The Express News Group’s Express Sessions conversation series will continue on Thursday, March 23, with “The Governor’s Housing Growth Plan: Misguided or Good Policy?”
A panel will consider Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed New York Housing Compact, which would direct Long Island communities to achieve a housing growth rate of 3 percent every three years and would also force them to rezone within a half mile of Long Island Rail Road stations to allow for higher density multifamily housing.
The panelists will also examine how South Fork towns will be able to use the new Community Housing Fund, which will begin to raise revenue in April through a half-percent tax on real estate sales, to achieve their own housing goals — regardless of whatever mandates the governor may set.
Critics of the Hochul’s proposal have objected to the prospect that a state board could overturn local decisions on housing proposals that meet certain affordability criteria. While local officials and voters have demonstrated in recent years, through the successful referendum last November instituting the Community Housing Fund, that more affordable housing is needed on the South Fork, whether the governor’s plan is a good fit for the East End and implementable remains questionable.
The panelists will include East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, Southampton Town Director of Housing & Community Development Kara Bak, East Hampton Housing Authority Executive Director Katy Casey and Long Island Builders Institute CEO Mike Florio.
The event will run from noon to 2 p.m. on March 23 at Union Sushi & Steak at 40 Bowden Square in Southampton Village and includes a two-course lunch. The cost is $40 for subscribers to an Express News Group newspaper and $45 for others.
Staff Writer on Mar 7, 2023