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sSB151 / File No. 171 1
General Assembly File No. 171
February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 151
Senate, March 25, 2026
The Committee on Housing reported through SEN. MARX of
the 20th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the
Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.
AN ACT PROHIBITING CERTAIN LAND USE AND ZONING
LIMITATIONS ON HOUSING.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 8-2 of the 2026 supplement to the 1
general statutes, as amended by section 18 of public act 25 -1 of the 2
November special session, is repealed and the following is substituted 3
in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 4
(d) Zoning regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this 5
section shall not: 6
(1) (A) Prohibit the operation in a residential zone of any family child 7
care home or group child care home located in a residence, or (B) require 8
any special zoning permit or special zoning exception for such 9
operation; 10
(2) (A) Prohibit the use of receptacles for the storage of items 11
designated for recycling in accordance with section 22a-241b or require 12
that such receptacles comply with provisions for bulk or lot area, or 13
similar provisions, except provisions for side yards, rear yards and front 14
yards; or (B) unreasonably restrict access to or the size of such 15
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receptacles for businesses, given the nature of the business and the 16
volume of items designated for recycling in accordance with section 22a-17
241b, that such business produces in its normal course of business, 18
provided nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit such 19
regulations from requiring the screening or buffering of such receptacles 20
for aesthetic reasons; 21
(3) Impose conditions and requirements on manufactured homes, 22
including mobile manufactured homes built in accordance with federal 23
manufactured home construction and safety standards or on lots 24
containing such manufactured homes, including mobile manufactured 25
home parks, if those conditions and requirements are substantially 26
different from conditions and requirements imposed on (A) single -27
family dwellings; (B) lots containing single -family dwellings; or (C) 28
multifamily dwellings, lots containing multifamily dwellings, cluster 29
developments or planned unit developments; 30
(4) (A) Prohibit the continuance of any nonconforming use, building 31
or structure existing at the time of the adoption of such regulations; (B) 32
require a special permit or special exception for any such continuance; 33
(C) provide for the termination of any nonconforming use solely as a 34
result of nonuse for a specified period of time without regard to the 35
intent of the property owner to maintain that use; or (D) terminate or 36
deem abandoned a nonconforming use, building or structure unless the 37
property owner of such use, building or structure voluntarily 38
discontinues such use, building or structure and such discontinuance is 39
accompanied by an intent to not reestablish such use, building or 40
structure. The demolition or deconstruction of a nonconforming use, 41
building or structure shall not by itself be evidence of such property 42
owner's intent to not reestablish such use, building or structure; 43
(5) Prohibit the installation, in accordance with the provisions of 44
section 8-1bb, of temporary health care structures for use by mentally or 45
physically impaired persons if such structures comply with the 46
provisions of said section, unless the municipality opts out in 47
accordance with the provisions of subsection (j) of said section; 48
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(6) Prohibit the operation in a residential zone of any cottage food 49
operation, as defined in section 21a-62b; 50
(7) Establish for any dwelling unit a minimum floor area that is 51
greater than the minimum floor area set forth in the applicable building, 52
housing or other code; 53
(8) Place a fixed numerical or percentage cap on the number of 54
dwelling units that constitute multifamily housing over four units, 55
middle housing or mixed-use development that may be permitted in the 56
municipality; 57
(9) Require a minimum number of off -street motor vehicle parking 58
spaces for any residential development except as provided in section 8-59
3n; [or] 60
(10) Be applied to deny any land use application, including for any 61
site plan approval, special permit, special exception or other zoning 62
approval, on the basis of (A) a district's character, unless such character 63
is expressly articulated in such regulations by clear and explicit physical 64
standards for site work and structures, or (B) the immutable 65
characteristics, source of income or income level of any applicant or end 66
user, other than age or disability whenever age -restricted or disability-67
restricted housing may be permitted; or 68
(11) (A) Establish (i) a minimum lot size of greater than five thousand 69
square feet for lots on which a single-family dwelling or townhouse may 70
be located in areas connected or planned to be connected to public water 71
and sewer systems; (ii) minimum square footage or exterior dimension 72
requirements for a single -family dwelling or townhouse; (iii) lot 73
coverage maximums for a single -family dwelling and any accessory 74
structures or a townhouse and any accessory structures, except as 75
provided in subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of section 8 -2o; (iv) 76
minimum building setbacks for a single-family dwelling and accessory 77
structures of greater than: (I) Ten feet for front and rear setbacks, and 78
(II) five feet for side setbacks; and (v) design, architectural or aesthetic 79
elements for a single-family dwelling; 80
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(B) Prohibit the placement of townhouses in a single -family 81
residential zoning district; or 82
(C) Prevent the owner of an improved lot in an area zoned for single-83
family residential use from subdividing the lot into three or fewer 84
smaller lots that conform to local law, provided the improved lot was 85
not created by subdivision within the preceding three years. As used in 86
this subparagraph, "improved lot" means a parcel on which a residential 87
structure is located. 88
The provisions of this subdivision do not apply to: (i) Any property or 89
district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 16a 90
USC 470, as amended from time to time, or the state register of historic 91
places, as defined in section 10 -410, on or before July 1, 2026; (ii) 92
agricultural land for which the development rights have been acquired 93
by the state pursuant to section 22 -26cc; (iii) land subject to a 94
conservation restriction or preservation restriction, as such terms are 95
defined in section 47-42a; and (iv) any situation in which the provisions 96
of this subdivision conflict with applicable building codes, fire codes or 97
public health and safety regulations that are necessary to address 98
immediate threats to public safety. 99
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2026 8-2(d)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subdiv. (11)(A), " subdivision (4) of section 8 -2o" was changed to
"subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of section 8 -2o" for accuracy and
references to " single-family home " were changed to " single-family
dwelling" for consistency and in the last paragraph, " such terms are "
was added for clarity.
HSG Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO
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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: See below
Explanation
The bill prohibits municipalities that exercise zoning authority under
the statutes from imposing restrictions on certain types of homes and
lots. This may result in a grand list increase or decrease beginning in FY
28 that is dependent on how these buildings would have otherwise been
valued.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 151
AN ACT PROHIBITING CERTAIN LAND USE AND ZONING
LIMITATIONS ON HOUSING.
SUMMARY
The bill amends the law most municipalities exercise zoning
authority under (CGS § 8 -2) to prohibit zoning regulations from
imposing certain restrictions on townhouses, single -family lots, and
single-family homes. Generally, the bill’s limitations make it easier to (1)
develop single -family homes and townhouses on smaller lots and (2)
more densely develop lots. For example, under the bill, municipalities
may not adopt regulations that prohibit townhouses on single -family
lots, ban smaller homes, or set minimum lot sizes over 5,000 square feet.
The bill’s limitations do not apply:
1. to certain parcels, including those with conservation easements
or listed on the State Register of Historic Places (see below), or
2. if they conflict with applicable building codes, fire codes, or
public health and safety regulations needed to address
immediate threats to public safety.
Under existing zoning law and the bill, a “townhouse” is a residential
building constructed in a grouping of three or more attached units, each
of which shares at least one common wall with an adjacent unit and has
exterior walls on at least two sides (CGS § 8-1a).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
LIMITS ON LOCAL ZONING REGULATIONS
The bill generally prohibits regulations from imposing certain
restrictions on townhouses or single-family homes or lots.
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Under the bill, zoning regulations cannot set the following limitations
for single-family homes or townhouses:
1. minimum lot sizes over 5,000 square feet (around 1/9 acre) if the
homes will be located in an area that is served, or will be served,
by public water and sewer systems (the bill does not specify a
standard for determining whether this requirement is satisfied);
2. minimum square footage (home size) or exterior dimension
requirements (like height limits); or
3. lot coverage maximums for the homes and accessory structures
like sheds (but accessory dwelling units built as -of-right under
CGS § 8-2o are regulated under that law).
Additionally, for single-family homes, regulations cannot set:
1. required design, architectural, or aesthetic elements or
2. minimum building setbacks larger than five feet for side setbacks
and 10 feet for front and rear setbacks ( for homes and accessory
structures).
And as mentioned above, under the bill, zoning regulations cannot
prohibit townhouses on lots in a single-family zone.
Subdivision of Parcel Into Up to Three Lots
While the bill does not amend the law on subdivision regulations, it
specifies that zoning regulations cannot “prevent” the subdivision of a
lot with a residential structure on it into up to three smaller lots. But this
prohibition does not apply (1) unles s the subdivided lots “conform to
local law” and (2) if the lot was subdivided within the past three years.
By law, unchanged by the bill, subdivision of a lot into three or more
lots generally must be done in conformity with subdivision regulations,
which are adopted under powers granted to planning commissions
(CGS § 8-18 & 8-25).
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EXCLUDED PARCELS AND EXCEPTIONS
The bill’s limits do not apply to local regulation of parcels:
1. listed, or in a district listed, on the national or state registers of
historic places on July 1, 2026;
2. protected from development by the state’s Farmland
Preservation Program; or
3. subject to a conservation o r preservation restriction, such as an
easement.
BACKGROUND
Related Bills
sHB 5395 ’, favorably reported by the Planning and Development
Committee, generally requires all municipal zoning regulations to treat
modular and prefabricated homes like traditionally built homes (“stick-
built homes”).
sHB 5502, favorably reported by the Planning and Development
Committee, extends the law on approving certain middle housing and
mixed-use developments under a summary review process to proposed
developments on (1) lots that were previously zoned for residential use
and (2) certain lots zoned for industrial use.
sHB 5507, favorably reported by the Planning and Development
Committee, extends the as-of-right accessory dwelling unit law to cover
all municipalities, even if they previously opted out.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Housing Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 12 Nay 7 (03/10/2026)