During her State of the State address last week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a statewide strategy to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade, including overriding the wishes of towns and villages that refuse to rezone and approve higher-density development near train stations.
Dubbed the New York Housing Compact, the strategy includes local participation requirements and incentives to achieve housing growth in every community across the state.
“New York faces a housing crisis that requires bold actions and an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Hochul said. “Every community in New York must do their part to encourage housing growth to move our state forward and keep our economy strong. The New York Housing Compact is a comprehensive plan to spur the changes needed to create more housing, meet rising demand, and make our state a more equitable, stable, and affordable place to live.”
The governor’s office said the state is currently facing a severe, once-in-a-generation housing crisis, and according to the Population Reference Bureau, more than half of New York renters are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent — the second-highest rate in the nation. In the New York City metro area, rents have risen 30 percent since 2015 and home prices have risen 50 percent over the same period, the governor’s office said.
The housing compact will require all cities, towns and villages to achieve new home creation targets on a three-year cycle. Downstate municipalities served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, including New York City and Long Island, will have a 3 percent new homes target over three years. For municipalities in upstate counties, the new homes target will be 1 percent over three years.
In light of the governor’s 3 percent growth proposal, State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor pointed out in a statement distributed Tuesday that no region in the state has had greater growth in new home construction since the 1990s than Eastern Long Island.
“What is clear from the experience on the East End is that just building new housing units alone in no way insures affordability,” Thiele said. “Market forces have overwhelmingly directed growth to seasonal and luxury housing. Those local families and workers seeking a place to live year-round cannot not compete in the marketplace with those seeking a seasonal or luxury home.”
He said the East End has seen the greatest rate of population growth in the state and successive development booms while still protecting critical natural resources such as the Pine Barrens, farmland and open space with creative programs such as the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund.
“If the Governor’s plan does not also include provisions that new home growth is also affordable, it will fail,” Thiele said. “These new housing units will become more seasonal luxury housing or Airbnbs unattainable for local families and workers. Any new growth must be tied to affordability.
“Regardless, with declining percentages of vacant land and continued stresses on water quality, transportation, and other infrastructure, we cannot build our way out of the housing crisis,” he continued. “We must have initiatives to make existing housing stock more attainable for local families and workers.”
He said this can take the form of shared equity programs, down payment assistance and rental assistance.
“To have the essential workers our community needs, such as nurses, teachers, and firefighters, existing housing stock must also be part of the equation,” Thiele said.
The assemblyman also noted the need for sewage treatment, innovative septic systems, public water and more public transit opportunities to serve new housing units and said the governor’s proposal to spend $250 million on infrastructure will not be nearly enough.
Further, Thiele said his district has plenty of train stations, but not that many trains. “Getting the LIRR to provide even rudimentary commuter trains like the South Fork Commuter Connection has required extraordinary advocacy from local officials,” he said. “Our pleas for even minimal infrastructure improvements, such as track sidings to increase commuter service, still remains unfulfilled. If we are going to encourage affordable housing near train stations, the governor must match it with the funding to provide residents with real commuter service.”
Under the governor’s compact, localities can decide how best to meet their new home construction targets, from repurposing underutilized office parks and strip malls to offering new incentives toward multifamily buildings. Affordable housing units will be assigned extra weight in calculating localities’ progress toward their goals.
Localities that do not meet targets can achieve safe harbor status for one three-year cycle by implementing certain good faith actions — or “preferred actions” — that create zoning capacity to achieve the growth targets.
Localities with rail stations run by the MTA, such as the Long Island Rail Road, will be required to undertake local rezoning or higher density multifamily development within half a mile of the station unless they already meet the density level. “By expanding housing potential in these transit-oriented communities, more families will be able to enjoy improved access to jobs and thriving sustainable communities,” the governor’s office stated.
After three years, in localities that do not meet growth targets or do not take steps to implement preferred actions, proposed housing developments that meet particular affordability criteria, but may not conform to existing zoning, may take advantage of a fast-track housing approval process if the locality denies the permit.
The appeal can be made to a new State Housing Approval Board or through the courts. Appealed projects will be approved unless a locality can demonstrate a valid health or safety reason for denying the application.
To expedite rezoning and development of new homes, specific relief from environmental review will be included in the new homes targets and transit-oriented development proposals.
Thiele called the governor’s plans for a Housing Approval Board and possibly rolling back aspects of the State Environmental Quality Review Act ill-considered. “The best way to create affordable housing is with carrots and not sticks and with incentives and not mandates,” he said.
“This past November, the residents in four East End towns proved the public will support affordable housing and will even vote to increase their taxes to do so,” he added. “Local communities do not need to be bludgeoned into action with mandates and state overrides of local decision making. A much more collaborative approach is necessary.
Using East Hampton Town as an example, he also called for local governments that have been leaders in building affordable housing to be rewarded and get credit for what they have already accomplished.
To support the development of mixed-income housing outside of New York City, Hochul will direct New York State Homes and Community Renewal to make $5 million in State Low Income Housing Tax Credits available.
Hochul will also propose legislation that will update the existing law that enables local governments to take ownership of certain dangerous abandoned properties. The legislation will be designed to help localities reduce public health risks, improve property values for neighboring homeowners, increase property tax revenues, and create new housing opportunities, according to the governor’s office.
For existing New York renters and homeowners, Hochul plans to propose a targeted initiative, modeled on the Buffalo East Homeownership Assistance Program, to finance home repairs in communities statewide that have been identified as having high levels of low-income homeowners of color and homeowner distress.
The governor will also propose increased funding for the state’s Tenant Protection Unit, enabling the unit to open an additional satellite office. The increased capabilities of the unit will be of particular benefit to manufactured home park residents and will improve access to grants and loans available to municipalities for farmworker housing, the governor’s office stated.
Staff Writer on Jan 18, 2023