Harrison, Rye Brook, Larchmont Cited for ‘Exclusionary Zoning’
By Jon Craig
Harrison, Rye Brook and Larchmont are among six Westchester County communities singled out in a federal report last week for failing to fix local laws and municipal practices that reportedly exclude minorities from fair housing.
The federal monitor reviewing Westchester’s zoning laws found housing problems persisted in Harrison, Larchmont, Lewisboro, North Castle, Pelham Manor and Rye Brook. In his 120-page report, monitor Jim Johnson of Debevoise & Plimpton cited Harrison as the only area town that continues to fail federal standards by concentrating multifamily housing in areas already occupied mainly by minority residents, as well as by restricting housing most often used by minorities.
Officials from the Town of Harrison met with Johnson earlier this summer. The report is considered preliminary, and municipalities will be given a chance to explain why Blacks, Hispanics and other minorities are concentrated in certain neighborhoods. Harrison Supervisor Ron Belmont did not reply to requests for comment from The Examiner.
“To the extent they are able to come forward with a legitimate, substantial governmental interest, each municipality must demonstrate that their legitimate interest was actually considered as part of the zoning process,” Johnson wrote in the report released on Sept. 8.
The county Board of Legislators asked for Johnson’s report to salvage $5 million in community development grants withheld by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during a dispute with County Executive Rob Astorino. Astorino disagreed with the federal government’s exclusionary housing conclusions and is fighting HUD in federal court.
In addition to improving zoning laws, a 2009 settlement between HUD and the county required Westchester to build 750 units of affordable housing in 31 mostly white communities and take other action to promote fair housing.
Astorino has argued disparities are driven by “who can afford to live where,” not by intentional or unintentional discrimination caused by zoning laws.
Johnson’s report, called the Huntington analysis, is his second report on affordable housing.
Harrison’s so-called “B Zone,” or two-family housing zone, is home to an estimated 38 percent of the town’s households, but contains nearly 60 percent of the town’s minority population. According to Johnson’s report, three zoning districts allow for multifamily housing in Harrison, but only occupy 0.3 percent, or 32.9 acres, of the town’s 11,147 acres of land.
The report also notes that Harrison lags behind other comparable municipalities by failing to offer affordable housing options, while citing the unincorporated Town of Mamaroneck, Pelham Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, Lewisboro, Ossining and Pound Ridge as doing a fairer job.
“Harrison has not adopted the model affordable housing ordinance, has no affordable housing incentives or mandates and has not built or approved any affordable housing units since 2000,” the report said. “Harrison’s zoning ordinance does not provide meaningful opportunities for the development of affordable, multifamily or rental housing and disparately impacts minorities who use those housing types.”
While Harrison has begun to consider potential affordable housing zoning ordinances, the town “has not put forth sufficient efforts to reform its zoning code to provide opportunities for the development of housing types disproportionately used by Westchester’s minority household residents, in particular affordable housing,” Johnson wrote in last week’s report.
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