Republican Ryan Fazio had two reasons to choose Simsbury to pitch a “grand bargain” on housing reforms Thursday: The town is roiled by a proposed 689-unit housing development, and it is a prime example of a former GOP suburb that Fazio must recapture if he is to compete with Gov. Ned Lamont.  The GOP gubernatorial nominee opened with a familiar attack on the Democratic governor and legislators, accusing them of undermining local control by passing an omnibus housing bill without repealing 8-30g, a decades-old law that can negate some local zoning rules in communities with less than 10% affordable housing. “People across Connecticut are engaged in their communities,” Fazio said. “They love their town and city. They want to preserve all that is wonderful about it — the history in our neighborhoods, the open space and greenery — and they want input in the decisions that are made about their neighborhoods.” Then he pivoted to his concept of a “grand bargain”: state-mandated zoning reforms in return for significant revisions to 8-30g and H.B. 8002, the housing bill Lamont signed last year after vetoing a similar measure in the face of opposition centered on suburbs that have become crucial to the Democratic base. Republican nominee for governor Senator Ryan Fazio speaks during a a press conference highlighting the impact of state statutes on housing and development at Pinchot Sycamore Tree Park in Simsbury on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Credit: Sarah Gordon / CT Mirror His bargain is more framework than a plan, offering unspecified reforms to building codes and mandating that municipalities “streamline permitting processes to make them more rules-based, speedy and predictable.” But, in theory, that represents a willingness to consider some intrusion into local control. Currently, fewer than two dozen Connecticut communities allow buildings with more than three housing units as a matter of right under local zoning. A few ban them outright, and the majority will consider them only under a special permit process that can be lengthy and expensive. In fact, Fazio was told at a housing roundtable he hosted the previous day that the special permits can add 20% or more to the cost of multifamily housing. So, would that streamlining potentially include curbing the use of special permits? “Yeah, I think that that would be part of the trade — that if we streamline the zoning and permitting decisions, then we get more local control back. We get a rollback of 8-30g and 8002,” Fazio said. “And that’s what I’ve heard, not just from the gentleman who talked about it yesterday but from developers across the state.” The revisions to the 8-30g would include height and size limits on projects that could employ the law’s provisions and give municipalities an indefinite reprieve from 8-30g if they took other actions towards promoting new housing, such as adopting “housing growth zones” in commercial areas or near transit. Simsbury is one of the Farmington Valley suburbs that once reliably voted Republican. In 2018, when Lamont narrowly won his first term, Simsbury split nearly 50-50, giving Republican Bob Stefanowski the slightest advantage. In 2022, Lamont beat Stefanowski by 23 percentage points in Simsbury. Harwinton First Selectman and candidate for state Senate Mike Criss speaks during a press conference highlighting the impact of state statutes on housing and development at Pinchot Sycamore Tree Park in Simsbury on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Credit: Sarah Gordon / CT Mirror Fazio is using the housing issue in two ways: claiming that Democrats are more likely to impose on local zoning and development issues and faulting the governor for not being more involved in House Bill 5002 — the version he vetoed after his administration had signed off on the details. In suggesting a grand-bargain approach, Fazio is positioning himself as a Republican willing and able to negotiate with a Democratic legislative majority. Lamont has countered that his veto of the first bill opened the door to negotiations with municipal officials and produced a bill that keeps the pressure on cities and towns to permit affordable housing while listening to their concerns about what they found objectionable, such as limiting parking requirements. He noted that the second version of H.B. 8002 passed by a larger margin than H.B. 5002. Rep. Melissa Osborne, D-Simsbury, was among the Democrats who opposed the first and voted for the second. Fazio said neither version made the changes to 8-30g that cities and towns demand.  He spoke under the Pinchot Sycamore, the state’s largest tree, on the bank of the Farmington River, downstream from the 689-unit project proposed on the site of an office park once occupied by The Hartford. By making 30% of the units affordable, the developer could sue under 8-30g to overturn the recent rejection of the proposal. “The potential 8-30g project for over 600-unit apartment complex without local zoning control here in Simsbury is one of many cases across the state of local control being totally disregarded by this governor and state government,” Fazio said. He believes the issue will resonate with voters in the valley. “They live in wonderful, beautiful communities with a rural aspect to it, a bucolic aspect to it, and those considerations deserve respect and deserve to be considered in the type of policy that we create in Hartford,” Fazio said. “And under Gov. Lamont and supermajorities, that hasn’t been the case.” A recent Sacred Heart University poll found 67.1% of voters identified housing costs and housing affordability as among the most important issues influencing their vote in the gubernatorial election. But preserving local control over housing development issues was a priority of only 7.2%. ...read more read less