Old Lyme Residents Grapple With How to Preserve Identity While Planning for Housing Change

OLD LYME, CT – Questions about change in a town that prides itself on staying the same didn’t yield easy answers this week for the consultants charged with guiding an overhaul of the local zoning regulations. 

Eighty-six residents filled the Town Hall meeting room Wednesday for a zoning workshop to discuss the future of housing in town. Against the backdrop of outdated local regulations combined with state efforts to address Connecticut’s housing shortage, consultants from IMEG Corporation heard from residents concerned that too much development could turn Old Lyme into another East Lyme or Old Saybrook. 

A central question emerged over the course of the two-hour workshop: whether preserving what makes Old Lyme unique requires resisting change or steering it. 

During one of three breakout sessions, lead consultant Francisco Gomes asked residents what they wanted for their community. 

One resident wanted “the state to leave us alone,” while another wanted “nothing to change.” 

Another distanced himself from the idea of staying the same. 

“I think we should have a bit of change,” the resident said. “My concern is that we don’t have enough affordable housing. I’d like my kids to come back here one day. There’s no chance of that right now.” 

The idea garnered support from residents who suggested the current options largely ignore younger adults and older adults who don’t need single-family homes on large lots. There was broad support for senior housing, as well as for easing restrictions that prevent some residents from renting out accessory apartments such as carriage houses and in-law units. 

The large turnout was partly driven by tension over a contested Zoning Commission vacancy earlier this month, as well as broader concerns about state housing mandates. 

A similar-sized crowd packed the July 13 Board of Selectmen meeting, where former First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder, a Democrat, won appointment to the seat over six-year alternate Michael Barnes, unaffiliated. 

At Wednesday’s workshop, former Republican Selectwoman Jude Read spoke up from the audience to advise Gomes to prepare for a larger crowd at future workshops on other zoning topics, including commercial development. 

“People are starting to pay more attention,” Read said. 

Two uniformed police officers stood at the back as the event unfolded. First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker on Friday said officers are typically present when larger crowds are anticipated in case attendance exceeds capacity. 

By the Numbers

An informal survey of those in the room, limited by 50 electronic polling devices shared among 80-plus attendees, showed 60% of respondents had lived in town for more than 20 years. 

When it came to whether the town needs more housing overall, 48% clicked yes and 48% clicked no. Four percent were undecided. 

While 54% of residents said the town needs a greater diversity of housing types, a visual preference exercise revealed widespread disapproval of any type of housing that veered from traditional single-family homes on large lots. 

Respondents were more decisive about what they didn’t like than what they did. 

The 1 to 5 voting scale spanned “not good” at 1 to “I like it” at 5.

A photo of a high-density, three-story apartment-style building in Brookfield designed to look like a barn drew laughs and a 91% “not good” rating, while a rowhouse-style development with nine connected rooflines received an 85% negative rating. 

A traditional single-family farmhouse-style home and a Cape Cod surrounded by trees received the strongest approval, earning the top “I like it” rating from 53% and 50% of respondents, respectively. 

The clearest consensus in a series of policy questions emerged around accessory dwelling units, with 69% of attendees supporting regulatory changes to allow more of the small, independent living units located on the same lots as single-family homes. A similar majority, 66%, wanted development in coastal areas more restricted. 

Attendees were largely skeptical of density: 54% opposed allowing multi-family housing in more locations, and 53% opposed more mixed-use development. 

8-30g

Residents in the breakout session led by Gomes expressed frustration with a state law that allows developers to bypass local zoning rules in towns that do not have 10% of their housing stock designated as affordable. It’s a threshold they said Old Lyme is unlikely to reach. 

Efforts by the state over the past three decades to promote affordable housing have relied heavily on the statute, known as 8-30g, which makes it possible for developers to sue the town if their plans for affordable housing are rejected. The burden of proof in such cases shifts to the municipality to show the risk to public health or safety outweighs the need for affordable housing.

The earliest iteration of the law went into effect in 1990 as a response to rising housing costs and limited supply. Lawmakers then and now argued that restrictive zoning in many communities contributed to a shortage of affordable housing options. 

Municipalities are beholden to the requirements of 8-30g until 10% of their housing stock is deed restricted as affordable. Once the threshold is met, developers no longer get an automatic court appeal when they put forth plans that don’t meet zoning regulations.

According to the most recent list published by the state Department of Housing, 81 housing units in Old Lyme are considered affordable by state standards. That amounted to 1.62% of the town’s 4,988 units in 2025. Only 21 of the state’s 169 municipalities have a lower percentage of affordable housing – including Lyme at 0.90%, North Stonington at 1.39% and Haddam at 1.53%. 

Based on those numbers and assuming only affordable housing units were built, the town would need to add 464 units to reach 10%. But affordable housing developments often consist of market rate units as well. 

Gomes acknowledged that while adding market rate and affordable options may help stabilize prices, adding market rate units can make it harder to reach the 10% goal because affordable units become a smaller percentage of the overall housing stock. 

A moratorium exempts municipalities from the provisions of 8-30g for four years if officials demonstrate sufficient progress since the law’s implementation or their last moratorium. The intent is to give towns time to pursue affordable housing on their own terms rather than waiting for developers to come in with proposals that may not align with local preferences. 

Teri Lewis, a real estate agent and former co-chair of the Harbor Management Commission, was doubtful the town would ever achieve the 10% threshold. 

Gomes didn’t disagree. 

“In communities like Old Lyme, it’s unlikely, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a need for more housing that’s affordable. It’s just that 10% is way off and difficult for communities like Old Lyme to achieve,” he said. 

Lewis said she was not opposed to affordable housing, but questioned what she saw as a loss of local zoning control through laws like 8-30g.

“I’m just trying to envision where or how somebody can override everything that we’re trying to do here in Old Lyme and those developers can just take us to the next level,” Lewis said. 

The statement resonated with other attendees, like one who asked “What’s the point of zoning?” and another who questioned the state’s motivation: “What’s this all about? Why are you doing this?” 

Guiding Change 

Some participants argued that Old Lyme should create opportunities for modest housing growth to retain greater control over future development.

Resident Mike Hansen, who was elected to the Region 18 Board of Education in November, suggested the town could encourage smaller-scale, community-oriented housing designed to fit Old Lyme’s existing neighborhoods rather than risk larger projects proposed by developers under 8-30g.

He described clusters of duplexes built around shared green spaces and said the town should consider ways to attract development that reflects community values.

“If we proactively, as the town, invite that in – whether it’s through some tax incentive or whatever – and we develop that piece of property the way we want it, then that property is spoken for,” he said. “It’s done now.” 

But others argued that inviting any development could build on itself until, as one resident put it, Old Lyme gets “steamrolled into Old Saybrook.” 

Gomes cautioned that Old Lyme has many physical factors that limit what developers can do. The availability of drinking water, wastewater capacity, roads and ledge all constrain where higher-density development can occur.

“You already have a lot of natural controls on development,” he said. 

After the meeting, Gomes emphasized his goal as a consultant is to help the town update its zoning regulations “to respond to the community’s needs and desires.” 

“We don’t have an agenda coming into this,” he said. “We weren’t hired to find ways to develop more housing.”

He said when communities tell him they don’t want more housing, then the discussion becomes about maintaining the regulations as they are and making minor updates as needed. 

In Old Lyme’s case, he said what he heard Wednesday evening wasn’t outright opposition to more housing. 

“It was all about the scale of housing and how that housing is built and, I think, where it’s located,” he said. 

The longtime planner said he was not there to tell Old Lyme how to act, but said he’s learned along the way that preserving what a community values sometimes requires a new approach. 

“If you want to keep things the same, you actually have to change how you do things,” he said. 

Business owners, property owners, and residents are asked to provide input on revisions to the town’s zoning regulations through an online survey. Click here to share your feedback. More information is available on the town website.