Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org
Mansions are lined up along Oenoke Ridge in New Canaan. The area is zoned for a 4-acre, single-family home.
On a sunny spring afternoon in 2016, Richard Freedman went on a bike ride through New Canaan.
The housing developer was fresh off a disappointment. He had applied to build housing for low-income people in Westport, but his plan had just been rejected.
As he rode through the hillsides that afternoon where mansions with gated entrances were separated from each other by four acres and stone walls Freedman wondered whether civil rights groups or developers would ever find a way to change zoning laws so that more than one housing unit could be built on these huge lots. The properties take up most of the town and largely shut out those who need affordable housing.
Developers say it s perfect spot for affordable housing. Neighbors say build your units elsewhere.
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A proposal has been submitted for deeply affordable housing at 1114 Hope St. in the Springdale section of Stamford, Conn., photographed here on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Area residents have argued that the development would be too dense, contain too many units, and exacerbate parking concerns in the neighborhood. The propsal would demolish the concrete structure at 1114 Hope St. to make way for an apartment complex while preserving the church next door and converting it into apartments.Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut MediaShow MoreShow Less
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A proposal has been submitted for deeply affordable housing at 1114 Hope St. in the Springdale section of Stamford, Conn., photographed here on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Area residents have argued that the development would be too dense, contain too many units, and exacerbate parking concerns in the neighbo
Stamford formed an affordable housing trust. Now they get to divvy up $3,000,000.
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The site of the new deeply affordable housing development located at 72 Franklin Street before the groundbreaking ceremony in downtown Stamford, Conn. on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.File / Michael Cummo / Hearst Connecticut Media
STAMFORD More than two years of work came to a head this week when the Board of Representatives formally approved terms for the Stamford Affordable Housing Trust.
The fund provides a home for money the Stamford has long collected to bankroll new affordable housing projects. But, under a new directive, the trust fund provides a more public approach towards assessing the city’s below-market housing needs.