This Is Why I’m Pushing Back

September 4, 2025



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Dear Neighbors,

Bethel is facing the largest housing proposal our town has ever seen.

A five-story, 75-unit apartment building is being proposed for Nashville Road, right in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood.

The developer, Vessel Technologies, is invoking Connecticut’s 8-30g law — a statute meant to expand affordable housing — to override local zoning and fast-track a project where only 30% of the units would actually qualify as affordable. The rest are market-rate. 

Residents have raised serious and valid concerns about traffic, infrastructure, emergency access, and the complete lack of neighborhood fit.

Let me be clear: This is not about opposing affordable housing. I rent in Bethel. I’m in my 30s. I know how hard it is to find something affordable in this region. But this project isn’t about solving that problem, it’s about exploiting a loophole to push through a development that doesn’t make sense for our town.

8-30g was supposed to open doors in communities that historically shut people out. But in practice, it does little in ultra-wealthy towns where land is too expensive, and it has no effect in rural areas with no demand. It’s towns like Bethel, working- and middle-income communities, that get squeezed.

From day one, this proposal has felt like it was drawn up in a corporate boardroom and dropped into our neighborhood with no real engagement, no collaboration, and no respect for the people who actually live here. The message being sent is clear: sit down, be quiet, and let the developer decide. That doesn’t sit right with me, and it shouldn’t sit right with anyone.

I’ve opposed legislation that would have made 8-30g even more extreme, and I’ve stood up to leadership in Hartford to push for real reform, not to gut the law, but to make it smarter, more effective, and fairer to towns like ours.

We can build housing and protect the fabric of our communities, but only if residents are treated like partners, not obstacles. If your housing policy depends on silencing local voices to succeed, it’s not good policy, it’s lazy policy.

📅 WHAT YOU CAN DO:

➡️ Attend the Planning & Zoning Commission’s final vote on the Vessel proposal:
🗓 Tuesday, September 9, 2025
📍 Bethel Municipal Center 
🕖 7:00 PM

Even if public comment is closed, your presence still matters. A packed room shows that residents are paying attention and won’t be pushed aside.

This may be the final vote, but not the final word. Whether the project is approved or denied, community voices will shape what happens next and why reform is urgently needed.
 

Sincerely,


Raghib Allie-Brennan
State Representative

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