Over the next five years, as Connecticut officials think broadly about where and how they want to develop housing, encourage economic development and preserve open space, they’ll put climate change at the center of those conversations.That’s according to the latest draft of the Plan of Conservation and Development, which the Continuing Legislative Committee on State Planning and Development passed with overwhelming support on Thursday. The state updates these plans every five years, and they are meant to provide high-level guidance to state agencies on the policies around land use.
The plan aims to build communities that are healthy, have thriving economies and enough housing, take care of resources and are connected and inclusive — all with a focus on climate change at its core.
“It is based at its foundation, on these guiding principles,” said Rebecca Augur, the state’s responsible growth coordinator, in a presentation to lawmakers last month. “These are really values and value statements that are infused in the targets, policies and implementation measures that are included in the plan.”
The plan, which still needs to be approved by the full legislature, also takes a new approach to determining where to put more resources and development.
Plans in the past have mapped the best places to build based on several factors, including the feasibility of development near public transit and whether building would promote regional cooperation. These were called “priority funding areas,” and were concentrated largely along the shoreline and up the Interstate 91 corridor between New Haven and Hartford.
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The new mapping instead focuses on “activity zones,” which are parts of the state where there is already a good deal of housing, community centers and jobs. This shows major hubs around larger cities such as Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford.
Augur described the approach as “descriptive not prescriptive,” in that it shows where there is already activity rather than suggesting officials guide funding to certain areas.
For projects that are over $200,000, state law requires that agencies document how they’re following the principles of the plan. The new draft recommends increasing that threshold to $1 million.
The plan calls for leveraging public and private funds to push development, promoting regional cooperation and improving data analysis and collection. It aims to help the state plan for more housing, grow the economy and protect the state from climate change.
Connecticut has long grappled with a lack of housing that’s affordable and available to its lowest-income residents. That crisis has grown more acute over the past few years.
The state plan as drafted would direct agencies to focus on building more diverse types of housing, and