March 5, 2004 |
2004-R-0274 | |
OPEN SPACE REQUIREMENTS | ||
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By: John Rappa, Principal Analyst | ||
You asked if the law requires developers to set aside land for open space in a proposed project before a local planning and zoning commission can approve it.
The law allows planning and combined planning and zoning commissions to impose this requirement on developers who want to subdivide and develop raw land. But it authorizes other ways developers can satisfy this requirement and exempts certain projects from it. Commissions that choose to impose the requirement must first adopt implementing regulations.
Commissions can require developers to set aside land in their project for open space or, in lieu of this, (1) pay a fee to the town or (2) pay a fee and transfer land to the town (CGS Sec. 8-25a). The fee or the combined value of the fee and transferred land must equal 10% of the fair market value of the land the developer wants to subdivide. The commission and the developer must jointly select an appraiser to determine the land’s value.
The developer must apportion the fee equally among the building lots and pay a portion when he sells a lot. The town must deposit the fee in a dedicated fund, which it can use for (1) preserving open spaces or (2) acquiring more land to be preserved as open space or for recreational or agricultural purposes (CGS Sec. 8-25b).
Towns cannot impose the open space requirement on:
1. a person who wants to subdivide and transfer without compensation fewer than five lots to a relative (i. e. , parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, or first cousin) or
2. a developer who proposes to develop at least 20% of the land for affordable housing (i. e. , housing that costs a family earning no more than the median income for the town no more than 30% of its annual income) (CGS Sec. 8-25(a)).
JR: nf