Citing political fallout and misinformation, the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted Thursday to terminate a $50,000 state grant that was going to pay for an affordable housing study.
The motion to terminate the grant was presented by commissioner Peter Bunzl Ed Hellauer and seconded by Peter Bunzl, who said the affordable housing study has become “political.”
Commission members blamed Selectman Augie Palmer and others in town for twisting the study’s purpose for political gain, making it is impossible to give the issue proper consideration.
“Due to this resistance and complaining, the study should be canceled,” Bunzl said.
The commission members said Palmer wrote letters to local papers in an attempt to “scare” residents by connecting affordable housing to public housing and Section 8 housing.
Palmer could not be reached for comment.
The commission held a public information hearing in June to explain the study’s purpose. Public turnout was low.
That information would have provided the commission with background to draft new zoning regulations related to affordable housing.
The town has spent some $268,000 in court fees disputing a denial of an affordable housing application from Green Garden Homes, LLC.
Planning and Zoning Chairman Vinny Vizzo said Palmer has brought forth negative press against the study.
“The selectman has nothing to do with this,” he said. “This is a commission issue and he can’t tell us what to do.”
Commissioner Ed Hellauer called the misinformation “hoo-ha” and said the commission intends to revisit the affordable housing study after the election. However, the study money would have to come from the town instead of a state grant.
“We understand we are putting the burden back on the taxpayer, but we would be unable to effectively deliberate and have proper public input due to this misinformation,” Hellauer said.
On the heels of that decision, three Republican members of the commission — passed over by the Republican Town Committee nominating committee — announced their intentions to run as independent candidates in November.
Hellauer announced that he, along with Vizzo and commissioner Eric Tichy submitted petitions to run as independent candidates for planning and zoning to the town clerk’s office earlier this week.
Vizzo and Hellauer have been members of the commission for 14 years, while Eric Tichy has been on the commission for 6 years.
Vizzo and Hellauer said they were interviewed by the RTC nominating committee but were not invited to be on the party’s November slate.
Tichy was originally on the slate, but was pushed off by Palmer, who got onto the slate after a paper ballot vote at the Republican caucus last month.
At the time, Palmer said that if elected his goal would be to “eliminate affordable housing.”
“We don’t want to see Palmer turn this board into a political circus,” he said, “It won’t be fair to the residents.”
