Salisbury Housing Trust opens doors to future ‘land bank’ thanks to small parcel donation

“My legacy is going to be a beautiful river preserved, put into conservation, and an affordable housing lot. I have left my imprint on the community,” —Michael Klemens

SALISBURY — A 100-foot by 100-foot plot of land at 235 Housatonic River Road recently donated to the nonprofit Salisbury Housing Trust by landowner Michael Klemens is being hailed by affordable housing advocates as an example of how a little-known and often misunderstood state statute known as 8-30g can support affordable housing initiatives in town.

“We’ve been talking about this for years, getting residents to donate small parcels,” through Connecticut General Statute 8-30g, said Jocelyn Ayer, director of the Litchfield County Centers for Housing Opportunity.

“What 8-30g does is that it gives zoning flexibility to affordable housing organizations. Getting a generous donation from that will hopefully encourage other residents to do the same.”

John Harney, president of the Housing Trust, referred to Klemens’ gift as “unbelievably generous,” and is the affordable housing group’s first building site meeting the requirements of 8-30g.

This newly acquired parcel, comprising 9,965 square feet and conveyed by warranty deed from Klemens to the Salisbury Housing Trust, Inc., on June 11, is situated outside of municipal services on a scenic road that runs along the Housatonic River.

Reflecting on his land donation, Klemens, who serves as Chairman of the Salisbury Planning and Zoning Commission, said he had long explored developing the lot for himself, but ultimately decided to donate it for affordable housing.

He explained that “Under current zoning, it’s just not a minimum lot size, so I would have had to get a variance from the ZBA, but with 8-30g, those restrictions go away. I thought about it for a long time, but decided that the real potential is that if somebody built an affordable house under 8-30g, it eliminates the need for a variance.”

Salisbury’s Plan of Conservation and Development, adopted last December, “was quite clear about the benefits of the 8-30g statute,” noted Klemens.

“This is a first for the Housing Trust,” noted Harney. “We have renovated and developed historically where there is town sewer and water, but we need to look elsewhere in the future to find land that will require a well and septic and build on that.”

Harney noted that while the state statute does not directly govern the process of land donation, it does create a favorable environment for relaxing land use regulations and supporting affordable housing initiatives, including the donation of undersized lots.

“Through Michael’s generosity, the housing trust can bank a number of these parcels for the future,” said the SHT president. “Without land, we can do nothing, but with land and with 8-30g, we can do everything.”

Klemens said his gift to the Housing Trust is the final step in protecting and preserving acreage that he and his partner Kenneth Leabman amassed decades ago, all of which is located on Housatonic River Road between the road and the river and includes rare vernal pools and unspoiled views.

That entire swath of land, he said, has since been put into conservation with the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA).

According to Julia Rogers, HVA’s senior land protection manager, the area protected by Klemens’ conservation easements comprise about 15 acres along the Wild & Scenic stretch of the Housatonic River and protects critical habitat for amphibians.

“I wanted to protect that side, with its beautiful vernal pools, the river and not a single house there,” said Klemens. “We put the house lots into conservancy, then there was this scrap of land that was just out there, on the other side of the road. I held onto that small parcel, which was separately taxed, and separately deeded.”

Klemens referred to his donation to the Housing Trust as “the last cog” in his quest to preserve environmentally sensitive land in perpetuity and at the same time allow for a family to be able to afford to live in an area of town which might otherwise have been out of reach financially.

“At last, my legacy is going to be a beautiful river preserved, put into conservation, and an affordable housing lot. I have left my imprint on the community.