West Hartford, CT Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Section 177-43D of the West Hartford Zoning Code creates a menu of development bonuses available only within the Transit-Oriented Development District established around the Town's CTfastrak stations. A qualifying project earns points across five categories, access management, affordable housing, infill development, public space and sustainability, and the Town converts those points into a numeric development bonus: an increase in permitted floor-area ratio, an increase in permitted building coverage, or a reduction in required on-site parking, each bonus capped and cumulative so a project can stack points from multiple categories.

The affordable-housing category, Section 177-43D(1)(b), scores a project on the share of units it sets aside and the income level those units serve, with more points available as the set-aside share grows and as the income limit set as a percentage of area median income drops; the standard cross-references the point table for exact set-aside and income-limit combinations. Every affordable unit created to earn these points must be deed-restricted to its income limit for at least 30 years and must independently satisfy Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies Section 8-30g-8, the state's affordable-housing land use appeals regulation, layering a state compliance requirement on top of the local bonus.

An applicant seeking the bonus must document, with the site plan application required elsewhere in Section 177-43, exactly which standards it is claiming and how the project satisfies them; the Town Plan and Zoning Commission reviews that documentation as part of ordinary site plan approval rather than through a separate zone change or variance process.