Funding bonanza highlights housing squeeze

This month, the state approved more than $106 million in funding to increase the availability of affordable housing across New York, in the form of grants made available to developers, which will be administered by The Housing Trust Fund Corp. (HTFC) and the New York State Division of Housing & Community Renewal (DHCR).

“Ensuring that reasonably priced units are available to working families is critical to spur economic growth and stem the out-migration of New Yorkers to other areas of the country,” said Gov. Eliot Spitzer in a statement.

In Westchester County, the dearth of affordable housing, or more accurately work force

housing, has long been cited by business leaders as an issue that needs to be addressed.

And while developers of work force housing say the grant money certainly is welcome, significant change won”™t occur in Westchester County.

“I truly believe most legislators believe there”™s a strong need for funding, but funding is part of larger process,” said Joel Mounty, president of Mountco Development and Construction Corp. in Scarsdale. “But not enough is being done in most municipalities.”

The county does not require a minimum percentage of new development be set aside for work force housing; that is up to each municipality.

Mounty, who has built several affordable-housing projects in Mount Vernon, said that city, along with New Rochelle and Yonkers, are among the few in Westchester that encourage development of that kind of housing. He also cited Sleepy Hollow as an example of a village that promotes work force housing.

“Not enough is being done in most municipalities,” he said.

Many communities in Westchester County require between 6 percent and 10 percent of new development be set aside for affordable housing, but most are not at the higher figure.

Mounty said there needs be more willingness at the municipal level to change zoning laws to require more work force housing.

And when Mounty speaks of work force housing, he is not necessarily referring to low income housing, but housing for the middle class. In a county like Westchester, middle class workers like teachers or police officers would likely qualify for work force housing.

Mounty said compared with 10 years ago, he has not noticed an increase in the interest of municipalities in creating more affordable housing.

“It”™s pretty much the same,” he said. “Very little communities in the county did it then and they don”™t do it now.”

While state funds like the HTFC grant money are always welcome, substantially more work force housing can”™t be built unless restrictive local zoning laws are changed, said George Raymond, chairman of the Westchester Housing Opportunity Commission, which oversees the county”™s affordable-housing effort.

“This type of money is always welcome because if opportunities are there, organizations are here whose business it is to build affordable housing,” he said. “One problem in Westchester, however, is we are not capable of capitalizing on affordable-housing production. Those in the private sector that want to build market-rate housing, with a higher portion of affordable housing, can”™t due to municipal zoning that doesn”™t allow it.”

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Raymond said Westchester has had a long history of being reluctant to build affordable housing.

In a landmark case 32 years ago against the town of New Castle, Berenson v. New Castle, the state”™s highest court ruled that towns had to consider housing needs of the region and provide for a “balanced and integrated community” by including multifamily housing.

Raymond believes many of Westchester”™s municipalities today are in direct violation of that statute, which has become known as the Berenson Doctrine.

However, he said most developers of affordable housing choose not to fight this because it would take many years and likely hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight in court.

“If challenged, probably most zoning ordinances in the county would be found unconstitutional,” he said. “Town regulations are such that anyone applying for a project that is not desired by the community is subjected to endless reviews and the possibility of being turned down. That is very expensive and time-consuming to fight in court.”

Raymond said another problem is the diminishing land base suitable for multifamily housing or work force housing.

He said the “relentless drive for preservation of open space while not considering other needs” has contributed to the lack of land available for affordable housing.

Marsha Gordon, president of The Business Council of Westchester, said that organization has long had work force housing as a priority.

“We”™re very supportive of work force housing because it is imperative that people who live here work here,” she said. “Certainly from an infrastructure viewpoint anything to encourage the work force to stay is good for business.”

While the Business Council doesn”™t lobby individual municipalities to change their zoning laws, she said it is an issue lobbied for at the state level.

“I think there”™s a general recognition that this type of housing is needed in all of our communities,” she said.