Greenwich Time

As many as 200 volunteers got to work at Christ Church Greenwich packing tens of thousands of meals to feed refugees from war-torn Ukraine who have fled to Poland. Read more: Greenwich Time https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/In-photos-Christ-Church-Greenwich-packs-17033582.php

The Board of Selectmen heard the first reading of a policy to formally set naming rights rules for review. No vote was taken but the policy is expected to move quickly with a board vote in April. “Establishing a naming-rights policy has been a long-discussed topic of conversation in Greenwich,” Daniel Carlsen, the town’s senior management analyst, told the Board of Selectmen at the board’s recent meeting. Read more: Greenwich Time https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Want-your-name-on-a-Greenwich-building-The-town-17029676.php

Fashionably Westport Runway Event presented by The WDMA on Thursday March 31, 2022 7PM – 10PM featuring the latest styles from scores of our downtown Westport merchants. Proceeds will benefit Project Return that focuses solely on the needs of homeless women. Enjoy a social night of fashion and music, plus cocktails and light bites. Event venue: Westport Library Forum. Ticket price $75 - $125. Tickets and further details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fashionably-westport-runway-event-tickets-89939035075

☘️St. Patrick’s Day Parade☘️ 📸📸📸📸📸 “Sponsored by the Greenwich Hibernian Association, the 46th annual parade featured bands, local schools, scouts, fire and police departments and civic organizations. A number of antique and vintage vehicles were also in the parade, including an antique van sponsored by Sam Bridge Nursery and a 1935 American LaFrance Metropolitan 400 Senior firetruck from the Cos Cob Volunteer Fire Department.” More: Greenwich Time https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/In-Photos-Greenwich-St-Patrick-s-Day-parade-17015437.php

St. Patrick’s Day Flag Raising Thursday, Parade Sunday “The town will continue its celebration of St. Patrick’s Day on Sunday, when the annual parade returns after a two-year interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Read more: Greenwich Time https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Greenwich-kicks-off-celebration-of-St-17009326.php

Thank you to Ken Borsuk at the Greenwich Time for spreading the word about our upcoming Candlelight Vigil and Packathon. Many people want to help in any way that we can. Join us this Sunday, March 20 at 5:00 pm for the Candlelight Vigil for Ukraine. Come to the Packathon for Ukrainian Refugees on Saturday, March 26 at 10:00 am to help scoop and pack food into Ziploc bags to be shipped to Poland. Christ Church Greenwich, 254 East Putnam Ave., Greenwich, CT For more info go to christchurchgreenwich.org . . #greenwich #greenwichct Greenwich Time Ken Borsuk Marek Zabriskie #packathon #Ukraine #refugees #prayforpeace

We're pleased to introduce the 1st flashing yellow arrow in CT! The flashing yellow arrow is a new type of signal located in a dedicated left-turn lane at a signalized intersection. A flashing yellow arrow means YIELD to oncoming traffic and then proceed with caution. This alleviates traffic and queue time by allowing vehicles to turn when there is no traffic in the opposing direction. Prior to the flashing yellow arrow, motorists had to wait for the green light. Have you seen the new flashing yellow arrows on Arch Street? Town of Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo T2 Center at the University of Connecticut Greenwich Time Greenwich Patch Greenwich Free Press Greenwich Sentinel

He set up shop in October 2021, charging an hourly rate to clean coops. He quickly found a few customers by word of mouth that are still customers today. Some families own as many as 15 chickens; some have as few as two. Greenwich Time https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Brunswick-students-turn-Greenwich-s-coops-into-16998354.php

The new hybrid vehicle has began patrol work in the past few weeks, one of four to hit the streets this year. The Greenwich department, an early adapter in the field, has already begun receiving inquiries from other departments in the region on what the hybrids offer, said Officer Matthew Swift, an automotive specialist in the department. Read more: Greenwich Time https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/What-can-go-130-mph-and-jump-an-8-inch-curb-16996139.php

On Item 35, I vote Aye: "To consider and act upon the following resolution, requested by 20 registered voters. "Sense of the Meeting Resolution to amend Connecticut’s Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Procedure (CGS § 8-30g) to better address the needs of vulnerable populations and development oversight in the Town of Greenwich "WHEREAS the State of Connecticut set an affordable housing goal of not less than 10% of a town’s housing units under CGS § 8-30g more than thirty years ago, and if a town has not met the 10% level, the local planning and zoning commission has very narrow grounds on which to amend or deny such projects; "WHEREAS 22% of Greenwich’s residents are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE), 21% of its public school students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, 34% of its residents are renters, and 7% of its residents fall below the poverty line; "WHEREAS the Town of Greenwich has 1,380 housing units, or 5.3% of relevant housing stock that qualifies as affordable under the conditions of CGS § 8-30g. "WHEREAS the Town of Greenwich has a number of affordable housing units that are not counted towards the 10% target of CGS § 8-30g because they are not deed restricted; "WHEREAS Greenwich Communities (previously known as the Greenwich Housing Authority), which manages 13 subsidized residential complexes, 225 section 8 (government subsidized) residences and a 40-bed facility for the aged, and has added 18 affordable units at the Armstrong Court property and 11 units at the Adams Garden property, is in the process of renovating the Armstrong Court buildings, which will include the addition of 42 new affordable units, and is planning to add 52 new senior units at Vinci Gardens, and is planning a complete redevelopment of the Quarry Knoll property to consist of at least 225 units; "WHEREAS the Town of Greenwich is currently developing an Affordable Housing Plan to address additional needs and has approved an Affordable Housing Trust Fund which is intended to support further development; "WHEREAS the Town of Greenwich had only received 8 applications under CGS § 8-30g in the past 29 years and now is reviewing 13 housing projects filed by developers under CGS § 8-30g in the past 14 months, with more expected this year, and that under CGS § 8-30g developers may construct buildings substantially in excess of Greenwich’s local zoning limits, as long as 30% or more of the units are deemed affordable; "WHEREAS the combined impact of these projects filed under CGS § 8-30g will have significant negative consequences for the environment and for town infrastructure as developers’ plans would require the clear-cutting of trees, an increase in the amount of impervious surfaces, and could overwhelm the capacity of Greenwich’s wastewater treatment plant, roadways, drainage systems, and schools; and "WHEREAS as of last year only 31 of the 169 towns in Connecticut had met CGS § 8-30g’s 10% target, indicating that the requirements of CGS § 8-30g make it difficult to achieve the affordable housing target of CGS § 8-30g; now therefore, be it "RESOLVED, that the Representative Town Meeting: "1. urges Town leadership to increase efforts to develop and plan for the affordable housing needs of our Town; and "2. urges the state delegation for the Town of Greenwich to work with the Governor and the legislature to amend CGS § 8-30g to "a. cap the volume of CGS § 8-30g projects that must be considered concurrently by a municipality so that the effect of each project on the municipality can be determined before additional projects are evaluated; "b. expand the list of criteria which local housing commissioners may use in an appeal proceeding defending their decision to amend or reject an affordable housing proposal to include issues such as incompatibility with a Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), density, height, traffic, environmental and infrastructure impacts, drainage and sewerage; "c. allow local municipalities to adopt policies that prioritize affordable housing development rather than allowing private developers to control such policies under CGS § 8-30g; and "d. review and update CGS § 8-30g’s metrics to better reflect the intent of the original statute." The resolution passed 164-22-9. The Town of Greenwich and many of its private actors have been pro-actively creating and working on affordable housing solutions over many decades though their objectives have been more ambitious than the state's (from what I can glean): it is my impression that while Greenwich has historically nurtured upward mobility through its affordable housing options, the state boasts an unimpressive record of socio-economic ghettoization and permanent dependency in municipalities that have willingly or unintentionally complied with its whims. The newly established Greenwich Affordable Housing Trust is an example of the type of initiative our town embraces to provide solutions that sustain local character; it provides an instrument for the Town to help boost its affordable housing stock while working with developers to cultivate projects that are comensurate with the scale of construction and with the architectural signature and the distribution that characterizes our neighborhoods and villages. This has a direct impact on quality of life for all residents. Municipalities are best equipped to resolve and manage growth while protecting the standard of living that makes that town or city attractive to new people. Artifically shifting population around a state without regard for the market and economic forces that would otherwise organically shape its communities is a recipe for failure. The many elements (cosmetic, infrastructural, cultural, and economic) that attract people to the Town are undermined by reckless initiatives engendered in Hartford. The State of Connecticut doesn't count all of our existing affordable housing through a technicality that needs to be addressed. If anything, our delegates in Hartford should concentrate on working with the state to ensure all of our existing affordable housing is accounted for in its quotas. Ultimately, the free market is the best instrument to balance housing costs, developments, and to address needs: "Some recent research suggests that two new market-rate housing units could create about as much housing opportunity for low-income households as one dedicated affordable unit, and it’s quite possible that IZ policies reduce market-rate construction by much more than two units per one affordable unit created." (https://www.governing.com/community/affordable-housing-and-the-dubious-promise-of-inclusionary-zoning). Unfortunately, these resolutions don't do much. They're just statements. And the reality is this a NIMBY issue. In my three terms in office here I've dealt with a lot of parking, density, over-paving, traffic, and environmental issues that result from these state-driven policies and the burden they place on our side of town. It wasn't until these disproportionate developments started spreading into other neighborhoods that affordable housing became a daily concern for a wider audience. At least its on the radar. But only three things will fix this problem: compliance with the state to avoid fines, amplifying ways to address compliance through options that give our Town some latitude (such as the Affordable Housing Trust), and to elect different legislators that will reform all these laws - on that last point, the task of changing the political culture in Hartford is a very difficult one and at times feels insurmountable. Time will tell. Greenwich RTM District 3 Greenwich Sentinel Greenwich Time Greenwich Free Press