Article 101 Workforce Housing Regulation
[Added effective 1-16-1987; amended effective
12-30-1988; 1-26- 2007]
Section 118-1050. Workforce Housing Regulation.
A. Purpose and intent. It
is recognized that a shortage of affordable workforce
housing exists in Norwalk for persons of moderate income; that such shortage
is detrimental to the public health, safety and general welfare and to economic
development; and that existing housing programs, by themselves, are insufficient
to meet the needs of the workforce
and moderate‑income households. The purpose of this regulation
is to provide for a full range of workforce housing options, with a priority given to ownership housing,
and to increase the supply of workforce
housing units affordable to persons of moderate incomes by encouraging the
construction of such housing units within specified multifamily and mixed
use developments. It is intended that private developers who construct developments
with moderately priced workforce
housing units pursuant to these regulations will realize a reasonable profit
therefrom.
B.
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
WORKFORCE HOUSEHOLD --
A household with an annual
income which does not exceed eighty percent (80%) or, where required, sixty percent (60%) or one hundred percent (100%),
of the State of Connecticut Median income, as adjusted
for family size, as published by the United States Census Bureau and periodically updated by the U. S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Household eligibility determinations
shall be made in accordance with the income criteria in Section 8-30g-8 of
the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
WORKFORCE HOUSING UNIT
-- A dwelling unit occupied by a workforce
household where the maximum sales price or rent shall be restricted in perpetuity for the life of the unit in accordance
with the maximum housing payment calculations as described in Section 8-30g-8
of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
RESALE -- Any transfer of original ownership interest
in a workforce housing unit
to a new owner other than an original owner's spouse or co‑owner.
C. Regulations for Workforce
Housing.
(1) Applicability: The workforce
housing regulation shall apply to all multifamily and mixed-use developments of twenty (20) or more
units in the following zones, in accordance with these workforce housing
regulations:
D Residence Zones
Hospital Zone
Executive Office Zone
Business
No. 1 Zone
Business No. 2 Zone
Rowayton Avenue Village District
SoNo
Station Design District
Neighborhood Business
South Norwalk Business District
Central Business Design District
Marine Commercial Zone
Washington Street Design District
Reed-Putnam Design District
Commercial Planned Residential
Development
Light
Industrial Zone No. 2
(2) Where required by these regulations, applicable developments shall
provide a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the total number of dwelling units
as workforce housing units, affordable to workforce households, in accordance
with Section 8-30g-8 of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, as delineated below:
(a)
A minimum of ten percent (10%) of the total number of units, rounded
up to the nearest whole number, shall be affordable to workforce households
earning no more than eighty percent (80%) of the applicable median income.
(3) The
workforce housing units shall
be offered for sale or rent to workforce
households, or to a municipal agency or a nonprofit housing agency,
who shall offer the workforce housing
units to workforce households,
in accordance with the following priority designations:
(a) Employees of the City of Norwalk and the Norwalk Board of Education;
Residents of the City of Norwalk who have resided in the City of Norwalk
a minimum of one (1) year prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy;
and Persons employed in the City of
Norwalk.
(b) All others.
(4) The
annual income of workforce households
shall be reviewed and certified by the
Commission, or its designee,
in accordance with a procedure established in advance and approved by the
Commission.
(5) The
Commission, or its designee, shall maintain a list of eligible workforce households in each category. Applicants shall be selected by lottery, conducted in accordance with a procedure established
in advance of said lottery and approved by the Commission.
(6) The Commission, or its designee, shall exhaust
all qualified applicants in a given category of priority before proceeding
to a lower category of priority..
(7) The
selected workforce household shall
reside in the designated workforce
housing unit.
(8) Workforce housing units for sale shall
not exceed the maximum purchase
price as calculated in accordance
with the maximum housing payment calculations in set-aside developments as
per Section 8-30g-8 of the regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, as adjusted
for family size.
(9)
Workforce housing units for rent shall
not exceed the maximum monthly rent
as calculated in accordance with the maximum housing payment calculations
in set-aside developments as per Section 8-30g-8 of the regulations of Connecticut
State Agencies, as adjusted for family size.
D.
Bonus Provisions.
(1) Where the workforce housing units are located in one
of the zones listed below and constructed on the same site and as an integral
part of a new market rate development, the Commission shall allow an increase
in the permitted number of dwellings (density) by not more than twenty percent
(20%), provided that such bonus units shall comply with the bonus unit criteria
shown below:
Central
Business Design District
SoNo
Station Design District
South
Norwalk Business District
Washington
Street Design District
Reed-Putnam
Design District
|
Density Bonus Provisions |
Maximum
Household Income Criteria |
Ratio
of Bonus market rate units to Bonus workforce units |
| Up to Additional 20% bonus density |
60%of
State Median Income |
2 market rate: 1 workforce
unit |
| 80% of
State Median income |
1.5 market rate: 1 workforce
unit |
(2) Once
the above criteria is met, the Commission shall allow an increase in the permitted
number of dwellings (density) by an additional ten percent (10%), up to thirty
percent (30%) maximum, provided that the bonus units may comply with the bonus
unit criteria shown below:
|
Density Bonus Provisions |
Maximum
Household Income Criteria |
Ratio
of Bonus market rate units to Bonus workforce units |
|
Additional 10% |
100% of
State Median income |
1 market rate: 1 workforce
unit |
(3) In developments where such bonus units are proposed, the Commission
shall modify the yard, building area and floor area ratio requirements of
the zone in which the property is located, up to a maximum of ten percent
(10%) and, permit one (1) additional story, solely where the applicant has demonstrated
and the Commission determines that such modifications will not adversely affect
adjacent properties or the public health, safety and welfare.
E. Additional standards.
(1) Workforce Housing Affordability Plan: Workforce housing units shall be reasonably dispersed throughout
the development and shall contain, on average, the same number of bedrooms
and the same quality of construction as the other units in the development,
as detailed in an Affordability Plan submitted by the applicant. Such plan may allow for equity sharing.
(2) Workforce housing units shall be developed simultaneously with or
prior to the development of the other units.
(3) Workforce Housing Deed Restrictions: In order to maintain workforce housing units as affordable
in perpetuity for workforce households,
the following restrictions shall apply:
(a) Workforce housing units for sale shall be restricted by title to
require that, in the event of any resale by the owner or any successor, the
resale price shall not exceed the then maximum sales price for said workforce housing unit, as determined
in accordance with Subsection C(8)
above or the sum of the original purchase price and the cost of any documented
fixed improvements made by the owner, whichever is greater.
(b) Workforce housing units for rent shall be restricted by title to
require that the rents for said units shall not exceed the maximum rent as determined in accordance with
Subsection C(9) above.
(4) Where
these regulations result in a fraction, the result shall be rounded up to
the nearest whole number.
F. Alternative Sites
(1) To the maximum extent practicable, workforce housing units shall be
built on the same site as the proposed development, as provided herein. as
an alternative, the Commission shall approve the construction or rehabilitation
of the required workforce housing units on another site, provided that such
off-site workforce housing units shall be maintained as affordable in perpetuity
in the same manner as on-site workforce housing units and that the originating
development site shall not be entitled to any additional on-site units or
bonus units due to the relocation of the workforce housing units to an off-site
location. Such off-site workforce
units shall be completed and possess a final certificate of occupancy prior
to the request for a certificate of occupancy for the original on-site units.
G. Fee-In-Lieu Payment
(1) Alternative method of Compliance: Pursuant to
an application for a Special Exception, the Commission shall allow an alternative
method of satisfying the workforce housing requirement, including the payment
of an appropriate in-lieu housing fee.
(2) The workforce housing unit requirement may be
satisfied, in whole or in part, through the payment of a “Fee-in-lieu” cash
contribution to a City of Norwalk fund, or other Commission approved non-profit
or for-profit organization dedicated to affordable housing initiatives. Off-site workforce housing units created with
such funds shall be maintained as affordable in perpetuity and in the same
manner as on-site workforce housing units.
The cash contribution to be provided shall be calculated based on the
applicable State of Connecticut median income, as periodically revised, and
on the unit (bedroom) size as described in the Affordability Plan, and on
the following criteria:
(a)
Units affordable to households earning sixty percent (60%) of the applicable
median income shall require a cash contribution not less than three hundred
and seventy percent (370%) of the State Median Income
(b) Units affordable to households earning eighty
percent (80%) of the applicable median income shall require a cash contribution
not less than two-hundred and seventy percent (270%) of the State Median Income
(c)
Units affordable to households earning one hundred
percent (100%) of the applicable median income shall require a cash contribution
not less than two-hundred and twenty percent (220%) of the State Median Income
Sample 2006 cash contribution for
a workforce housing unit:
Units for households @ 60% of state
median income: $81,000 X 370% = $299,700
Units for households @ 80% of state
median income: $81,000 X 270% = $218,700
Units for households @ 100%
of state median income: $81,000 X 220% = $178,200
(3) Where
the contribution is targeted to assist an identified off-site project providing
affordable workforce housing, the Commission shall condition the issuance
of certificates of occupancy for the development project with the completion
of the off-site workforce housing units and/or establish other reasonable
performance conditions necessary to insure that the off-site work force housing
units will be built in a timely manner.
(4) The in-lieu fee shall
be paid according to the following schedule:
(a) Twenty-five percent
(25%) prior to the issuance of a building permit.
(b) Twenty-five
percent (25%) prior to the renting or sale of twenty-five percent (25%) of
the dwellings.
(c) Fifty
percent (50%) prior to the renting or sale of fifty percent (50%) of the dwellings.
Bonus Density for Multifamily Development by Zoning District
|
Zone |
Existing
Density
for Multifamily Development |
Density with
bonus |
|
SoNo
Station Design District |
43 units/acre 1,000 sf of lot area per
dwelling unit |
10%
48 units/acre 20%
52 units/acre 30%
56 units/acre |
|
South
Norwalk Business District |
26 units/acre 1,650 sf of lot area per
dwelling unit |
10%
29 units/acre 20%
32 units/acre 30%
34 units/acre |
|
Central
Business Design District |
54 units/acre 800 sf of lot area per du
Subareas A/B 33 units/acre 1,300 sf of lot area per
du Subarea C |
10% 60 units/acre Subareas A & B 37
units/acre Subarea C 20% 65 units/acre Subareas A & B 40
units/acre Subarea C 30% 71 units/acre Subareas A & B 43
units/acre Subarea C |
|
Washington
Street Design District |
No density limit: 600 sq
ft of building area devoted to such uses |
|
|
Reed-Putnam
Design District |
62 units/acre 700 sf of lot area Subarea
D 29 units/acre 1,500 sf of lot area Subareas
C & E |
10%
69 units/acre Subarea D 32 units/acre Subareas C & E 20%
75 units/acre Subarea D 35 units/acre Subareas C & E 30%
81 units/acre Subarea D 38 units/acre Subareas C & E |
Link
to DECD Affordable Housing Appeals Act Regulations: http://www.ct.gov/ecd/cwp/view.asp?a=1095&Q=307632&PM=1#g8