No housing authority that receives or has received any state financial assistance may sell, lease, transfer or destroy, or contract to sell, lease, transfer or destroy, any housing project or portion thereof in any case where such project or portion thereof would no longer be available for the purpose of low or moderate income rental housing as a result of such sale, lease, transfer or destruction, except the Commissioner of Housing may grant written approval for the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of a housing project if the commissioner finds, after a public hearing, that

1. (1) the sale, lease, transfer or destruction is in the best interest of the state and the municipality in which the project is located,
2. (2) an adequate supply of low or moderate income rental housing exists in the municipality in which the project is located,
3. (3) the housing authority has developed a plan for the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of such project in consultation with the residents of such project and representatives of the municipality in which such project is situated and has made adequate provision for said residents' and representatives' participation in such plan, and
4. (4) any person who is displaced as a result of the sale, lease, transfer or destruction will be relocated to a comparable dwelling unit of public or subsidized housing in the same municipality or will receive a tenant-based rental subsidy and will receive relocation assistance under chapter 135. The commissioner shall consider the extent to which the housing units that are to be sold, leased, transferred or destroyed will be replaced with housing that is affordable to households with incomes below twenty-five per cent of the area median income and to households with incomes below fifty per cent of the area median income, in ways that may include, but need not be limited to, newly constructed housing, rehabilitation of housing that is abandoned or has been vacant for at least one year, or new federal, state or local tenant-based or project-based rental subsidies. The commissioner shall give the residents of the housing project or portion thereof that is to be sold, leased, transferred or destroyed written notice of said public hearing by first class mail not less than ninety days before the date of the hearing. Said written approval shall contain a statement of facts supporting the findings of the commissioner. This section shall not apply to the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of a housing project pursuant to the terms of any contract entered into before June 3, 1988. The commissioner shall not impose a one-for-one replacement requirement on King Court in East Hartford. This section shall not apply to phase I of Father Panik Village in Bridgeport, Elm Haven in New Haven, Pequonnock Gardens Project in Bridgeport, Evergreen Apartments in Bridgeport, Quinnipiac Terrace/Riverview in New Haven, Dutch Point in Hartford, William V. Begg Apartments in Waterbury, Southfield Village in Stamford, Marina Village in Bridgeport and, upon approval by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development of a HOPE VI revitalization application and a revitalization plan that includes at least the one-for-one replacement of low and moderate income units, Fairfield Court in Stamford.

(P.A. 88-267, S. 2, 4; 89-113, S. 1, 3; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-195; 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; P.A. 97-299; P.A. 01-194, S. 3, 9; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2, S. 28; P.A. 10-134, S. 1; P.A. 13-234, S. 23; P.A. 14-49, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 502; P.A. 16-108, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 89-113 removed the one year limitation on the applicability of section 2 of P.A. 88-267, thereby necessitating its codification, added further findings to be made by the commissioner of housing prior to approving the sale, lease, transfer or destruction of state-assisted housing projects and added public hearing and notice requirements in connection therewith; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 96-195 deleted Subdiv. (3) requiring replacement with an equal number of dwelling units, renumbering the remaining Subdivs. accordingly; P.A. 97-299 inserted new Subdiv. (3) re development of plan for disposal of project prior to approval, redesignating existing Subdiv. (3) as (4), added provisions re type of housing or subsidy as alternatives available to displaced persons for relocation and required commissioner to consider extent to which disposed units will be replaced; P.A. 01-194 added exception for Pequonock Gardens Project in Bridgeport, effective July 11, 2001; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2 added exceptions for Evergreen Apartments in Bridgeport, Quinnipiac Terrace/Riverview in New Haven, Dutch Point in Hartford, Southfield Village in Stamford and, upon approval by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development of a HOPE VI revitalization application and a revitalization plan that includes at least the one-for-one replacement of low and moderate income units, Fairfield Court in Stamford, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 10-134 provided that commissioner shall not impose one-for-one replacement requirement on King Court in East Hartford; P.A. 13-234 substituted “Commissioner of Housing” for “Commissioner of Economic and Community Development” and made a technical change, effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 14-49 added exception for William V. Begg Apartments in Waterbury and made technical changes; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 added exception for Marina Village in Bridgeport, effective June 30, 2015; P.A. 16-108 added provision re commissioner to consider extent to which housing units will be replaced with housing affordable to households below 25 per cent and below 50 per cent of area median income.