CGS § 8-30g creates the Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Procedure, a set of rules that allows developers to appeal to Superior Court, local zoning and planning commission decisions denying affordable housing developments or approving them with costly conditions. In traditional zoning appeals, the developer must convince the court that the commission (i.e, municipality) acted illegally, arbitrarily, or abused its discretion by rejecting the proposed development. The procedure instead places the burden of proof on the municipality. A municipality must meet certain criteria for a court to uphold the local commission's decision. (For more information, see OLR Report 2013-R-0002.)
A developer can use the procedure only in those municipalities that the Department of Housing (DOH) determines do not have enough affordable housing stock to qualify for exemption from the procedure. A municipality is exempt from the procedure if at least 10% of its housing stock:
- is assisted housing,
- is currently financed by Connecticut Housing Finance Authority mortgages,
- is subject to deeds and conditions restricting the sale or rental to low-and moderate-income people, or
- consists of mobile homes or accessory apartments subject to similar deed restrictions.
