Housing on agenda for Pattern meeting

Pattern for Progress, a regional think tank representing seven counties in the mid-Hudson region, will host a conference at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel Friday, June 11, to address housing needs.

This year”™s housing conference will focus on the ins and outs of the approvals process and New York”™s environmental review (SEQRA) regulations.

The conference overview will address the elusive “win-win” ”“ balancing the desires and agendas of both developers and preservationists and to create housing and commercial inventory that meets demand without turning the process into long, drawn out legal battles.

Three breakout sessions will address the challenges business face in communities, using the proposed Yukiguni Mushroom plant in the town of Mamakating in Sullivan county as an example of trying to balance the wants of environmentalists and business. Yukiguni finally broke ground this month on the plant it first proposed to build more than a decade ago. Creating a smoother SEQRA process and building to meet community needs will round out the trio of breakout discussions.

Some property owners hope to hear what panelists will say about a proposed law to increase the state Department of Environmental Conservation”™s jurisdiction over wetlands. The DEC currently regulates wetlands of 12 acres or larger. The new law would permit the department to regulate wetlands just 1 acre.

The keynote address will be given by Ron Sims, deputy secretary of the federal Housing and Urban Development, which oversees a $40 billion annual budget. Sims has been nationally recognized as a proponent of “Smart Growth” programs and received the Affordable Communities Award in 2005.

The event begins at 8:30 am  and concludes at 2:30pm.

Registration is $60 for Pattern members, $75 for guests and $35 for municipal officials.  A discount will be given to groups of four or more. For more information and reservations, contact Pattern at 565-4900 or visit Pattern”™s website.