Zoning change helps affordable housing

CORNWALL — A public hearing set for July 13 by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) will discuss a proposed amendment to Section 8.26 (“Town or Nonprofit Sponsored Lot�) of zoning regulations.

The change to the regulation would allow for the 3- or 5-acre minimums to be relaxed on property developed by the town and by nonprofits groups, as long as sanitary and wetland impact requirements can be met.

P&Z discovered a contradiction in the regulations, and has come up with a potential fix: changing a “buildable area� clause to a minimum square footage requirement.

What the hearing and proposed amendment do not apply to is any specific parcel — such as the Incentive Housing Zone overlay proposed for a Cornwall Bridge property.

Zoning Enforcement Officer Karen Nelson explained that the proposed change is simply a clarification that would allow reasonable exceptions for proposed affordable housing lots. It would also add its own measure of land protection.

Nelson said that the high cost of moving land around to increase buildable area is not a deterrent for some property owners, but is not conducive to making a home affordable.

“We’ve been talking about this for about a year,� Nelson said. “It became clear that the parcel program, and anything else that might come along like it, needed to have its own set of regulations.

“A home built to be affordable would be small, and in most cases could be designed to fit within the contours of the existing buildable area.�

The public hearing is set for 7 p.m. at Town Hall and will be held prior to a regular P&Z meeting.