Hochul’s critique of Huntington affordable housing ‘misplaced’: Smyth

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CITY OF HUNTINGTON, NY Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2023 State of the State Address on January 10 focused on affordable housing, as she announced a plan to make finding housing in Long Island more accessible to all.

The New York Housing Compact aims to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade, while each locality in the state will have a goal for new home construction, Hochul said. In the upstate, the goal is for the current housing stock to grow by 1% every three years. The number is 3 percent every three years in the south of the state.

Some localities are already meeting the targets, while others are falling short, Hochul said. The governor said this is “not a one-size-fits-all approach” and localities can achieve their goals in several ways: they can shape capacity building; redevelop old shopping malls, old buildings, office parks; encourage the production of new housing; or update zoning rules.

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Hochul said localities will get help from the state, but issued a warning to local governments that are lagging behind.

“But where communities have not made good faith efforts to develop, where proposed housing projects languish for no legitimate reason, the state will implement an expedited approval process because doing nothing is an abdication of our responsibility to act in times of crisis,” Hochul said.

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The city of Huntington was singled out during a briefing by Hochul administration officials, who said the city had only allowed 934 homes and apartments to be built in the past decade, even if it’s as big as Brooklyn, the New York Post reported.

The state’s comments caught the attention of Supervisor Edmund Smyth, who wrote a letter to state officials on Thursday.

“Governor Hochul’s criticism of Huntington housing is misplaced,” Smyth said. “The City of Huntington is the gold standard for housing development in New York City.”

Smyth noted Hochul’s comparison between Huntington and Brooklyn.

“Fuhgeddaboudit!” he wrote. “We don’t have the necessary sewers, clean water from upstate reservoirs, paid firefighters/paramedics, and public transportation. Huntington relies on volunteer firefighters and paramedics. These selfless members of our community are already overwhelmed by the current volume of emergency calls.. This needs to be resolved with or without new development. Long Island’s only garbage dump is expected to close in less than 2 years. The cost of shipping solid waste existing municipal (garbage) off Long Island is expected to increase significantly over the next 5 years.”

Huntington, Smyth said, rezoned large tracts of land from single-family zoning to higher-density residential areas. Avalon Bay in Huntington Station, Kensington Estates, Matinecock Court and the Seasons in Elwood & East Northport each generated more than 1,000 new housing units, he said. Each of these developments included at least 20% affordable units, Smyth said.

The township is also set to create assisted living facilities for the elderly, approving more than 350 new units over the past five years.

Hochul, in her speech, said she knew the plan was a “big ask” and promised localities state aid in the form of “substantial” funding for infrastructure, schools, roads and sewers. The state has also pledged to cut red tape to allow projects to move forward more quickly.

“Sewers, roads, EMT/fire services, garbage removal, parking and the environment cannot sustain the development the Governor is proposing for Long Island without billions of dollars in infrastructure,” said Smith. “Governors have proposed $250 million for statewide infrastructure, a tiny fraction of the cost to support 800,000 new housing units.”

Smyth also expressed concern about contamination, saying the city’s harbours, bays and groundwater are contaminated with cesspools and “endless” runoff.

Long Island’s drinking water, Smyth said, comes from groundwater, as opposed to upstate reservoirs. Every year, the island’s drinking water shows higher levels of 1,4 dioxane contamination.

“This drinking water crisis is just getting started,” Smyth said.

The supervisor said there was “precious little” open space left in Huntington for new construction, adding that only redevelopment and not new development was possible.

“New projects almost always require the demolition or repurposing of existing structures,” he said. “The concern over the shift from large commercial to residential areas is not NIMBY-ism, but rather a sober look at the challenges such redevelopment creates.”

Smyth said he met with Hochul’s office and looked forward to working with Hochul to develop a “sustainable” plan for housing in Huntington.

He invited Hochul to the city’s next listening session for the Melville redevelopment at 7 p.m. on January 26 at RXR Executive Park, 68 S. Service Road, Melville.

Smyth said a development process at Huntington cannot be rushed.

“We only have one chance to get it right,” he said. “There is no shortage of truly awful government-mandated housing projects built quickly with the best of intentions. The City of Huntington has been and will continue to be a model of sustainable development on Long Island and throughout New York State. .”

Hochul said New York is facing a housing “crisis” that will require “bold actions.”

According to the Population Reference Bureau, Hochul said, more than half of New York City’s renters are rent-gated, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income in rent, the second-highest rate in the world. country. In the New York metro area, rents have risen 30% since 2015 and house prices have risen 50% over the same period. Outside of New York, rents have risen 40-60% since 2015, while house prices have risen 50-80%.

The New York Housing Compact will make available a $250 million infrastructure fund and a $20 million planning fund to support the production of new housing across the state. Municipalities can apply for planning funding to undertake either transit-oriented development rezoning or preferred stock to help them achieve their growth goals. The plan will also create a new housing planning office within New York State Homes and Community Renewal to provide municipalities with support and guidance, she said.

Housing advocates applauded Hochul’s plan, while other city officials expressed concern that the state would mandate housing projects in their municipalities.

Oyster Bay supervisor Joseph Saladino said he feared Hochul’s plan would restrict the will of the people, Newsday reported.

Rebecca Sanin, President and CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, said: The well-being of the community depends on a diverse, safe and quality housing stock that serves all of its residents, including seniors, students, people with disabilities and families.

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