Southampton Town may soon have an easier pathway for developers to build affordable housing and for low- to middle-income families to afford to live in the town.
The Town Board recently held a public hearing on a code amendment that would waive all town fees for applications to construct affordable housing units within the municipality. These would encompass all town-related fees—from building permits to engineering fees—for affordable units, and the fee exemption would also apply for development projects that are solely affordable units, like the recently approved 28-unit Sandy Hollow Cove Apartments in Tuckahoe.
Kyle Collins, the town’s planning and development administrator, pointed out at a July 25 public hearing on the legislation that town fees have already been waived by the Town Board for Sandy Hollow, as well as for a 38-unit affordable apartment complex in Speonk dubbed Speonk Commons, but that the proposed legislation would make it a requirement moving forward.
“The intent of the law is to try to reduce the cost associated with generating affordable housing,” Mr. Collins said of the proposed legislation, which the Town Board will likely vote on at its next meeting on Tuesday, August 8.
Another resolution being considered by the board would change the formula that calculates the maximum sales price of a unit that is slated for affordable housing to two and a half times the annual household income for an income-eligible family of four. This formula—the town’s new Housing and Community Development director, Diana Weir, said—would make it so the cost of housing would be around 30 percent of the household income. Currently, she explained, low-income residents are being burdened with the town’s high cost of living—many paying 50 to 60 percent of their income toward housing.
“We have to solve it,” she said, referring to what she described as a housing crisis within the town. “We’re at a point where it’s make or break, in my opinion.”
The formula would be based on current federal Housing and Urban Development family income guidelines for Suffolk County. For a family of four with a low to moderate income of less than $88,650, an affordable home sales price would be limited to $221,625. For a family of four with middle income of less than $132,950, the home price would be limited to $332,950.
Under the formula, affordable rental price calculations would be based on a number of factors, including the area median income and the family’s income. The proposed legislation would limit rental costs—for residences ranging from a studio apartment to a four-bedroom house—to between $970 and $1,718 per month, based on current county income guidelines.
Currently, there are 600 people on the town’s affordable housing registry who are seeking an affordable place to live, according to Ms. Weir.
on Jul 31, 2017