On last night’s Common Council agenda was an item that was passed unanimously out of the planning committee about a workforce housing strategy developed by the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency. The twenty-five page report detailed strategies to address creating and supporting workforce affordable housing in Norwalk. The plan was put together by the Redevelopment Agency, apparently without any input of �members of the Common Council, so the plan was tabled, as Council President Doug Hempstead, explained, to the first meeting May of the planning committee.

One item that jumped out was a recommendation to change the zoning workforce housing regulation from the current 10% of the units on new developments over 20 units to 20% of the units on new developments. Strangely, this 20% number was debated quite vigorously in Zoning, and rejected. Since the adoption of the zoning regulation, only one building has been constructed under that regulation. That building is 80 Fair Street. It would seem that the Redevelopment Agency’s desire to pursue an agenda is a bit premature given the glaring lack of data about the effectiveness of the current regulation.

The reality in Norwalk is that there’s plenty of housing that is affordable in the price sense, but doesn’t count in the calculations used by the State to determine an affordable housing count. This is the crux of the misconceptions about housing and development that continue to permeate policy discussions. Without the separation of real world affordable housing, and state mandated affordable housing, the development of policy strategy can’t move forward.