Sec. 8-64a. Disposal of housing project by housing authority. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 8-64a. Disposal of housing project by housing authority. No housing authority which receives or has received any state financial assistance may sell, lease, transfer or destroy, or contract to sell, lease, transfer or destroy, any housing project or portion thereof in any case where such project or portion thereof would no longer be available for the purpose of low or moderate income rental housing as a result of such sale, lease, transfer or destruction, except the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development may grant written approval for the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of a housing project if the commissioner finds, after a public hearing, that (1) the sale, lease, transfer or destruction is in the best interest of the state and the municipality in which the project is located, (2) an adequate supply of low or moderate income rental housing exists in the municipality in which the project is located, (3) the housing authority has developed a plan for the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of such project in consultation with the residents of such project and representatives of the municipality in which such project is situated and has made adequate provision for said residents' and representatives' participation in such plan, and (4) any person who is displaced as a result of the sale, lease, transfer or destruction will be relocated to a comparable dwelling unit of public or subsidized housing in the same municipality or will receive a tenant-based rental subsidy and will receive relocation assistance under chapter 135. The commissioner shall consider the extent to which the housing units which are to be sold, leased, transferred or destroyed will be replaced in ways which may include, but need not be limited to, newly constructed housing, rehabilitation of housing which is abandoned or has been vacant for at least one year, or new federal, state or local tenant-based or project-based rental subsidies. The commissioner shall give the residents of the housing project or portion thereof which is to be sold, leased, transferred or destroyed written notice of said public hearing by first class mail not less than ninety days before the date of the hearing. Said written approval shall contain a statement of facts supporting the findings of the commissioner. This section shall not apply to the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of a housing project pursuant to the terms of any contract entered into before June 3, 1988. This section shall not apply to phase I of Father Panik Village in Bridgeport, Elm Haven in New Haven, Pequonock Gardens Project in Bridgeport, Evergreen Apartments in Bridgeport, Quinnipiac Terrace/Riverview in New Haven, Dutch Point in Hartford, Southfield Village in Stamford and, upon approval by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development of a HOPE VI revitalization application and a revitalization plan that includes at least the one-for-one replacement of low and moderate income units, Fairfield Court in Stamford.

      (P.A. 88-267, S. 2, 4; 89-113, S. 1, 3; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-195; 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 97-299; P.A. 01-194, S. 3, 9; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2, S. 28.)

      History: P.A. 89-113 removed the one year limitation on the applicability of section 2 of P.A. 88-267, thereby necessitating its codification, added further findings to be made by the commissioner of housing prior to approving the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of state-assisted housing projects and added public hearing and notice requirements in connection therewith; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 96-195 deleted Subdiv. (3) requiring replacement with an equal number of dwelling units, renumbering the remaining Subdivs. accordingly; P.A. 97-299 inserted new Subdiv. (3) re development of plan for disposal of project prior to approval, redesignating existing Subdiv. (3) as (4), added provisions re type of housing or subsidy as alternatives available to displaced persons for relocation and required commissioner to consider extent to which disposed units will be replaced; P.A. 01-194 added exception for Pequonock Gardens Project in Bridgeport, effective July 11, 2001; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2 added exceptions for Evergreen Apartments in Bridgeport, Quinnipiac Terrace/Riverview in New Haven, Dutch Point in Hartford, Southfield Village in Stamford and, upon approval by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development of a HOPE VI revitalization application and a revitalization plan that includes at least the one-for-one replacement of low and moderate income units, Fairfield Court in Stamford, effective July 1, 2004.