Pace University”™s Land Use Law Center recently held its 21st annual Alfred B. DelBello Land Use and Sustainable Development Conference “Land Use Under Siege: Revisiting Well Grounded” at the NYS Judicial Institute at Elisabeth Haub School of Law. The event was host to many sessions discussing land use and zoning issues and solutions, including the afternoon session, “Meeting Local Housing Needs”
Stephen Miller, professor of law at University of Idaho College of Law, served as the panel discussion”™s moderator and gave an overview of the session, which focused on the necessity for an increase of housing in the country and the changes in land use and zoning laws necessary to see this through at the local government level.
Donald Elliott, director of Clarion Associates LLC, began the discussion by arguing that in order for the country to truly see affordable housing at sustainable numbers, people must come to grips with solutions and methods that are not popular but are still necessary. In his view, this includes affecting the balance of single-family neighborhoods by introducing multi-family housing at larger rates. Elliott, like other panelists, advocated for the more efficient use of existing land and higher occupancy within units.
According to Elliot, such solutions would ease the strain on underprivileged individuals and families in finding and living in housing units, who are typically at risk of being kicked out of or refused housing because their family units do not meet outdated definitions of blood or marriage relations. Tax rates are another unpopular avenue that Elliott argued the nation must contend with in order to see real progress.
“Countries that actually have adequate housing, they tax themselves much higher than we do, and they use it to build and subsidize housing,” Elliott said. “We wish we could get there without taxing ourselves to do it ”” and it won”™t work. So, I”™m sorry, it”™s bad news.”
Rhea Mallett, a Mallett Law and LLM Candidate at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law, examined accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and legislation surrounding their implementation. Mallett stated the effectiveness of ADUs in combatting housing scarcity, as well as their usefulness to homeowners in solving the problem on their terms. Despite this, sshe found Westchester, with a population of 1.2 million, had less than 2,000 ADUs.
“While ADUs are only one tool to create more moderately priced housing across the state, I”™d like everybody to recognize that once it is allowed, it is the only tool that is implemented solely by the homeowners themselves,” Mallett said.
Mallett also looked at racial inequality as it relates to housing and said, “Nationally, we are on the cusp of significant change as more people recognize and publicize the inequities of exclusionary zoning. There is not only widespread acknowledgement of the disparate impact of single-family zoning ”¦ [but] an increasing acknowledgement by municipalities themselves of the racist foundation of their own zoning.”
The effects of such zoning can be seen in the New York City region, which according to Mallett has the second highest level of black-white segregation in the country.
William West, JD Candidate at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law, gave his presentation on racial impact statements, which can provide information regarding an area”™s background and history through the years and decades, existing conditions, housing and economic opportunities available, and recommendations. They are used by criminal justice policymakers to see if legislation and policy changes negatively affect disadvantaged segments of the population along racial and ethnic lines. On their own, these statements are not necessarily a call to action.
“It doesn”™t force the legislators to grapple with the issue,” West said. “Instead, it”™s just essentially extra information for them to use.”
However, West believed such reports and statements can be used in the realm of land use and zoning in order to accrue information that will allow municipalities to develop and expand in an efficient and equitable fashion. Racial impact statements also give a voice to communities that are often overlooked.
“I think the value in the narrative description shouldn”™t be overlooked,” he said. “And, especially, you should be including the voices of the marginalized communities that you”™re analyzing.”
Christopher Gomez, commissioner of planning for the city of White Plains, spoke on how the city has increased density and incentivized housing, and the lessons other cities can take.
“A lot of what we”™ve done to intervene in the market vis-Ã -vis some zoning changes to commercial industrial districts has really added some fuel to fire, so to speak, and helped us develop even more housing,” Gomez said, citing progress through the implementation of three zoning solutions. The first involved adaptive reuse, in which old, existing buildings such as office or school buildings are rejuvenated and repurposed for housing, a strategy he cites as being the most sustainable way to develop.
The next solution Gomez gave involved rezoning industrial districts, which would result in more density in a mixed-use environment. He gave an example of his work in White Plains in which the zoning code was modified such that the industrial district of Westmoreland Avenue was gradually transformed to a mixed-use district, creating more density while also preserving historic buildings, all within walking distance of White Plains train station.
Trains and other public transit are key to yet another solution to meeting housing needs, according to Gomez. Through transit-oriented development, spaces and housing are created where access to public transportation is within walking distance and dependency on private automobiles is reduced, leading to an increase in density in communities.
However, Gomez pointed out this solution, like with others proposed by him and his fellow panelists, is met with resistance.
“I was frankly shocked as a planner at how much everybody freaked out in the region, not just planners, but communities in seemingly progressive places that want density,” Gomez said.
