HB 7034 — AN ACT PROHIBITING THE REQUIREMENT OF A DONATION OF LAND AS A CONDITION OF SUBDIVISION APPROVAL.

House of Representatives General Assembly FileRaised Bill No.

2447034 January Session, 2025 HouseLCO Bill No.

70345125 HouseReferred ofto Representatives, March 25, 2025 The Committee on HousingHOUSING reportedIntroduced throughby: REP.

FELIPE(HSG) ofAN theACT 130thPROHIBITING Dist.,THE ChairpersonREQUIREMENT ofOF theA CommitteeDONATION onOF theLAND partAS ofA theCONDITION House,OF thatSUBDIVISION theAPPROVAL. bill ought to pass.

AN ACT PROHIBITING THE REQUIREMENT OF A DONATION OF LAND AS A CONDITION OF SUBDIVISION APPROVAL.

Any plan for subdivision shall,uponapproval,orwhentakenasapprovedbyreasonofthefailure of the commission to act, be filed or recorded by the applicant in the office of the town clerk not later than ninety days after the expiration of the appeal period under section 8-8, or in the case of an appeal, not later than ninety days after the termination of such appeal by dismissal, withdrawal or judgment in favor of the applicant but, if it is a plan for subdivision wholly or partially within a district, it shall be filed in the HB7034offices /of Fileboth the district clerk and the town clerk, and any plan not so LCO 5125 1 of 7 Raised Bill No.

2447034 1filed HB7034or Filerecorded No.within the prescribed time shall become null and void, except that the commission may extend the time for such filing for two additional periods of ninety days and the plan shall remain valid until the expiration of such extended time.

244 offices of both the district clerk and the town clerk, and any plan not so filed or recorded within the prescribed time shall become null and void, except that the commission may extend the time for such filing for two additional periods of ninety days and the plan shall remain valid until the expiration of such extended time.

Such regulations shall provide that the land to be subdivided shall be of such character that it can be used for building purposes without danger to health or the public safety, that proper provision shall be made for water, sewerage and drainage, including the upgrading of any downstream ditch, culvert or other drainage structure which, through the introduction of additional drainage due to such subdivision, becomes undersized and creates the potential for flooding on a state highway, and, in areas contiguous to brooks, rivers or other bodies of water subject to flooding, including tidal flooding, that proper provision shall be made for protective flood control measures and that the proposed streets are in HB7034harmony /with Fileexisting or proposed principal thoroughfares shown in LCO 5125 2 of 7 Raised Bill No.

2447034 2the HB7034plan Fileof No.conservation and development as described in section 8-23, especially in regard to safe intersections with such thoroughfares, and so arranged and of such width, as to provide an adequate and convenient system for present and prospective traffic needs.

244 harmony with existing or proposed principal thoroughfares shown in the plan of conservation and development as described in section 8-23, especially in regard to safe intersections with such thoroughfares, and so arranged and of such width, as to provide an adequate and convenient system for present and prospective traffic needs.

Such regulations shall not impose conditions and requirements on manufactured homes having as their narrowest dimension twenty-two feet or more and built in accordance with federal manufactured home construction and safety standards or on lots containing such manufactured homes which are substantially different from conditions and requirements imposed on single-family HB7034dwellings /and Filelots No.containing single-family dwellings.

244Such regulations LCO 5125 3 HB7034of File7 Raised Bill No.

2447034 dwellingsshall not impose conditions and requirements on developments to be occupied by manufactured homes having as their narrowest dimension twenty-two feet or more and built in accordance with federal manufactured home construction and safety standards which are substantially different from conditions and requirements imposed on multifamily dwellings, lots containing single-familymultifamily dwellings.dwellings, cluster developments or planned unit developments.

Such regulations shall not impose conditions and requirements on developments to be occupied by manufactured homes having as their narrowest dimension twenty-two feet or more and built in accordance with federal manufactured home construction and safety standards which are substantially different from conditions and requirements imposed on multifamily dwellings, lots containing multifamily dwellings, cluster developments or planned unit developments.

Any such conditional approval shall lapse five years from the date it is granted, provided the applicant may apply for and the commission may, in its discretion, grant a HB7034renewal /of Filesuch conditional approval for an additional period of five LCO 5125 4 of 7 Raised Bill No.

2447034 4years HB7034at Filethe No.end of any five-year period, except that the commission may, by regulation, provide for a shorter period of conditional approval or renewal of such approval.

244 renewal of such conditional approval for an additional period of five years at the end of any five-year period, except that the commission may, by regulation, provide for a shorter period of conditional approval or renewal of such approval.

(c) The regulations adopted under subsection (a) of this section, may, to the extent consistent with soil types, terrain, infrastructure capacity HB7034and /the Fileplan of development for the community, provide for cluster LCO 5125 5 of 7 Raised Bill No.

2447034 5development, HB7034and Filemay No.provide for incentives for cluster development such as density bonuses, or may require cluster development.

244 and the plan of development for the community, provide for cluster development, and may provide for incentives for cluster development such as density bonuses, or may require cluster development.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any special act, municipal charter or ordinance, no commission shall (A) require a financial guarantee or payment to finance the maintenance of roads, streets, retention or detention basins or other improvements approved with such subdivision for more than one year after the date on which such improvements have been completed to the reasonable satisfaction of the commission or its agent or accepted by the municipality, [or] (B) require the transfer of land to the municipality as a condition of approval, or (C) require the establishment of a homeowners association or the placement of a deed restriction, easement or similar burden on property for the maintenance of approved public site improvements to be owned, operated or maintained by the municipality, except that the prohibition of this subparagraph shall not apply to the placement of a deed restriction, easement or similar burden necessary to grant a municipality access to HB7034LCO /5125 File6 of 7 Raised Bill No.

2447034 6such HB7034approved Filesite No.improvements.

244 such approved site improvements.

2 July 1, 2025 Repealer section HSG Joint Favorable HB7034PD /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO 5125 7 of 7

244 7 HB7034 File No.

244 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $ Various Municipalities Potential See Below See Below Revenue Loss Explanation The bill eliminates a provision that allows local planning commissions to require developers to pay a fee or transfer certain land to the municipality.

This may result in a potential revenue loss to municipalities beginning in FY 26 to the extent they no longer can require this fee.

Municipalities that did not previously require this fee will have no impact.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the number of fees that would have otherwise been collected.

HB7034 / File No.

244 8 HB7034 File No.

244 OLR Bill Analysis HB 7034 AN ACT PROHIBITING THE REQUIREMENT OF A DONATION OF LAND AS A CONDITION OF SUBDIVISION APPROVAL.

SUMMARY Under state law, local planning commissions may adopt subdivision regulations that generally require developer-applicants to dedicate part of the subdivision to open space, parks, or playgrounds.

This bill eliminates provisions that currently allow commissions to adopt regulations authorizing the developer to pay a fee to the municipality, or pay a fee and transfer land, instead of providing the required open space.