How Will HB 8002 Impact Stafford?

The Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) met briefly on Thursday, November 20, 2025, to elect a chair and secretary (Dave Palmberg and Cindy Rummel, if you’re wondering), and they also discussed how House Bill (HB) 8002 could impact Stafford. 

Depending on who you ask, the controversial housing bill is either a power grab that robs towns of their ability to make decisions about their local zoning or a victory for affordable housing that prevents municipalities from employing exclusionary zoning practices. But the truth is, for a town like Stafford, much of what’s in the bill simply won’t apply. The legislation is, to a large degree, aimed at larger municipalities near public transportation, but some of it will apply to our little hamlet. 

Newly re-elected PZC Chair Dave Palmberg said he had spent some time studying the more than 140-page document and estimated that about 40% actually applied to Stafford. One of the bigger items that the Town will have to grapple with is the requirement to create a housing growth plan. Towns can choose to do this on their own or opt into a plan designed by their Regional Council of Government.

Palmberg asked First Selectman Bill Morrison to check with the Capital Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) – which the Town belongs to – about whether opting into its plan would cost money. Palmberg suggested that joining CRCOG’s plan would likely be the best route. Otherwise, the town would have to pay someone to develop a plan that would likely be similar to the CRCOG plan. (CRCOG actually has a webinar planned for December to talk about regional housing strategies, if you’re looking for something to do.)

As we have reported in recent months, Stafford’s PZC was already looking for solutions to the housing crunch. Rich Shuck noted that the commission could work with CRCOG to coalesce its ideas for expanding multifamily housing and other middle housing options into a plan.

The commission also discussed the idea of “floating zones” which are now allowed. According to the American Planning Association, “A floating zone is a zoning district that delineates conditions which must be met before that zoning district can be approved for an existing piece of land. Rather than being placed on the zoning map as traditional zones are, however, the floating zone is simply written as an amendment in the zoning ordinance. Thus, the zone ‘floats’ until a development application is approved, when the zone is then added to the official zoning map.” It’s a confusing concept that Shuck said, “Doesn’t always work.” 

“Parking requirements are out the window,” Palmberg also said. CT Mirror explains, “The bill also says that towns can’t require developers who build new apartments with fewer than 16 units to add off-street parking, with a couple of exceptions.” That could certainly come into play in Stafford. 

It's also worth noting that the bill requires towns to conduct wastewater capacity assessments. The Water Pollution Control Facility's capacity has historically been an issue for Stafford, preventing significant development. In fact, it came up at the most recent Economic Development Commission meeting. Back in 2023, "[WPCF Superintendent Rick] Hartenstein reported that the current plant processes 1 million gallons of sewage daily. If the volume of sewage increases to 1.2 million gallons daily, the current design cannot handle that volume and the solids will float and not be adequately processed, a condition which must be reported to State of Connecticut agencies. The proposed $17 million expansion would allow for treatment of 2 million gallons per day." Those numbers have certainly changed in the past two years, but it remains a limitation.