It's no secret that the real estate market across our nation has deep roots in institutional racism. Redlining, the practice of denying or limiting financial services to certain neighborhoods based on racial or ethnic composition without regard to the residents' qualifications or creditworthiness, which began in the 1930s, set in motion a pattern that would segregate neighborhoods, impoverish people of color and reduce opportunities for mobility for decades to follow.

By obstructing access to funding for anyone living in a “redlined” area, choices for health care, education, retail, banking and groceries are severely limited, stifling the livelihoods and pursuits of an entire group of people. Furthermore, when we limit housing opportunities, we not only deny shelter for the economically disadvantaged, but we also lose the opportunity to cultivate racial and ethnic diversity in residential communities.

More than 30 years ago, the Legislature turned its attention to the lack of affordable housing. In 1987, the Legislature established the Blue Ribbon Commission on Housing, and after conducting an intensive, two-year study, the commission released its report confirming the worst fears about the magnitude of the crisis in Connecticut and provided a plan which the Legislature used in enacting §8-30g. Although the Legislature had attempted to encourage affordable housing before it enacted §8-30g, the commission concluded that local zoning authorities under the prior regime were not sufficiently sensitive to the need — at least not in their backyards. Accordingly, the Blue Ribbon Commission proposed a unique appeals process displacing the traditional deferential standard of review with a rigorous burden of proof that would preclude a town from rejecting an affordable housing proposal unless it could marshal exceedingly persuasive reasons. In putting the force of our law behind these recommendations, the Legislature recognized the desperate need for affordable housing and demonstrated its robust commitment to addressing this need.