It's time for LI to get serious about housing

While the recently approved state budget did not contain her proposed ‘Housing Compact,’ Gov. Kathy Hochul should be commended for trying to address the housing crisis in our region where the demand for housing far exceeds the supply of housing, especially for affordable homes. Unfortunately, urban-centric organizations urging the governor to use mandates and not incentives did her no favors as they consistently failed to understand the issues and challenges of constructing new housing projects in the suburbs. It is also unfortunate that some of the good ideas proposed by the governor, like infrastructure funds and planning grants for municipalities, were not included in the final budget.

Suburban attitudes about housing have improved significantly during the last decade, including right here on Long Island. Many municipalities are already meeting or exceeding housing targets proposed by the governor. Just look at the successes in the villages of Patchogue, Farmingdale, Lindenhurst, Westbury and Mineola and how new housing projects have revitalized the downtowns in those communities.

There are two primary approaches toward achieving the goal of creating more housing units: one that offers incentives, the other that creates mandates for higher density zoning. The incentive approach is far more effective in the long term as it helps foster partnerships, trust, collaboration, and dialogue among developers, local elected officials, and the residents who reside in the affected communities. Engaging the community at the outset is critical to the success of the development process.

Albany may likely address housing issues before the legislative session ends in June or when lawmakers commence the next session in January. So, rather than wait for future action from Albany, now is a good time for municipalities to demonstrate what can be done using their local and home-rule powers.

Each local government entity should develop a plan for the purposes of addressing the housing crisis. Targets could be set based on data like population density, proximity to downtowns and rail stations, environmental resources, and whether the infrastructure exists to accommodate more housing.

Each village mayor and town supervisor should convene stakeholders in the community to develop such a plan, which could also consider model policies and guidelines shared by the state. They should collect data, identify sites, come up with design concepts, and then they could prepare a zoning overlay district to accommodate more housing where the infrastructure exists (or where infrastructure can be constructed with state financial help).

Once plans are approved by the local governments, the state could become a partner with the municipalities to help them develop the plan, implement a pipeline of projects identified in the plan, and then offer financial and other assistance from state agencies to help expedite construction of the new housing.

So, let the planning commence! Give municipalities a few years to make some progress. Any assistance from New York State would be welcomed. The state could always try to play a larger role in the future if the housing supply does not increase or if a community refuses to do anything. The governor’s worthy goals can be achieved without mandates, but it will take open and honest collaboration, as well as inclusive planning, if we are to reach them.