Brookfield officials are seeking an affordable housing moratorium from the state.  Community Development Specialist Greg Dembowski says the town applied to protect local zoning regulations. 

The state requires at least 10-percent of a municipality's housing stock to be considered affordable, and if it isn't, the 8-30g provision applied.  Developers could bypass local zoning laws, with certain exceptions for health and safety, if their plans include a percentage of affordable housing.  Brookfield is at 5.62 percent.  That's a more than 4 percent increase since 2015.  Brookfield has the 5th highest amount of designated affordable housing in the Western Connecticut Council of Government's region, which includes 18 municipalities spanning from Sherman to Stamford.  Only Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford are above the 10-percent threshold. 

The Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commissions do not currently have new 8-30g proposals before them.

Brookfield previously had an affordable housing moratorium from 2017 until 2021.  The town's application was returned in November based on a minor discrepancy in the total count of affordable housing units, with a request that the town’s attorney certify there are policies and procedures to ensure the affordable units in town are actually affordable.

With sewer capacity limits, Dembowski says the system has little room for error until a new agreement on capacity limits can be reached with Danbury.  Brookfield discharges into Danbury’s sanitation network, and three major residential developments are set to come online.