Church Street Commons in Hebron will have dozens of apartments at different rates.

The housing will be on land owned by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Kolanowski is the rector, but most just call him Father Ron.

“We own all this land on this side of the street,” Kolanowski said. “How are we using this huge resource for mission and ministry? What is God calling us to do, to actually use this?”

The land is located close enough to Hebron’s town center to utilize the limited municipal sewer system. It’s a town where many homes rely on well water.

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Connecticut’s housing crisis could be eased with the creation of about 100,000 more affordable homes. But, some towns in rural areas say creating housing is a challenge, pointing to limitations with sewer and water service. Others see them not as limitations, but opportunities.

‘A good-faith argument’

Large portions of Connecticut, about 40% of residents, have no town-wide municipal sewer systems, and operate mainly on septic systems, or tanks buried in the ground to process sewage.

Some say the lack of sewage or water infrastructure creates a barrier for apartment complex construction.

That’s sometimes used as an excuse, according to Hugh Bailey, policy director of housing equity nonprofit Open Communities Alliance.

“They don't want to have housing, and so they come up with reasons,” Bailey said.

But the lack of infrastructure is a chance to rethink construction, Bailey said.

“This is a legitimate, good faith argument why it can't always be done,” Bailey said. “The reason is, is that it's so expensive. Sewer hookups, sewer lines, you talk in millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars.”

Communities can have municipal water without sewer, and a lot can be accomplished on a well system, Bailey said.

How CT's lack of rural sewer infrastructure stymies housing production, Abigail Brone, Connecticut Public Radio, March 4, 2025, available here