I am in a daze today as I scroll through properties in other states looking for a new place to live after a long planning and zoning meeting in my town with developer, Dan Bertram of Bright Raven’s Development. Dan plans on turning our small town into a small city. Bertram keeps moving the gold post for apartments playing cat and mouse with citizens, first it was 80 apartments, then a hundred, now it’s 240 and no going back. The giant structure is here. Bertram wants even more and is pushing for 350 apartments. His end goal is 530. Apartments are a gold rush for hungry developers.
Bertram broke ground in this small town and it will never be the same. He has also paved the way for more developers to come, and come they will empowered by Hartford to build “workforce housing”. In ten years Portland will be a completely different place and more than likely run by a town council and town manager as the population grows and becomes more renters than property owners. Dan Bertram will be the largest landlord creating a huge pricing increase for rentals on the backs of the average home owner. The tax burden will be so heavy that there will be a significant exodus of people who will leave to less taxed towns and states. Unfortunately, based on what I am seeing being legislated out of Hartford, the developer has the upper hand and this is the future they are consciously building.
In 2019 Governor Lamont passed The Municipal Redevelopment Association into law via the biannual budget without a hearing. Malloy had tried during his tenure and failed. This law lays down the bricks for centralizing Connecticut's zoning laws.
In 2021 Connecticut passed sweeping changes to our zoning laws with the Zoning Enabling Act which empowers developers to build where they want using "affordable housing" laws under 8-30g. Under 8-30g towns must provide a certain amount of affordable housing if they do not, the developer can use right of way and build anyway.
This past session ended on 5.8.24. Now we have, Public Act No. 24-143
AN ACT CONCERNING MUNICIPAL APPROVALS FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT.
There is a lot to comb through here, but essentially I believe Dan Bertram will build 530 apartments, his number not mine. He has planned this from the start. The changes in CT's housing and land use laws have been brewing for quite sometime. Now it is smacking us all hard in the face with a stiff dose of reality. I am sad, this is my home, but the rising taxes are becoming unaffordable to the point where it feels like the government is abusing us.
Energy is so high here and it is all due to our government. The super majority has stifled balance so here we are. I came to Connecticut as a young 20 year old, not sure what I was doing, or if I was staying. That was 33 years ago. I had all my children in Connecticut and have called this state my home for decades. There was a time when I thought I would never leave. What a beautiful state with historic rolling hills and charming homes dating back to as early as 1700. The classic farmhouses and big barns, the colonials with wooden clapboards, the victorians with a wrap around porches on streets filled with historical architecture. A short ride will take you to the beach, it’s not the ocean, but the sound, and the sand and sea air feel so nice. In the spring and fall Connecticut is rich with vibrant colors where the endless gray days cannot stomp out nature’s hues and pigments. My home on the edge of the woods with a giant sycamore tree. An apple tree planted on our first wedding anniversary, a peach tree planted a decade or so ago, now full of peach buds awaiting a bountiful harvest. My favorite are the humming birds in the endless Rose of Sharon. I married my soul mate under the sycamore tree. My children have laughed, cried, and grew up under this tree in this rambling farmhouse. Sometimes I just stand here and thank God for this blessing.
Life sure ain’t easy, loving is both joy and pain. Change is a part of life, not to be cliche. I want better words to convey this feeling, but my heart is sunk in a funk. Connecticut is changing in ways that are pushing people like me out. I see the writing on the walls. I have for years now. Our state in under the Fourth Industrial Revolution powered biotechnology, fintech, data mining, consultants, climate change, and developers. We are being legislated into poverty. The reality is if I try to stay here all of my income will be absorbed in just surviving. Never mind savings, retiring, vacations, nothing. Every dime we have now is spent in energy costs and excessive taxation. There are so many taxes on everything that we we do it’s actually clownish. The icing on the cake is the legislation coming out of Hartford that empowers developers like Dan Bertram to build massive buildings so he can charge luxury rents in the thousand of dollars a month and make a massive profit. The multifamily housing industry is big money. I have written many articles on this that I will link here for your reference.
Are we nothing more than a commodity for investment portfolios? What is an “opportunity zone”? What about a “growth zone” These zones are investment opportunities created by our government in partnership with private interests who fund these projects. I cannot tolerate this any longer and I am so tired of being told by some citizens not cognizant of this reality to be kind. Speaking the truth may seem mean, but’s it’s the kindest thing we can do for ourselves and our community. That is to speak boldly and stand up for our rights as free citizens. The winds of change are coming… Dear God be my guide, amen.
“The MRDA is a corporate entity that has the power to issue bonds, buy and sell property, manage property and collect rent. They can also provide tax incentives for private developers. It can adopt and alter a corporate seal, manage development districts also known as “housing growth zones” HGZ. Towns of 70,000 thousand +, and multiple towns with a minimum of 70,000 combined can sign on and be part of the MRDA where they will have access to MRDA funds and developers. Towns and cities will give up their managing and zoning power to the quasi agency, the authority! What this will look like is not yet known, but one can speculate that big developers will swoop in with sweetheart deals. The MRDA has access to public funds, the power to shape law, and operate as a private business. All quasi government agencies enjoy broad and sweeping powers. After all, they are quasi for a reason! Unelected business interests can steer government where it needs to go for their maximum profit.”The Authority
Brilliant and every word true! My town will be next unfortunately.