Hochul proposes increasing housing units in the state by 800,000

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday proposed a statewide plan to increase the number of homes by 800,000 units over the next decade, primarily for low-income and middle-class households and with a special focus on Long Island.

The proposal also includes a way for the state to approve some housing projects that conflict with local zoning if local officials reject them.

“Housing is a human right," Hochul said in her State of the State speech. "Ensuring enough housing is built is how we protect that right … With less supply, demand drives up prices. And who gets squeezed? Young families starting up, middle-income families and low-income families.”

The plan will have to be approved by the State Legislature and will be subject to negotiations. There is already concern led by Long Island legislators about pressuring local communities to change zoning laws and to increase population density in neighborhoods.

The state’s “fast-track” proposal would allow housing proposals that are denied locally to go to a “state housing approval board” or the courts.

“Because to do nothing is an abdication of our responsibility to act in times of crisis,” Hochul said.

The state plan would require local municipalities that have zoning laws to hit targets for growth in housing units. For the downstate area, that means a target of 3% growth in housing every three years. Upstate would face a target of 1% growth every three years.

Hochul said most communities around the state are already hitting or near those targets, but Long Island isn’t. For Long Island, the target will be 38,218 new housing units between 2023-25. In comparison to the 3% growth target, she said, Long Island only increased housing by .56% from 2018 to 2019. He also noted that Huntington Town added just 934 homes in the last decade, compared with more than 91,000 in Brooklyn.

Hochul said that the plan is based on successful programs in other states and that the aim isn’t to urbanize suburbs.

The state would provide local governments with $250 million to help pay for infrastructure costs to serve new housing development.

“The lack of affordable and diverse housing options is a deterrent to our regional economic growth and the governor is right to focus on it,” said Matt Cohen, CEO of the Long Island Association. “Collaboration with local governments is key and we are eager to partner to address this critical issue.”

The Long Island Housing Coalition, a group of community organizations, business groups, developers and housing advocates, voiced its support for Hochul’s housing agenda, which it said addresses a “severe lack of available affordable homes across Long Island.”

Ian Wilder, executive director of Long Island Housing Services in Bohemia, called the governor’s approach “a smart way to do this plan” because it takes into account legislators’ objections last year to encroaching on local control of zoning decisions.

Hochul also proposed a property tax exemption for creating affordable housing in commercial buildings that are converted to residential space in New York City.

And she said she will work with the legislature to revamp but continue the program known as 421a, which gives developers tax breaks to build some affordable housing along with market-rate residences. That drew criticism from some advocates for lower income housing, who see the program as a giveaway to developers.

“Instead of investment in public housing, we got handouts for big developers,” said Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for Housing Justice For All. “We got more wishing and hoping that the private market will solve everything."

Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies, without supporting or opposing the proposal, said Hochul will likely have a fight on her hands.

“People move to the suburbs to have more control over their lives,” Levy said. “And anything that threatens that autonomy or independence … is likely to face opposition that is bipartisan.”

Hochul’s plan doesn’t include her proposal last year to require communities to allow “accessory dwelling units” in their zoning. That proposal would have allowed a single family property to be divided to create an additional residence, or for the owner to build a backyard cottage. Long Island legislators led the charge to push Hochul to rescind that proposal last year.

Hochul’s new proposal, however, would still encourage greater use of ADUs.

Also important to Long Island is Hochul’s proposal to create communities around rail transportation stations on what are often are empty, publicly owned lots The proposal would require a municipality to rezone for residential use property within a half mile of a transit station with a minimum of 25 homes per acre.

All municipalities will have flexibility to meet their targets. Part of that is by a “weighting” of housing units. For example, a municipality would get a credit of 1.5 units to use toward meeting its housing targets each time it approves a multifamily apartment complex. It also would get credit for 2 new units for every unit of housing created to be affordable to lower-income residents.

With Jonathan LaMantia.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.