Housing Compact Scrapped as Albany Approves FY 2024 Budget
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The Fiscal Year 2024 budget was passed on Tuesday but it was completed without the governor’s Housing Compact.
One of the most controversial items during this year’s state budget season was removed by Gov. Kathy Hochul about two weeks ago. Hochul’s initiative to build 800,000 new units of housing throughout the state appears done for this year after intense pushback from both sides of the aisle.
In a statement released by her office after the Housing Compact was pulled from the spending plan, Hochul said many communities throughout the state opposed growth targets. She also questioned whether offering municipalities incentives, which had been proposed by numerous legislators, including some locally, would be effective.
“We have not yet come to a final agreement, but it remains clear that merely providing incentives will not make the meaningful change that New Yorkers deserve,” Hochul said. “I will continue to discuss other elements of the plan and policy changes that will increase supply and make housing more affordable.”
Part of the governor’s rationale for the plan is that by sharply increasing housing stock prices would fall.
However, Hochul’s transit-oriented development requirement that would have forced a rezoning and allowed up to 50 housing units per acre within a half-mile radius of a train station, generated the fiercest opposition.
Assemblyman Chris Burdick (D-Bedford) said having every community follow the same standard without any wiggle room regardless of environmental concerns or the area’s character was the breaking point for many local residents and officials.
The transit-oriented development component would have applied to each community with a train station regardless of whether they had been meeting the state’s targets for new housing, he said.
“That provision was probably the one that was the most toxic for the municipalities,” Burdick said.
New York City and the counties in the downstate region, which is defined by those that are serviced by the MTA, had targets of 3 percent increases in housing stock every three years. The remainder of the state would have been mandated to increase by 1 percent in that timeframe.
North Castle Supervisor Michael Schiliro, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the governor’s housing plan and last year’s accessory dwelling unit proposal that had also been part of the budget, said there is a need for more housing and many local officials want to continue interacting with Hochul on ways to achieve that.
“We’ve been asking to continue dialogue with the governor on shared goals that we all have, so we hope that might happen,” Schiliro said. “So they’ll be continued dialogue on this issue going forward with communities like ours and the governor’s office and figure out ways to work together and achieve the same goals and all be on the same side of the issue. So we’re optimistic, cautiously optimistic, that might happen.”
North Castle Councilwoman Barbara DiGiacinto praised Burdick and state Sen. Shelley Mayer (D-Yonkers) for being active and fighting hard to do what’s best for the local communities.
Burdick said he didn’t know what might happen next with the housing issue, but he hoped there could be collaboration between the executive and legislative branches.
“We should work to try and develop something with the executive that can work,” he said. “That’s what some of us feel. Is that something that comes to pass? I don’t know, but I think that that’s something that’s a possible next step.”
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/
