Jim Himes may joke about ADUs to appeal to his progressive base — but for Connecticut neighborhoods, municipalities, families, and Long Island Sound, parking, sewer capacity, local control, and infrastructure costs are no laughing matter.

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Congressman Jim Himes recently joked that relocating 12,000 bees into his backyard was “another success story for accessory dwelling units.”

Maybe that line gets a laugh on social media. Maybe it scores points with the progressive zoning activists who see every Connecticut neighborhood as underutilized space waiting for more density.

But for many residents across Connecticut — especially in Fairfield County and along the coastline — accessory dwelling units are not a joke. They are a serious public-policy issue involving infrastructure, environmental capacity, parking, drainage, neighborhood character, and the future of local control.

That kind of joke may play well with Congressman Himes’ progressive base, but it erodes the voices of everyone else in the district: homeowners, neighborhoods, local zoning boards, municipal officials, and taxpayers who are left to deal with the real-world consequences.

For them, ADUs are not a punchline. They are a cost.

A cost in parking.
A cost in sewer capacity.
A cost in drainage and stormwater management.
A cost in already strained infrastructure.
A cost in schools, emergency services, and municipal budgets.
And ultimately, a cost to the character of Connecticut’s communities.

I’m sure grassroots organizations like CT 169 Strong will take issue with reducing a serious statewide zoning and infrastructure debate into a backyard bee joke while many Connecticut communities are already struggling with overburdened systems and density concerns.

And not to mention the Sound.

Connecticut residents are repeatedly told to accept more density as if the pipes, roads, beaches, and waterways can absorb it for free. But Long Island Sound already pays the price when aging sewer systems and overflow events discharge contamination into coastal waters.

In 2023, Connecticut recorded 220 beach action days across 73 coastal beaches, including 190 closure days, with state environmental officials pointing to heavier rainfall and combined sewer overflows as major contributing factors.

Organizations like Save the Sound have repeatedly warned that stormwater and wastewater can overwhelm combined sewer systems, causing untreated sewage and contamination to flow into waterways and ultimately into Long Island Sound itself.

And what about the kids?

What about the families who should be able to enjoy Connecticut’s coastline without wondering whether the beach is closed because sewage levels are unsafe?

I’m sure Congressman Himes’ progressive base will not be laughing when they cannot take their kids to the beach or dip their toes in Long Island Sound for fear of health issues. Sewage-contaminated water is not just unpleasant — EPA warns it can cause gastroenteritis, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea, headaches, fever, and ear, eye, nose, and throat infections. Recreational water contaminated by fecal matter can also expose swimmers to pathogens such as norovirus, E. coli, Shigella, and Cryptosporidium.

The progressive base may like the ADU joke — until the beach is closed, the Sound is contaminated, and their children cannot safely touch the water.

It is time to conserve Connecticut’s coastline — not just environmentally, but functionally. Conservation means protecting the ability of residents to safely enjoy the beauty of the coastline, the beaches, the harbors, and the Sound itself.

Because once infrastructure falls behind density, the consequences do not remain hidden underground.

They wash downstream.

From Coronado to Connecticut - Another California Warning to Heed

The Wall Street Journal recently warned what this looks like when a coastal sewage problem becomes impossible to ignore. In Coronado, California, sewage-tainted wastewater from Tijuana has reportedly fouled one of America’s most famous beach communities, with millions of gallons of contaminated water reaching U.S. shores, forcing closures, damaging tourism, hurting local businesses, and creating public-health fears.

Connecticut should pay attention before Long Island Sound becomes our version of that story. Connecticut’s coastline is not just scenery. It is an economic engine supporting tourism, rentals, restaurants, marinas, and small businesses.

But how long does that last if families cannot trust the water, beaches close after storms, and summer rentals start carrying the smell of sewage instead of salt air?

I am sure the realtor population will love trying to market “summer on the Sound” when renters ask whether the beach is open, whether the water is safe, and whether the breeze comes with a summery sewage smell.

Perhaps Congressman Himes should spend less time joking about ADUs and more time considering the tragedy of the commons: when everyone is encouraged to add private density, but the public costs fall on shared streets, shared sewers, shared beaches, and Long Island Sound. That may be a better guide for Connecticut housing policy than the old ideological romance with Sandinista-style central planning that critics have pointed to from his college writings.

Housing affordability is real. Connecticut absolutely needs opportunity, economic growth, workforce development, and smarter planning. But affordability cannot become an excuse for one-size-fits-all mandates that ignore infrastructure limits and silence municipal voices. Under limited circumstances with local zoning approval and sufficient infrastructure ADUs may be acceptable.

Bee boxes in a backyard may be harmless.

Public policy is not.

ADUs are not a joke. They are a cost — on streets, sewers, taxpayers, municipalities, families, tourism, and even the Sound itself.

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