Reform SEQRA, and build housing with urgency

I'm an enrolled member of the Shinnecock Nation, a single mother of three, grandmother of two, and I work as a housing assistant for our nation's housing department. I'm a low income renter who holds a housing choice voucher. I know what it's like to need help finding a safe, stable place to live. Housing is central to my career, community and life.

On the reservation, I see how hard families are working just to stay afloat. I see homes built decades ago that need serious repairs. I see overcrowding — three generations living in one house because there's nowhere else to go. I see people who want to come home but can't, because there simply isn't housing available.

Off the reservation, I see the same thing happening across Southampton and the East End. We have an extreme housing shortage, and the prices are out of reach for working people. What gets called "affordable" often still requires an income that families I work with don't have. Meanwhile, buildings and properties sit unused, including vacant houses and previously developed sites that could be renovated.

We're not short on need, or ideas. We're just short on homes.

This year, New York State is moving to cut out some of the bureaucratic delays that have historically held up new housing projects across the state. Gov. Kathy Hochul's "Let Them Build" agenda would reform our lengthy environmental review process. If a community wants housing, a project follows local rules, and it's not harming the environment, it should not take years of paperwork just to get started.

Protecting the environment matters. As Native people, we don't need anyone to explain why land and water are sacred. We want clean water, safe ground and healthy neighborhoods for our kids and grandkids.

But the system in place today can be used to stall or block housing even when it's exactly the kind of housing a community needs. It creates delays, uncertainty and higher costs. And when costs go up, fewer homes get built.

In the Shinnecock Housing Department, we stretch every dollar. We partner with outside organizations to help families with food, utilities and emergency needs. We've put millions into repairs and new construction, and we keep applying for grants because the need is constant.

The governor's reforms would help us move at the speed our families need. By making the process faster and undoing the outdated notion that every housing project is a threat, we can add new housing and important projects like clean water infrastructure and parks. These reforms would allow us to look at previously developed or underused properties, like the Stony Brook Southampton campus or abandoned homes in the village, as opportunities for truly affordable housing.

One key way to improve Hochul's proposal: Tie SEQRA reform more directly to affordability outcomes. I'd like to see stronger requirements or incentives for including housing at a range of levels, especially for middle-income households who are often priced out but don't qualify for traditional affordable housing.

We need homes for working families, seniors and young adults starting out. We need supportive housing for those recovering from addiction, domestic violence survivors and people coming home after incarceration.

When you're a mom trying to keep your kids safe and stable, you don't have the luxury of waiting years for the system to catch up.

Let us build — responsibly, thoughtfully and with respect for the land — but with urgency, too.

This guest essay reflects the views of Linee Matthews, an enrolled member of the Shinnecock Nation who works in its housing department.