Suffolk County is giving more land to Southampton Town for affordable housing, according to a press release from County Executive Steve Levy’s office.
Last week, Mr. Levy enacted legislation that will provide 7.92 acres of land to the Town of Southampton under the 72-H program, an initiative that transfers tax-delinquent lands seized by the county to towns and villages throughout Suffolk County for the development of affordable housing.
The majority of the land is in Sag Harbor—a 3-acre parcel on Middle Road and a 4.6-acre tract on Stony Hill Road. Although the two properties are not suitable for development, according to Town Councilwoman Anna Throne-Holst, the town’s affordable housing liaison, the properties will still benefit the town’s affordable housing initiatives through the transfer of the development rights. Through that process, the potential affordable housing yield of those two properties can be developed on other parcels within the same school district or groundwater management zone that the town either already owns or purchases for affordable housing purposes. Those restrictions are in place to help prevent the clustering of workforce housing in one area, Ms. Throne-Holst said, and to better contain development density. The third property conveyed to the town is a .32-acre lot on Flanders Boulevard in Riverhead, which is suitable for development.
County and Southampton Town officials plan to meet next week to discuss the parcels in greater detail, according to Mark Smith, deputy director of communications for Mr. Levy.
Although the Sag Harbor parcels will remain as is, Ms. Throne-Holst said the additional acres are a boost to the town’s efforts to develop workforce housing.
“This comes at a great time, in particular the parcels in Sag Harbor,” Ms. Throne-Holst said. “The village has been looking forward to developing affordable housing in Sag Harbor. I really appreciate the county’s efforts. They have really put their money where the mouth is when it comes to affordable housing.”
Another benefit to the transfer of development rights process, Mr. Smith said, is that it provides the town with another means to keep land within the town preserved.
Once the town takes ownership of properties transferred from the county under the 72-H program, they are then conferred to a not-for-profit agency—such as the town’s Housing Authority, the Long Island Housing Partnership or Habitat for Humanity—to determine the type of affordable housing best suited for the particular lots.
Brian Bossetta on May 20, 2009