A report on a controversial statewide zoning reform proposal that would assign each Connecticut town a certain number of housing units to plan and zone for isn’t likely to be finished ahead of the 2025 legislative session following a monthslong delay in finding a contractor to work on the project.

The delay means lawmakers won’t have all the information they’d wanted to craft legislation for another try at passing the policy next year.

Democrats’ signature housing bill from the 2023 session mandated that the state Office of Policy and Management establish a methodology by Dec. 1, 2024 to determine each town’s “fair share” of the number of housing units to plan for — to be determined based on regional need for affordable housing and in a way to “affirmatively further” fair housing.

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Advocates and lawmakers had said they wanted to wait until 2025 to try again to pass a fair share policy in Connecticut. The most recent session was a short session and an election year, making it harder to pass sweeping reforms.

And, they wanted to have the state’s report.

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“It’s hard to understand the delay in selecting a new consultant,” said Erin Boggs, executive director at the Open Communities Alliance. The alliance was one of the leading groups in a coalition that supported fair share called Growing Together Connecticut.

“The crisis persists,” Boggs said. “I think there are things that need to come together to have a real shot at fair share, but one of those things is the presence of the need. It’s not going to go away.”

CT ‘fair share’ study delayed; won’t be ready before 2025 session, Ginny Monk, CT Mirror, May 24, 2024, available here