Hochul’s housing plan faces pushback from suburbs

(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing a plan to build more housing in the state by overriding restrictive suburban zoning laws, but the move faces pushback from local leaders who say it smacks of government overreach.

Hochul’s plan, unveiled as part of her $227 billion preliminary budget proposal, calls for building 800,000 new homes over the next decade to expand affordable housing options in the state.

A key plank of the plan would require cities and towns to eliminate bureaucratic red tape to approve new developments, and roll back land-use rules that have made it tough to build multifamily housing. It would also require communities along the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system to build more high-density housing units.

“New York faces a housing crisis that requires bold actions and an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Hochul said in recent remarks. “Every community in New York must do their part to encourage housing growth to move our State forward and keep our economy strong.”

But elected officials on Long Island and other suburban New York communities are pushing back against her plans to open local zoning laws.

State Sen. Dean Murray, R-East Patchogue, said Hochul’s housing plan would be a “one-size-fits-all” state mandate on local governments to “a problem that is very real.”

“We all agree that there is an affordable housing problem,” Murray said during a recent briefing with reporters. “What we don’t agree on is how to fix it. The governor apparently believes that one-size-fits-all solutions, that government mandates, are the way to go.”

Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said her Long Island community has devoted tremendous resources and funding to build more affordable housing, but said Hochul’s plan would upend those efforts.

“New York state is attacking our right to govern ourselves, decide what our neighborhoods look like, to turn us into the city,” she said. “I will not let that happen.”

Under Hochul’s plan, downstate New York counties would have to add 3% more new housing units every three years. Upstate, they would be required to grow by 1%. Currently, Long Island has the lowest rate of new housing in the state — which increased only 0.5% from 2018 to 2020, according to the Hochul administration.

But Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine said Hochul’s plan would erase local zoning protections that keep suburban New York communities from “looking like the crowded neighborhoods of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.”

“This wrongheaded plan will not solve our affordable housing plan, but it will devalue the homes and quality of life in our neighborhoods,” he said in a statement.

Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim said Hochul’s plan to rezone land to allow greater density for affordable housing would run roughshod over local zoning laws, and saddle cities and towns with associated infrastructure costs. He said local leaders should have a say in crafting the legislation.

“The bottom line is you can’t add more population to the area without the proper infrastructure and waste water management in place first,” he said. “Municipalities will bear the responsibility and burden of this legislation and as such, local governments should have a seat at the table for any and all legislation moving forward.”

To be sure, New York state has some of the most restrictive local housing regulations in the nation, which have contributed to a lack of housing affordability, impacted regional economies and increased segregation and inequality, according to a recent report by New York University’s School of Law.

“By some measures, New York has the most exclusionary zoning in the country,” the report’s authors wrote. “The result is a state with fewer homes, more expensive rents, and starker segregation than it would otherwise have.”

Last year, Hochul pitched a proposal to expand affordable housing options by requiring local governments to allow for at least one accessory dwelling unit in an owner-occupied zoned lot.

But Hochul nixed the plans amid opposition from suburban Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who had raised concerns about impact on local zoning laws.