Astorino to Make Affordable Housing Announcement as Deadline Nears
As the deadline looms Saturday for Westchester to comply with the affordable housing settlement, County Executive Rob Astorino is scheduled to make a major announcement today (Tuesday) on the status of the agreement.
Under the terms of the settlement between the county and the federal government that was reached more than seven years ago, funding and building permits for 750 new affordable units of housing in 31 predominantly white communities is required to be in place by Dec. 31, 2016.
The county’s calculations revealed that it had surpassed funding the requisite number of units months ago, but it had not reached the threshold for building permits. As of the beginning of last week, Westchester reported that 714 permits were in place.
A request for a status update before the holiday weekend from the county executive’s office went unanswered. Monday’s advisory regarding Tuesday afternoon’s announcement in White Plains gave no additional information.
Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz (D-Somers) said the Astorino administration was confident it will meet the deadline by the end of the week. However, the matter of whether Westchester will have enough permits is in the hands of the building departments of several municipalities, he said.
“They’re very close,” Kaplowitz said last Thursday. “They believe they’ll have it, but it’s coming down to one or two projects, and the projects are not in the jurisdiction of the county.”
One of the projects referenced by Kaplowitz was Conifer Realty’s controversial 28-unit Chappaqua Station project at 54 Hunts Place in Chappaqua, the legislator confirmed. There are also several other smaller projects that are similarly awaiting approvals that could help the county reach the magic number.
New Castle Supervisor Robert Greenstein said last Friday that entering the final week of the year the only remaining regulatory hurdle that Conifer faces is to obtain an MTA access permit that would allow the builder to use the agency’s property.
Greenstein, who has opposed the Conifer project since before he ran for supervisor in 2013, said the town will not make an exception for Conifer if the MTA fails to give its go-ahead this week despite the potential for serious ramifications for the county.
“They (Conifer) need an access permit from the MTA relating to the site,” Greenstein said. “We’re not giving our building permit until they have that access permit.”
Chappaqua Station has also faced stiff opposition from some town residents who have argued that the one-third of an acre Hunts Place parcel is inappropriate for housing and would be unsafe.
It is unclear what will occur if the county fails to reach the 750-permit level by Saturday. Federal Judge Denise Cote has been presiding over the case, but there has been no replacement federal monitor overseeing the issues related to the settlement since James Johnson resigned from that position in August. A short time later Johnson announced he was running for governor of New Jersey.
It is also unknown whether the county will, in fact, be in compliance with the settlement even if it should have at least 750 permits. The agreement called for the monitor to approve an Analysis of Impediments (AI) that deals with zoning issues. Astorino’s office has submitted eight proposed analyses since he took office in 2010, but all of them have been rejected.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
