The following is a statement from Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo:
I have offered testimony to Connecticut General Assembly House Chairman Felipe, Senate Chairman Marx, Ranking Member Scott, Ranking Sen. Sampson and the members of the CGA’s Housing Committee. I wanted to make clear my strong opposition to SB 151, AAC Prohibiting Certain Land Use and Zoning Limitations on Housing, which is currently being considered by the State legislature.
I feel this bill is bad for Greenwich and bad for the entire region.
By limiting side and front setbacks, which this bill does, and forcing the allowance of single-family lots to be subdivided, Towns will be legally compelled to allow townhouses in a single-family zone. And the bill also includes many more onerous and neighborhood character defacing ideas that do nothing for towns. Instead, this bill will do everything for developers and Hartford legislators who, instead of focusing on job creation and more business friendly laws, continue to try to force punitive and self-defeating policies down the collective throats of suburban towns like Greenwich.
It is also a bad legislative idea for Connecticut’s environment. With congestion and flooding becoming increasingly more problematic for most towns, including Greenwich. this and other bills like it will exacerbate problems in municipalities that are vulnerable to more density, impervious surfaces and congestion.
To be clear, I am only listing some of the extreme measures that are included in this bill. But I want to make sure anyone reading my testimony to know the impact these terrible ideas would have on Greenwich and the State as a whole, so it does not get lost in the maze of bad ideas.
These measures are also strongly opposed by local first responders such as the fire department. As the Fire Commissioner in Greenwich, I have heard from our first responder professionals who have access issues in some of our more congested parts of town and this bill would exacerbate those areas that are now not easily accessed.
Our first responders, like many in communities across the state, are baffled by the yearly assaults on local control by legislators, housing advocates and developers who continue to ignore the will and rights of local residents with one size fits all mandates from a far-away State capitol. These mandates and the legislators advocating for them continue to show no regard to how those towns thrive on local guidance and expertise.
Is there any wonder why we are always experiencing outmigration and were ranked as 42nd out of 50 states for economic growth in 2025? I will continue to oppose this bill and I want to thank Greenwich’s bipartisan legislative delegation, State Sen. Ryan Fazio and State Reps. Tina Courpas, Stephen Meskers and Hector Arzeno, for all of their strong testimony against this bill and in defense of local autonomy and common sense.
