The complexity surrounding state zoning laws can seem insurmountable for those who want to create change in their communities and see more affordable housing constructed.

Open Communities Alliance, a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to amending discriminatory policies and actions based on income, race and ethnicity, recently released a guide to help affordable housing advocates. The guide is designed to help them better understand where to start when addressing zoning codes.

The goal is to create inclusive housing opportunities for all residents and undo housing segregation. The racial upheaval of 2020 inspired the new guide, according to Erin Boggs, executive director of Open Communities Alliance.

“It really picked up post the murder of George Floyd, where you started to see a lot of activism at the local community level all across Connecticut, and the focus of some of that has been on changing local municipal zoning rules and processes and open communities,” Boggs said.

But advocates struggled to make sense of what the state needed and where to start.

CT nonprofit creates zoning guide to help housing advocates spur change, Abigail Brone, Connecticut Public Radio, May 20, 2025, available here