Ron Kolanowski and Donna Jolly are driving around Hebron in Jolly’s SUV on a winter morning, surrounded by snow.
“You got the right car for this. Better than my little Elantra,” Kolanowski said.
They point out where crews will dig a well large enough to support a new housing development.
Church Street Commons in Hebron will have dozens of apartments at different rates.
The housing will be on land owned by St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Kolanowski is the rector, but most just call him Father Ron.
“We own all this land on this side of the street,” Kolanowski said. “How are we using this huge resource for mission and ministry? What is God calling us to do, to actually use this?”
The land is located close enough to Hebron’s town center to utilize the limited municipal sewer system. It’s a town where many homes rely on well water.
Jolly, who serves on the board of Commons Community Development Corporation, a group that pushes for more affordable housing in Hebron, said the group is lucky the development can use the municipal sewer system.
“In a city, those are just givens. There may be some other issues, like lack of space. I mean, we have this beautiful space, but these are our challenges,” Jolly said.
Connecticut’s housing crisis could be eased with the creation of about 100,000 more affordable homes. But, some towns in rural areas say creating housing is a challenge, pointing to limitations with sewer and water service. Others see them not as limitations, but opportunities.
‘A good-faith argument’
Large portions of Connecticut, about 40% of residents, have no town-wide municipal sewer systems, and operate mainly on septic systems, or tanks buried in the ground to process sewage.
Some say the lack of sewage or water infrastructure creates a barrier for apartment complex construction.
That’s sometimes used as an excuse, according to Hugh Bailey, policy director of housing equity nonprofit Open Communities Alliance.
“They don't want to have housing, and so they come up with reasons,” Bailey said.
But the lack of infrastructure is a chance to rethink construction, Bailey said.
“This is a legitimate, good faith argument why it can't always be done,” Bailey said. “The reason is, is that it's so expensive. Sewer hookups, sewer lines, you talk in millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars.”
Communities can have municipal water without sewer, and a lot can be accomplished on a well system, Bailey said.
“You can build duplexes. You can build missing middle housing. You can do a lot of things on our current system,” Bailey said.
Zoning law changes considered
In recent years, legislation proposed to address sewer infrastructure and capacity concerns have fizzled at the state legislature.
Too often lawmakers and others against bills that would increase housing production focus on large apartment complexes, according to Open Communities Alliance Executive Director Erin Boggs.
It’s OK to work with existing infrastructure, building two or three family homes, Boggs said. Passing laws that would push rural communities to consider various options is the first step in determining the best way to increase housing stock.
“Either it will prompt a conversation about solutions in a town, or it will sort of unearth serious impediments that a town is facing,” Boggs said.
Sewer infrastructure is once again up for debate during the current legislative session. Several proposals, including a housing bill dubbed “Towns Take the Lead,” would change zoning to make it easier to create more housing statewide.
Environmental concerns
Republican State Sen. Jeff Gordon, who represents several small towns in northeastern Connecticut, known as the state’s “Quiet Corner,” questions pushing construction and housing mandates before ensuring the right infrastructure is in place.
Gordon said it’s like putting the cart before the horse.
“You can't be pounding a square peg into a round hole, no matter how much you may try and hope that it works,” Gordon said. “There's a big dose of reality, but it's not because the towns don't want to do things. They just need that partnership.”
Gordon is also concerned about the environmental impact.
“When we're talking about building things out, especially in parts of the state that depend upon septic, that have well water, lots of farms, open space, lots of rivers and water bodies, you don't want to do anything that's going to be environmentally harmful,” Gordon said.
Sewer infrastructure with a national lens
Nationally, Congress passed rural water and sewer infrastructure funding in the 2018 Farm Bill. The legislation is up for reauthorization later this year and there are calls to increase the funding.
Back in Hebron, Ron Kolanowski, the reverend behind the affordable housing construction, said developing the church’s land will also result in a well that’ll be used by the town center.
“This new community well system, it'll give Connecticut Water the capacity it's going to need to serve other ways in the community,” Kolanowski said.
Housing advocates are praising Hebron for its housing push. Kolanowski and other housing advocates in town say they hope other towns across Connecticut join them in finding creative ways to create more housing.
