Huntington affordable housing priority will be given to first responders

Town of Huntington officials voted to give priority for affordable housing to first responders in an effort to increase the ranks of volunteers.

The new measure gives first responders — firefighters and those trained and licensed to provide emergency medical services — preference for affordable housing opportunities within the town.

The town held a public hearing on Tuesday to amend town code to add the preference and, in a rare move, voted on the measure in the same meeting. The resolution was approved 5-0.

"We had good momentum and support and decided to get it across the finish line," said Councilman Sal Ferro, co-sponsor of the resolution with Town Supervisor Ed Smyth.

Ferro said the idea for a priority list for first responders came as plans to transform areas of Melville south of the Long Island Expressway into a walkable community with housing and small businesses were being explored. He said the process helped to illustrate the extent to which departments are having a hard time retaining younger members because of the cost of housing in Huntington.

He said 20% of housing approved for the Melville plan will be earmarked to be affordable. The legislation for the Melville plan has not been voted on.

Nicholas Booher, 27, a volunteer with the Huntington Manor Fire Department who was at town hall for the vote, said the measure could be life changing. Booher, a sanitation worker, said he was considering a more affordable community further east so he could afford to move out of his parents' home.

"I can now stay in Huntington, stay with my fire department, by my family," he said.

Ferro said the legislation allows first responders to accept affordable housing anywhere in the Town of Huntington, even if it's outside the bounds of the fire district they serve. He said Angel Cepeda, director of the Huntington Community Development Agency, and his staff will set up the program and administer it.

Cepeda said he and his team will work as quickly as possible to put the program together but, "I don’t want to put something out that we have doubts about or could be potential issues, so we’re going to take the time to avoid that."

He said affordable housing rents are calculated by bedroom size based on 80% of the HUD Fair Market Rate for Suffolk County, minus utility allowance. Currently, a studio rents for $1,366 and a one-bedroom is $1,715. According to the resolution, the sales price of newly created affordable units will be calculated based on the Nassau-Suffolk median income for a family of four at the time the certificate of occupancy is issued or at the time of the contract.

The town awards affordable housing, based on income and other eligibility criteria, through a lottery system and lists maintained by the Huntington Community Development Agency. The amended town code says to purchase an affordable unit, first responder applicants must have been actively serving in Suffolk County for a year before qualification and must remain in good standing with their department for five years after closing.

According to the resolution, first responders will be added to and given priority on existing lists.

"We have to allow them access to existing lists because we haven’t approved any new developments," Ferro said. "This will allow them access to affordable housing in all areas of Huntington."

Smyth encouraged people already on a housing waiting list to volunteer with their local department.

"They need all manner of volunteers from administrative positions to dispatchers," he said.