Opinion: The Truth About Fairfield's Housing Issues (And Who is Really Responsible)

It's a popular trend to look around town and blame "Democrats" and "Hartford" for the many developments currently being constructed. This isn't true.

While affordable housing should never be a partisan issue, our local Republicans are doing nothing to correct this misperception; in many cases, they are even perpetuating a false narrative. Here's the truth: Republicans controlled the Fairfield TPZ Commission for 25 years. The State of Connecticut passed the 8-30g moratorium provisions in 2000. Fairfield achieved its first-ever moratorium in December 2024. This means it took the Republican-controlled Commission 24 of those 25 years to get the moratorium Fairfield is currently enjoying. But the Republican-led TPZ Commission did not achieve that moratorium through careful planning. It was, ironically, court-approved 8-30g developments and naturally occurring affordable housing the town had deed-restricted that finally pushed Fairfield over the threshold. In other words, Fairfield's current moratorium was achieved in spite of, not because of, the Republican-led TPZ Commission.

During those 24 years, the Town of Fairfield was flooded with 8-30g applications, and the developments generating the most concern and controversy came about during that same period of Republican leadership. Among them: the scheduled demolition and redevelopment on Unquowa Road near the Community Theater, which many Fairfielders are lamenting. This and other projects are a direct result of decades of inadequate planning under Republican leadership.

A quarter-century of inaction is precisely why the current Commission voted to add additional monthly planning sessions: to do more of the planning work it's supposed to be doing. Interestingly, the objections to those additional sessions came solely from the two Republican TPZ commissioners.

All of these facts are a matter of public record.