Report Notes Opposition to Affordable Housing is “Softening”

LYME, CT— Residents continue to prize the town’s rural environment and natural resources above all else.

That’s according to the 35-page draft of the 2025 Lyme Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), the town’s foundational planning document required by state statute to be updated every 10 years. 

The draft comes as local officials and volunteers work to align the local vision of Lyme – painted as a safe, rural retreat by its residents – with state directives to spread more affordable housing options across all cities and towns. 

The draft was produced as part of a roughly year-and-a-half-long process by the Lyme Planning and Zoning Commission and endorsed by the town’s Board of Selectmen last week. The draft will be filed with the town clerk and available for online review on Oct. 6, according to Planning and Zoning Commission member Carol House.

In a phone interview this week, House said the results show not much has changed since the 2015 plan. 

“People like living in Lyme, and they want to keep a lot of it the way it is,” she said.  

The draft update, obtained by LymeLine through a Freedom of Information request, is based largely on 704 responses to a survey distributed late last year to gauge opinions on topics including emergency services, open space and affordable housing. Eligible respondents live in Lyme, own property there, or volunteer with the local fire and ambulance companies. 

House said the last survey distributed a decade ago garnered fewer than 300 responses. This time around, the commission brought back some questions for continuity while adding new definitions and questions to address emerging issues. 

The draft report describes a population that remains willing to travel outside town borders for employment, shopping and services in order to keep the landscape unspoiled.

The vision statement, too, has remained largely consistent through two revisions over the past quarter century.

“Lyme will not attempt to become frozen in time, but will adjust to the demands and opportunities of modern life,” the statement reads. “As new technologies create the possibilities of new lifestyles, Lyme will adjust its regulations and requirements to allow people to work at home or to live in non-traditional family households. Change will occur as a result of our changing society, but in a way that preserves Lyme’s quality of life and natural resources.”

Still, House pointed to subtle shifts in the outlook among residents. 

Among them is a “softening” of opposition to affordable housing, according to the draft report. Authors cited an almost 19% increase among residents in favor of using town funds to increase housing options. But they acknowledged supporters, who totaled 47.9% of respondents in the survey, still do not represent a majority. 

The draft also shows new survey questions implemented this year revealed priorities not previously explored: that respondents “place a very high value on Lyme’s low crime rate and the ability to remain in their homes and community as they age.”

House, who serves as a co-chair of the town’s Affordable Housing Commission as well, said the POCD will provide guidance for the group tasked with figuring out how to diversify housing options in town. The commission has held off on proposing or implementing new plans while waiting to see what the surveys and final planning document had to say about the town’s appetite for change.

“I think all of that together will provide a clearer picture for how we need to move ahead with affordable housing,” she said. 

First Selectman David Lahm in a Thursday phone interview said the “will of the people” is evident in the draft document. 

“Open space is still the priority,” he said. 

That doesn’t mean affordable housing is not an important factor, according to Lahm. He said survey responses show that encouraging accessory dwelling units (ADUs) – also known as in-law apartments, guest houses and granny pods – and affordable single-family homes can be a solution in town. 

“The one thing they are not in favor of is multi unit housing,” he said. 

The town’s environmental ethos has remained unchanged since the publication of the first plan in 1964, when town leaders laid the groundwork for a focus on farming and conservation they hoped would keep the town’s population of 1,300 relatively steady despite the completion of nearby Interstate 95 only a few years prior. 

At the time, they feared the town’s inhabitants could number 5,000 by 1990 if left unchecked. So they put in zoning and subdivision controls restricting commercial development to existing areas in Hamburg and Hadlyme while keeping large tracts of undeveloped land intact. 

Today, U.S. Census figures count the population today at 2,352 people. Land records show more than half the town’s land mass is preserved as open space. 

Minimum lot sizes in Lyme now range from one to three acres across town in order to limit how many homes can be built. Only 4% of respondents said they believed smaller lot sizes should be allowed. 

The document calls for Lyme’s “aggressive sewer avoidance program” to continue, with regular inspections and maintenance of septic systems and required pumping.

The draft is being presented against the backdrop of a state vision, outlined in the Connecticut Conservation and Development Policies Plan, that describes thriving economies and increased affordable housing as key components of sustainable, equitable, vibrant and resilient communities. 

According to the plan’s authors, Lyme’s vision is in keeping with state goals for conservation and development.

“The State Plan is based on an overall philosophy of anti-sprawl, directing growth to those areas of Connecticut where infrastructure such as roads, public water and public sewers already exists, or where infrastructure can easily be expanded,” the document reads. “The State’s Plan also recommends that extensive growth be avoided in sensitive environmental areas and areas where little infrastructure exists. Lyme’s Plan meets both criteria.”

The draft POCD, stating that “uncontrolled growth and poor planning” can drastically change a town, emphasized the need to act in ways that preserve Lyme’s rural atmosphere. 

Recommendations include increasing the availability of housing by converting existing homes into affordable units, promoting ADUs and creating design standards for residential development. 

The plan continues to support farming, farm markets and work-from-home enterprises. Recommendations include limiting commercial development to existing zones while investigating regulations “that support local tradespeople, certain essential service providers and farm stores.” 

The draft report acknowledges more than 50% of land in town is protected as open space, but cautioned there’s still a lot of room for growth: “If future development on Lyme’s remaining available land is not carefully monitored and controlled, Lyme could quickly be transformed into a more suburban town.”

Recommendations call for strengthening land use regulations, preserving open fields and cultural features, maintaining an inventory of historic sites, and educating residents about sensitive areas. Farmland should be safeguarded through policies that protect the town’s agricultural roots and promote local food production. Open space preservation should focus on large, connected tracts managed for biodiversity through dedicated funding in partnership with local, regional and state groups. 

The POCD survey for the first time includes questions about emergency services, which exist locally as the publicly funded Lyme Fire Department and privately funded Lyme Ambulance Association.

Respondents supported continuing the volunteer-based models for the fire department and ambulance association, according to the draft report. Ambulance company leaders during a stakeholder interview said taxpayer funding for facilities and equipment will become necessary in the coming years.

Data in the report puts the number of ambulance association calls at 300 per year. The Town provides one bay in each firehouse, fuel for the ambulances, workers compensation coverage and a pension plan for those who qualify. The nonprofit organization’s operating costs and capital expenses for vehicles and equipment are funded by donations and by billing insurance companies.

Lahm credited the POCD writing committee, consisting of House, David Tiffany, Jennifer Tiffany and Mary Stone, for a job well done. 

“They put a lot of hard work into that and came up with a good product,” he said. 

A public hearing must be held no sooner than 35 days from the filing of the plan with the town clerk. A date has not yet been set, according to House. She said the commission hopes to schedule two hearing dates to ensure as many people as possible can participate. 

The draft document will then go back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for any revisions and a final vote before the new year, House said.

View a copy of the draft plan here.

Editor’s Note: This report was updated to include a copy of the full draft report.