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12/02/2020 08:00 AMEditor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles on the effect of zoning on race in Guilford.
Guilford’s population is about 90 percent White, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A little more than one percent of the population is Black, compared to about 10 percent in the state. For at least the last 20 years, as Connecticut has become more racially diverse, Guilford’s population has remained homogeneously White.
As the nation takes a look in the mirror, with stark examples of police brutality and systemic racism prompting demonstrations in thousands of cities and towns across every state—including in Guilford—many people are seeking to find explanations for some of the persistent inequalities that continue to plague the country, the state, and the town.
The issue is seemingly simple: Anyone who can afford a mortgage or rent can live in Guilford, regardless of race. There is a kind of de-facto segregation, however, that has preserved affluent, suburban towns and their high-performing school districts and opportunities for upward mobility, but leaves the vast majority of Black and non-White people living in more densely populated urban areas without these important advantages. These barriers include profiling and other forms of discrimination.
Banks in Connecticut have been sued—most recently Liberty Bank, which was forced to change its policies in 2019—for allegedly steering Black and non-White people away from certain programs and refusing to serve majority non-White communities for home loan programs. Black families are denied home loans more than twice as often as White families, according to a 2018 study by real estate website Zillow.
Regardless of intent, another instrument that has maintained homogeneity in wealthy White communities is zoning regulations.
Zoning regulations and the manner they are enforced and applied can be used for a number of purposes, just like any other tool. While there are substantial public interest and important reasons to set restrictions on types of development that might harm the environment or create long-term issues in the layouts of towns, these same tools have for decades been used in a way that ensures Connecticut’s rich White towns stay that way, mostly through preventing the creation of affordable housing, according to Director of Operations of Connecticut Fair Housing Center Fionnuala Darby-Hudgens.
“We always look at the development of affordable housing as the most effective and least expensive way to integrate our predominantly White communities,” Darby-Hudgens said.
There are many types of affordable housing, and many definitions for what qualifies as affordable, with many towns making their own and drawing their own regulations. The state of Connecticut defines “affordable housing” as housing that costs 30 percent of a person or household’s annual income, when that income is equal or less than the median of the town.
Around 65 percent of Black and Hispanic Connecticut residents rent rather than own their living spaces, according to Darby-Hudgeons. 60 percent of Black and Hispanic Connecticut residents cannot afford fair-market rent, according to the Fair Housing Center, compared to 36 percent of White residents, making the lack of affordable housing disproportionately affect people of color.
Because Black and Hispanic families are much less likely to be able to afford fair market rents or mortgages, zoning regulations and zoning boards that make sure assisted or deed-restricted units never get built effectively ensure those people cannot live in that town, Darby-Hudgens said, meaning that even if the intention isn’t discriminatory, the effect clearly is.
Making Changes
In Guilford, adding affordable housing has been a slow, laborious process. In 2002, the town had 146 units—1.67 percent of its total housing stock. In 2019, there were 231 units, or 2.41 percent.
Following a reckoning this summer in regards to structural racism, many Guilford residents saw or began to understand the structural barriers that create inequalities in town and around the state. State-level conversations about revamping how towns are allowed to zone, or at least create more incentives for homogeneous White towns like Guilford to expand their housing stock are happening right now, according to legislators.
Guilford Selectman Sandy Ruoff has been an advocate for more affordable housing for many years. Since around 2016, she has chaired a citizen’s group called the Housing and Economic Development Plan (HEDP) Committee that seeks to identify, encourage, and advocate for these types of developments in town.
Ruoff said that she has observed a growing appetite both in town, and even more so at the state level to break down barriers and create these housing opportunities that are currently almost nonexistent in Guilford and many other White shoreline towns.
“In terms of what suburban towns have done, even though we haven’t done that much, we’ve done more than other ones. We’re a little bit ahead of the game,” Ruoff said.
Notably, Guilford has made significant strides toward adding two affordable housing projects just this year: the so-called “Woodruff Property” near the train station, which is currently in the process of seeking funding to construct 16 units targeted at working-class families, and a 10 unit “cottage” community of for-sale houses along State Street.
Both these projects received significant support from the town, with the Board of Selectman gifting the land on which the Woodruff development will be built to its New Haven developer, and working closely with Guilford-based non-profit developer Green Planet Company on the State Street community.
But there is still a long way to go, and the barriers currently in place have held strong for at least 80 years. Guilford is actually more White than it was in 1960, according to census data. Local officials understand that the state is making affordable housing a priority going forward.
At the same time, though, communities like Guilford have a right and a responsibility to look at what is best for the town and its current residents, and not every zoning issue directly relates to race. Higher density development can bring with it many problems, notably traffic, safety issues, and corresponding expenses borne by local taxpayers. Younger people who are more likely to rent and have lower incomes are also more likely to have school-age children, whose education is funded predominantly by local taxpayers. There are also possible opportunity costs for every affordable housing development, as market-rate or other types of development can often add more value to the Grand List.
While town officials and policymakers must seek to address all these issues from a variety of perspectives and methods, zoning codes and how they are enforced continue to have an outsized impact on making Guilford and the state as a whole an equitable place. In the coming weeks, the Courier will explore more in-depth how the town has formulated its zoning and how this has shaped the community, as well as what the future might hold.