of the housing market and sub-market, demand drivers, such as jobs, household formation and income; ownership versus rental options, size, types and costs of housing; regional demographics and demographic structure, as well as regional employment and jobs.
Florsheim told viewers that communities across the state are creating more housing options at various price points.
“The biggest challenge we face as a state, and as a city, to a broader extent, is the cost of living in Connecticut that is driven by a number of factors — from property taxes to energy costs to transportation, to any number of things,” the mayor said.
Middletown’s goals include lowering the parking requirements for dwellings, creating more micro units downtown, as well as accessory dwellings, encouraging walkable housing developments and preserving historic structures for housing.
At least two developers have recently pitched apartment projects, most notably at two historic properties: At 339 Main St., where the plan is to create 48 affordable apartments; as well 54 Washington St., the former Italian Society building, a potential site of 19 new units.
Both developers had to secure spots in existing parking areas for tenants in a city that has faced challenges making sure there’s enough spaces downtown.
“Middletown has stepped up and welcomed affordable housing, and has also, in many ways, been a model for the state in terms of partnerships, including the housing authority, private landlords and others over the years,” the mayor said.
However, he added, more could be done to improve housing at all price points.
The city is focusing on reinvesting in older homes and properties to create more “decent” housing for residents in order to shore up housing stock, Florsheim said.
In other parts of the state, roadblocks have arisen in creating housing for middle-income families, Director of Land Use Marek Kozikowski said.
Nearly half of the towns in Connecticut either lack affordable housing for families that was built with taxpayer money or have a strong preference against such housing, according to the CT Mirror.
“Middletown is also in a position where we can actually plan for housing. We have met our requirements for the state, and now we can work and fill all our housing needs,” he said.
Other project partners are the Tyche Planning and Policy Group of Vernon, and Goman + York consultancy and advisory services in East Hartford.
“This is not an one-size-fits-all approach. We know that Midletown is unique from nearly every other community in the RiverCog region,” Martin said, because of its housing diversity and affordability, which, she said, differs from smaller, rural towns in Middlesex County.