Connecticut municipalities are required by state statute to have an Affordable Housing Plan.  The deadline for submission to the state is June 1st.  A member of the regional planning agency for the Greater Danbury area recently made a presentation to the Redding Board of Selectmen. 

Redding has chosen to join a regional plan to detail how they intend to increase affordable housing developments.  WestCOG will be working with Planning and Zoning on the plan and then send it to a public meeting. 

Affordable housing is defined as less than 30% of a household's income. Redding needs to have 10% affordable housing, but is currently under .5 percent. This translates to 381 units. There are 7613 households in Redding that would qualify for affordable housing right now. 

Former Planning Commission chair Toby Welles, who was involved in past affordable housing asked about Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill playing a role in affordable housing.  He noted that most of Redding is water shed so Georgetown is a good place for this housing, since there are utilities and sewage there.

The draft plan notes that Redding has been taking steps to expand its housing options since the 1970s and will continue to do so, particularly as the Town moves forward with the significant project of redeveloping the former Gilbert and Bennett factory property.  The town gained control of the former wire mill property through legal action taken against the Georgetown Land Use Development Company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2011. 

Foreclosure proceedings began in 2014 and the process was completed last year. A $10 million capital improvement project for the Georgetown Sewer Treatment Plant, completed in 2018, topped the facility’s capacity to discharge treated sewage into the Norwalk River at 245,000 gallons per day.  That's an increase from the 75,000 per day recorded in a 2018 report produced by the town.

Planner Kristin Floberg says 21 percent of households are people living alone.  20 percent of Redding's population is 65 or older, compared to the regional statistic of 15.6 percent.  7 percent of Redding residents work in Redding, the second lowest rate in the region.  17 percent of housing units in Redding are rentals, the rest are owner-occupied.  86-percent of all housing units are detached, single family homes, the rest are multi-family units.

The Planning Commission will host a public hearing on the affordable housing plan at 7:30pm.