Clinton Adopts Middle Housing Zoning Amendments

Planning and Zoning · Meeting of June 23, 2026

Clinton's Planning and Zoning Commission adopted zoning amendments allowing "middle housing" to comply with a new state law. The commission, chaired by Michael Rossi, voted unanimously to approve text changes to sections 3, 10, 12.3, 23 and 27.2 and add a new section 37, effective July 10, 2026, to satisfy Public Act 25-1's requirement that towns allow two-to-nine-unit housing by administrative review on commercial lots. Members added three changes during the hearing, including a state-suggested safety provision for coastal flood zones and a reference to the town's outdoor lighting standard.

Resident Pat Labia testified against the plan's affordability and mixed-use requirements, warning "we're forcing them to devalue their property." Commissioner Shinzy Lairi countered that the rules "strike a balance" with the town's 2025 Plan of Conservation and Development. A related parking-district hearing was postponed over a notice problem affecting roughly 1,300 property owners.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,132 words

Source: the Planning and Zoning meeting of June 23, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

The Full Article

Call to Order and Roll Call

Chairman Michael Rossi opened the special meeting and public hearing with a roll call. Commissioners Bo Clark, Ellen Dren, Eddie Alberino, Shinzy Lairi, Jay Mandel, Zack Plord and Dylan Walter answered present. Commissioner Mike Florio was excused; Susan Marcus, an alternate, was seated in his place. Andrew Randy and Brian Pelleigrini were also called during roll call, but the transcript does not clearly record their responses.

Parking Management District Hearing Postponed

Background and stakes: Item PZC-26-14 proposed a zoning map amendment creating a parking management district, along with associated text amendments to sections 21 and 33 and new sections 24 and 33.12, intended to satisfy parking-related requirements of Public Act 25-1.

The question before the body: whether the commission could open the public hearing on this item as scheduled.

Substantive content and outcome: Rossi told the commission the hearing could not be opened because the map change requires notice to all property owners in the affected area, and the town had not completed notification to the roughly 1,300 parcels involved. "We cannot open it until we uh have made sure we've taken care of that legal issue," Rossi said. No vote was taken on this item; the commission indicated it expects to revisit the matter, with staff referencing a planned July 13 meeting for further action on both the parking district and a related notice-procedure question.

Implications: Until the notice issue is resolved, Clinton has no updated parking-district regulation in place even as Public Act 25-1's other requirements take effect; residents and property owners in the proposed district have not yet received the required notice of the map change.

Middle Housing Text Amendments: Background and the State Mandate

Background and stakes: Public Act 25-1, signed by the governor in November 2025, takes effect July 1, 2026, and requires municipalities to allow "middle housing" by right, subject to administrative summary review, on any lot zoned for commercial or mixed-use development. Clinton's zoning regulations, as written, do not define or permit middle housing in compliance with the act. The town received technical assistance from the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG) in drafting the amendments.

The question before the body: whether to adopt amendments to sections 3, 10, 12.3, 23 and 27.2, and a new section 37, to bring Clinton's zoning regulations into compliance before the state deadline.

Substantive content: A staff member identified in the meeting as Abby — referred to later by a public commenter as "Miss Pieraw" — walked the commission through the proposal. Middle housing is defined as a residential building with two to nine units, including townhouses, duplexes, triplexes, "perfect sixes" and cottage clusters. Summary review, the approval process the act mandates, is comparable to site plan review and excludes a public hearing, though it retains a public health and safety component.

The amendments add definitions for "cottage cluster," "middle housing residential" and "mixed-use middle housing" in section 3; clarify in section 10 that site plan review constitutes the required summary review process; clean up outdated unit-size language in section 12.3 tied to a 2021 building-code holdover; and revise the transit-oriented development overlay in section 23 to specify how middle housing applies within it. Section 27.2 adds middle housing to the table of permitted uses in applicable zones, with an exception: middle housing that is exclusively residential is not permitted in business zones, preserving mixed-use development there, consistent with what staff described as the commission's prior discussion on the topic.

New section 37 sets design standards — lighting, parking, landscaping and sidewalk connections — and limits one middle housing development per lot. It also includes an affordability requirement not mandated by the act but added at the commission's discretion: for every four dwelling units in a development, at least one must be deed-restricted for 30 years, serving households at or below 80 percent of area median income for the first affordable unit (paying no more than 30 percent of income toward housing costs) and at or below 60 percent of area median income for a second required unit once a development reaches eight units, per Connecticut General Statutes 8-30g. The section further requires that any ground-floor space facing the street in a mixed-use development within a business district include a non-residential use.

Staff said the proposal was circulated for review to required regional and state agencies. RiverCOG found it consistent with its recommendations. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection found the amendments generally consistent with the Connecticut Coastal Management Act but suggested adding language to section 37.8 shifting the burden to developers to demonstrate that increased residential density in coastal flood hazard zones would not impede emergency evacuation or responder access. Neighboring Madison and Westbrook did not respond to the referral.

The deliberation: Commissioner Ellen Dren raised two points: that the DEEP-suggested flood-hazard language should be incorporated as a condition, and that the outdoor lighting standard in section 37.7H should explicitly reference the town's existing lighting regulation, section 30.3.4, to remove ambiguity around glare and fixture requirements. She also asked whether the affordability period could be made permanent rather than limited to 30 years. Staff responded that the question could not be resolved that evening because the proposed language does not mirror the state's 8-30g affordable housing statute exactly. Another commissioner asked that fiber cement plank, described as a common modern building material, be added to the preferred materials list in section 37.7C alongside brick, stone and wood. Staff agreed the addition was permissible because it added to, rather than restricted, the list.

A commissioner also asked whether middle housing developments could ever go through a special exception process instead of summary review. Staff said no: "middle housing developments have to be by public act 25-1 have to be approved by summary review," and the amendments define summary review as the commission's existing site plan process, removing any procedural ambiguity.

Commissioners also discussed the ten-day gap between the state's July 1 compliance deadline and Clinton's proposed July 10 effective date. Staff said that in practice, applicants typically wait for formal adoption before filing, and noted the amendments are not especially burdensome. Commissioner Shinzy Lairi noted that adopting the amendment now, rather than waiting for a more comprehensive regulatory overhaul planned for the following year, avoids defaulting to unregulated compliance with the state law during the gap period.

Public Comment: Pat Labia's Opposition

Pat Labia, who said he owns rental property on a road in Clinton but lives at 36 Ortoner Drive in Westbrook, was the only member of the public to testify. He argued that Public Act 25-1 was intended to increase housing supply and bring down prices through market forces, and that Clinton's added affordability requirement and mandatory first-floor commercial-use provision in mixed-use buildings work against that goal. He pointed to vacant commercial space along Main Street, including in a building near Chips Pub, as evidence of weak commercial demand, and argued the town should not force property owners to maintain commercial space where there is little market for it.

"So now by forcing these people to not allow more residential and forcing them to continue to book commercial there, we're forcing them to devalue their property basically because now it's commercial." — Pat Labia, Clinton property owner, public comment.

Labia also referenced his own property tax experience following Clinton's recent property revaluation, saying his tax bill rose by roughly 20 percent even as he believed the town's budget increase was "just under three, maybe just over three" percent — a figure he said he was not certain of. He said the increase would require him to raise a tenant's rent by about $100 a month. These figures were presented by Labia as personal estimates and were not confirmed independently during the meeting.

Commission Response and Vote to Close the Hearing

Commissioner Shinzy Lairi responded directly to Labia's testimony, saying the amendments actually expand what is allowed on the affected parcels rather than restricting it, since the zone in question already requires commercial space; the amendments add the option of residential units on top of that existing requirement. Lairi also noted that the state law allows municipalities latitude to craft locally tailored standards, and said the amendments are consistent with Clinton's 2025 Plan of Conservation and Development, which the commission adopted the previous year.

"I think that these measures as outlined here keep it consistent with our plan of conservation and development while also being consistent with 25-1 ... strikes a balance." — Commissioner Shinzy Lairi.

Following discussion, a commissioner moved to close the public hearing; the motion received a second and passed unanimously on a voice vote.

Adoption of PZC-26-13 With Three Amendments

Procedural steps and outcome: Staff presented drafted motion language incorporating three changes raised during the hearing: amended section 37.8 to state that no middle housing development shall be approved if found to substantially impact public health or safety, particularly regarding dry egress for evacuation and emergency responder access in coastal flood hazard zones; amended section 37.7C to add fiber cement plank to the list of preferred building materials; and amended section 37.7H to require that outdoor lighting comply with section 30.3.4.

A commissioner moved to adopt the amendments to sections 3, 10, 12.3, 23 and 27.2 and to add section 37 as drafted in PZC-26-13, incorporating the three changes, with an effective date of July 10, 2026, and findings that the public hearing met notice requirements under Connecticut General Statutes 8-7; that the amendments implement Public Act 25-1; that they are consistent with section 1.4 of the Clinton zoning regulations and Connecticut General Statutes 8-2; that they are consistent with the 2025 Plan of Conservation and Development's housing diversity goals; and that they are consistent with the Connecticut Coastal Management Act. The motion received a second and passed unanimously on a voice vote.

Implications and what is next: The amendments take effect July 10, 2026, nine days after the state's compliance deadline. Staff indicated a broader overhaul of Clinton's zoning regulations is planned within the next year, which will offer a further opportunity for public input on middle housing standards. The commission did not set a specific date in this meeting for reopening PZC-26-14, the parking management district item, beyond a staff reference to a planned July 13 meeting.

Departure of Commissioner Eddie Alberino

At adjournment, Chairman Rossi thanked Commissioner Eddie Alberino for his service to the town, noting his tenure on this commission and other town boards. Alberino said he had enjoyed his time on the commission "for a long time" and referenced moving on to work connected to hospice care. The commission adjourned at 7:41 p.m.

Michael Rossi, Chairman, present. Bo Clark, member, present. Ellen Dren, member, present. Eddie Alberino, member, present (recognized at adjournment for his service to the commission). Mike Florio, member, excused absence. Shinzy Lairi, member, present. Jay Mandel, member, present. Zack Plord, member, present. Dylan Walter, member, present. Susan Marcus, alternate, seated in place of Mike Florio. Andrew Randy, called at roll; attendance not clearly confirmed in the transcript. Brian Pelleigrini, called at roll; attendance not clearly confirmed in the transcript. Staff member identified as Abby (possibly Abby Pieraw), presented the proposed middle housing regulations; title not stated in the transcript. Pat Labia, public commenter, Clinton property owner residing at 36 Ortoner Drive, Westbrook, Connecticut.

Public Act 25-1 (Connecticut) — the state housing growth law requiring middle housing by right via summary review; the basis for the entire PZC-26-13 amendment package. Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG) — provided technical and consulting support for drafting the amendments and reviewed them for consistency. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) — reviewed the amendments and proposed the coastal flood hazard safety language adopted into section 37.8. Connecticut General Statutes 8-30g — cited as the statutory basis for the affordable housing income and pricing formula in new section 37.4. Connecticut General Statutes 8-7 — cited in the adoption motion's findings regarding public hearing notice requirements. Connecticut General Statutes 8-2 — cited regarding consistency of the amendments with the purpose section of the zoning regulations. Connecticut Coastal Management Act — cited as a standard the amended regulations must meet, referenced in DEEP's review and the adoption findings. 2025 Clinton Plan of Conservation and Development — cited by commissioners as the basis for the amendments' housing diversity goals and referenced in the adoption findings. Town of Clinton zoning regulations, sections 3, 10, 12.3, 23, 27.2, and new section 37 — the specific regulatory text amended at this meeting. PZC-26-14 — the related parking management district zoning map and text amendment, not opened at this meeting due to a notice deficiency.