It's official; the former Borough School is getting a new lease on life.
Back in August, Bluebird Construction presented its plan to turn the vacant school into a 20-unit apartment building under the 8-30g CGS statute for affordable housing. At the September 7, 2023, Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) public hearing, Engineer Frank Vacca presented some small changes to the plan, most of which were responses to comments at the last meeting. These included more amenities for the future residents, like picnic tables and a fire pit, a bike rack, and a high-flow dry well to handle potential water run-off.
Six of the 20 units will be designated as affordable. Normally, Stafford's zoning regulations would only allow for 12 units in this location, but 8-30g allows developers to override local regulations to provide affordable housing.
While there is a rather complicated formula that designates what one can charge for affordable rental units based on the median income of the area, the size of the family, and the size of the unit, what it boils down to for the property in question is this:
1 bedroom - $1,159
2 bedrooms - $1,296
3 bedrooms - $1,699
Families must demonstrate that they fall within the designated income limits to qualify for these units. At the upper limit, HUD regulations say they can make 80% of the median income in the area.
Affordable housing is often defined as housing that costs 30% of a household's income. The Partnership for Strong Communities reports, "Over 200,000 households are spending more than half their income on housing costs. In Connecticut, the amount a person must make per hour to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment is $25.40 and the average wage for a renter is $17.53 (NLIHC, 2019)."
And the existing lack of affordable housing is only getting worse. According to CTMirror.org, Connecticut could lose 300 affordable housing units this year, with thousands more to follow in the next five years: "Rules that require certain housing units to be rented at affordable rates will expire on thousands of units, while other units are likely to fall into disrepair and become unsafe."
During public comments, Laura Lybarger said, " I'm really pleased to see not just the whole project, but the affordability part." She said she was happy to know families with limited means would have a nice place to live.
PZC Dave Palmberg said, "I think it'll be a nice improvement to the neighborhood." He also pointed out that it's an ideal location for the use. Palmberg, Ron Houle, Cynthia Rummel, Richard Shuck, and alternate Leonard Clark voted unanimously to approve the project.