Sec. 8-384. Regional housing councils.
Sec. 8-385. Housing Advisory Committee.
Sec. 8-386. Regional fair housing compact pilot program. Report.
Secs. 8-390 to 8-394. Reserved
Sec. 8-384. Regional housing councils. (a) There shall continue to be a regional housing council within each planning region of the state, as designated under the provisions of section 16a-4a, which shall consist of not less than seven members of the public representing a fair cross-section of the region. The chairperson of each regional housing council shall be appointed by the Governor and shall serve for a term coterminous with that of the Governor. Upon the resignation of any chairperson, the Governor shall appoint a successor to serve as chairperson. The chairperson shall organize each regional housing council and appoint the members thereof, who shall serve at the pleasure of the chairperson. If any vacancy occurs in the council, the chairperson shall appoint a successor to fill such vacancy. If the Commissioner of Housing finds that a regional housing council has not been organized within a planning region, he may designate the regional council of governments or other entity to serve as the regional housing council for such region.
(b) Each regional housing council shall: (1) Strive for environmentally and economically sound and socially balanced development of affordable, equal opportunity housing in accordance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations and regional development plans; (2) assist state and local decision makers, housing sponsors and other participants in the development of housing in defining suitable approaches to providing for regional housing needs and identifying regional housing resources; (3) develop channels of communication between all levels of government and the producers and consumers of housing in order to assist in expediting existing processes for housing production, in cooperation with regional councils of governments; (4) formulate and recommend measures designed to improve housing policies and propose appropriate legislative changes; (5) review and evaluate state housing programs and grants; (6) provide a forum for members of the public concerned with housing issues; (7) receive, review and comment on the housing needs assessment transmitted to the council by the regional council of governments within its planning region as required by section 8-35a, provided the council shall transmit such comments to the Commissioner of Housing not later than thirty days after receiving the housing needs assessment; and (8) monitor housing-related activities of the regional council of governments within its region.
(P.A. 87-550, S. 2, 10; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-12, S. 4; P.A. 94-138, S. 2; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 13-234, S. 2; 13-247, S. 312.)
History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-12 amended Subsec. (b)(7) to require each regional housing council to submit comments on the housing needs to the commissioner of housing rather than the Blue Ribbon Commission on Housing; P.A. 94-138 amended Subsec. (a) to designate regional planning agencies or other entities to serve as regional housing councils and amended Subsec. (b) to authorize monitoring of housing-related activities of regional planning agencies; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; pursuant to P.A. 13-234, references to Commissioner of Economic and Community Development were changed editorially by the Revisors to references to Commissioner of Housing, effective June 19, 2013; pursuant to P.A. 13-247, “regional planning agency” and “regional planning agencies” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “regional council of governments” and “regional councils of governments”, respectively, effective January 1, 2015.
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Sec. 8-385. Housing Advisory Committee. Section 8-385 is repealed, effective July 1, 2013.
(P.A. 87-550, S. 3, 10; P.A. 89-126, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-12, S. 5; P.A. 94-138, S. 1; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-68, S. 4; 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 13-234, S. 155; 13-247, S. 286; 13-299, S. 95.)
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Sec. 8-386. Regional fair housing compact pilot program. Report. (a) Upon submission of the initial report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Housing pursuant to subsection (a) of section 4 of public act 87-550*, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, in consultation with the Commissioner of Housing, shall establish a pilot program in two planning regions of the state, as designated under the provisions of section 16a-4a, for the development, through the process of a negotiated investment strategy, of a regional fair housing compact to provide increased housing for low and moderate income families within the regions. The choice of the regions for such pilot program shall be based on the findings contained in the initial report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Housing. The pilot program shall provide for a series of negotiations to be conducted by a mediator with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or his designee, the Commissioner of Housing, or his designee, and the officers of the regional planning agency or agencies within the chosen regions, or their designees and a representative of each municipality within such planning regions, appointed by the chief executive officer of such municipality. Such negotiations shall be conducted for the purpose of formulating and reaching consensus on a fair housing compact containing regional goals for the development of adequate, affordable housing based on the need for such housing in the regions as balanced against environmental, economic, transportation and infrastructure concerns, and the time frames for achieving such goals. The secretary shall contract with an independent consultant to serve as mediator in such negotiations. Upon the successful negotiation of such regional fair housing compact, the terms of the compact shall be submitted to the regional planning agency or agencies for incorporation into the regional plan or plans of development, as provided under section 8-35a, and shall be transmitted to the chief executive officers of the municipalities located within the planning regions for approval by the municipalities. Such compact shall not be included in the regional plan or plans of development until sixty-five per cent of the legislative bodies located within the planning regions have given such approval.
(b) Not later than September 1, 1988, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall submit a report to the select committee on housing containing an evaluation of the operation and effectiveness of the pilot program authorized under this section.
(P.A. 87-550, S. 5, 10; 87-589, S. 78, 87; P.A. 88-334, S. 2, 7; P.A. 90-205, S. 1; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 13-234, S. 2.)
*Note: Section 4 of public act 87-550 is special in nature and therefore has not been codified but remains in full force and effect according to its terms.
History: P.A. 87-589 changed report deadline in Subsec. (b) from February 3, 1988, to September 1, 1988; P.A. 88-334 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for the establishment of a pilot program in two planning regions of the state; P.A. 90-205 amended Subsec. (a) by requiring approval of 65% of towns in a compact rather than all the towns before the compact can be included in a regional plan; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; pursuant to P.A. 13-234, references to Commissioner of Economic and Community Development were changed editorially by the Revisors to references to Commissioner of Housing in Subsec. (a), effective June 19, 2013.
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Sec. 8-387. Housing Infrastructure Fund. State financial assistance to municipalities located in pilot program planning regions. (a) There is established a fund to be known as the “Housing Infrastructure Fund”. The fund shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited therein and shall be held separate and apart from all other moneys, funds and accounts. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall be carried forward in the fund for the fiscal year next succeeding. The fund may be used to make grants-in-aid, loans or deferred loans authorized by subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The state, acting by and in the discretion of the Commissioner of Housing, in consultation with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, may enter into a contract to provide state financial assistance in the form of a grant-in-aid, loan, deferred loan or combination thereof to municipalities located within the planning regions in which the pilot program is established, upon the approval of the regional fair housing compact as provided in section 8-386. In the case of a deferred loan, the contract shall require that payments on interest are due immediately but that payments on principal may be made at a later time. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (d) of section 4-86, funds appropriated to any state agency for payment to local governments for purposes related to or necessary for the development of housing in the regions, including but not limited to the purposes contained in this subsection, other than those for which distribution is governed by statutory formula, may be made available for the pilot program authorized under section 8-386 upon the recommendation of the Governor and approval of the Finance Advisory Committee. The grants-in-aid, loans, deferred loans or combinations thereof authorized under this subsection and any additional funds made available for the pilot program as provided in this subsection shall be used by the municipalities in said regions for the purpose of planning, construction or renovation of housing and for any of the following when necessary to support the development of housing within such municipalities in accordance with the regional fair housing compact: (1) Sanitary sewer lines, including interceptors, laterals and pumping stations; (2) natural gas, electric, telephone and telecommunications pipes, wires, conduits and other facilities and waterlines and water supply facilities, except for any such pipes, wires, conduits, waterlines or facilities which a public service company, as defined in section 16-1, a water company, as defined in section 25-32a, or a municipal utility is required to install pursuant to any provision of the general statutes, or any special act, a regulation or order of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority or a certificate of public convenience and necessity; (3) storm drainage facilities, including facilities to control flooding; (4) public roadways and related appurtenances; (5) community septic systems approved by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, provided administrative costs directly related to such construction or renovation shall not exceed five per cent of the total grant or loan from the department. Such grants-in-aid, loans, deferred loans or combinations thereof shall be awarded in such amounts and upon such conditions as the commissioner, in consultation with the secretary, may prescribe by regulation except that no grant-in-aid, loan, or deferred loan or combination thereof shall be made to any municipality that has not approved a housing compact prepared under section 8-386.
(P.A. 87-550, S. 6, 10; P.A. 88-334, S. 4, 7; 88-364, S. 91, 123; P.A. 90-205, S. 2; 90-238, S. 23, 32; P.A. 92-166, S. 25, 31; P.A. 94-95, S. 5; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 13-234, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 88-334 and 88-364 made technical changes to Subsec. (b); P.A. 90-205 amended Subsec. (b) to prohibit grants to municipalities that have not approved a housing compact; P.A. 90-238 amended Subsec. (a) to allow, rather than require, that the fund be used to make grants-in-aid or loans under Subsec. (b); P.A. 92-166 amended Subsec. (a) to make deferred loans a form of financial assistance available under the section and to provide that payments on interest are due immediately but that payments on principal may be made at a later time and amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes consistent with changes in Subsec. (b); P.A. 94-95 in Subsec. (a) eliminated provision requiring investment earnings to be credited to assets of the fund; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection” in Subsec. (b)(5) and “Department of Public Utility Control” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Public Utilities Regulatory Authority” in Subsec. (b)(2), effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 13-234, reference to Commissioner of Economic and Community Development was changed editorially by the Revisors to reference to Commissioner of Housing in Subsec. (b), effective June 19, 2013.
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Sec. 8-388. Regulations. The Commissioner of Housing, in consultation with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the purpose of section 8-387. Such regulations shall establish terms and conditions for the award of the grants-in-aid and loans authorized under subsection (b) of said section, requirements and limitations as to adjustments of loan terms and conditions of repayment, funding priorities and such additional requirements as the commissioner deems necessary and reasonable.
(P.A. 87-550, S. 7, 10; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 13-234, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; pursuant to P.A. 13-234, reference to Commissioner of Economic and Community Development was changed editorially by the Revisors to reference to Commissioner of Housing, effective June 19, 2013.
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Sec. 8-389. Priority financial or technical assistance in connection with regional fair housing compact. Upon the incorporation of a successfully negotiated regional fair housing compact into a regional plan of conservation and development by a regional planning agency pursuant to section 8-386, the Commissioner of Housing and the Connecticut Housing Authority may give priority to any application for financial or technical assistance made by a municipality, housing authority or eligible developer as defined in subsection (u) of section 8-39 in connection with any project located in a municipality which has approved the regional fair housing compact pursuant to section 8-386.
(P.A. 88-334, S. 3, 7; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 08-182, S. 13; P.A. 13-234, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 08-182 changed “regional plan of development” to “regional plan of conservation and development”; pursuant to P.A. 13-234, reference to Commissioner of Economic and Community Development was changed editorially by the Revisors to reference to Commissioner of Housing, effective June 19, 2013.
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Secs. 8-390 to 8-394. Reserved for future use.
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