Housing Task Force

Housing Task Force Meeting #6 Minutes February 8, 2024 7pm Village of Port Chester Conf. Room Attendees: Lisa Cordasco, Chester Edwards, Jane Lippman, Kathy Pandekakes, Catrina Shivers, Andrew Weiss, Ursula Winchell, Aldo Vitagliano Absent: Margaret Adamson, Arley Arno, Monica Fonseca, Luis Yumbla Meeting opened without an in-person quorum, as two members were attending remotely. Discussion: Potential resolution to present to BOT Proposed resolution was drafted by Aldo, and emailed to committee members prior. Resolution asks BOT not to disrupt current amount of approved housing with any new zoning changes. Monica emailed response explaining BOT mandate already states that CD5-6 FBC Advisory Committee’s recommended zoning changes for downtown will only apply to future development, not currently approved projects. Some approved projects will expire, some due to inability of Veolia to provide water. One member stated Planning Commission has indicated that they may or may not reapprove some. They stated that they dealt with Station Lofts project under old zoning code. Special local law was passed to extend their approvals to 2025 and they still don’t have water approval today. At that time, the Planning Commission was reluctant to extend any approvals because other projects would need extensions as well. Displacement, due to new approved projects, is not significant. There may be some but many approved projects are already vacant. One member feels it is important for our group to weigh in about keeping the amount of approved units intact, to create a buzz and interest in the work we are doing. Would our group want to request that percentage of affordable units be raised? Should we tier or stagger affordability requirements? It’s not just about income but, what housing expense looks like. If you spend between 30%-50% of income on housing costs, it creates an even greater crunch, regardless of income level. Affordable housing is currently calculated at 60% AMI of the county basis which is different than 60% AMI of Port Chester basis. The formula of how affordable housing is calculated can be looked at, but there are still economics involved. We can suggest greater affordability or more affordable units, but someone still has to pay to build them. One member asked if there was some imminent action by BOT in terms of zoning that this needs to be addressed now? It was explained that FBC (Form Based Code) established a large CD4 zone which used to be R2F (2 family zoned). That created non conforming properties for businesses within those residential CD4 areas. The village put together a CD4 committee to recommend changes, some of which were approved by BOT. BOT then decided to creating a committee to review downtown zones (CD5, CD6, and CD6T) for recommending potential zoning changes there. That group, of which committee member Monica Fonseca is the chair, is currently in process of forming recommendations. So, potential zoning changes are not on tomorrow’s agenda, but it could impact amount of new housing totals and pertains to what we are doing. If approvals lapse and can’t be built, or can’t get water, we could be left with projects that are now subject to new zoning changes. If we don’t want them to decrease amount, do we want to increase it? If we have a charge to study housing stock we need to know what we are considering but, it may be premature to request an increase. Part of it is having the discussion and putting us on the map. Pro Housing Community Today, the Governor had a press conference announcing funds given to pro housing communities. White Plains got $10 million, and a couple of smaller communities got New York Forward money for revitalization of $4 million. Is Port Chester a pro housing community? Kathy will send out some info about it. We need to know if Village has applied to be designated as pro housing community. We don’t want to knock ourselves out of the running of being pro housing community by reducing number of proposed housing with zoning changes. It was noted that no committee members knew what criteria was to be considered a pro housing community. Continued Discussion on Proposed Resolution So, if this proposed resolution is telling BOT not to decrease total amount of new housing, are we endorsing telling them to leave it where it is? Curt Lavalla gave committee list of approved units in one of earliest meetings. It may be around 5000. Village was concerned about impact to schools so they encouraged development of studios and one bedrooms to minimize that. The unit totals do not mean studios only, so there is nuance there. For example, we could, after study, decide to recommend increases in 2 bedroom units if the need is there. Maybe changing number of housing units to something else to clarify what need is being met is a possibility. Are the affordable units going to all be studios? Most of total housing being created has been studios and one bedrooms. We would need information from Village on what those affordable units are size-wise. Tiering affordability, as was noted in Housing Needs Assessment for New Rochelle, was also discussed. It may be something that would work here. Part of impetus for CD4 Committee, and their recommendations, was to correct loopholes that allowed two family homes to go to six family without creating more parking. Along those lines, we could recommend, for example, allowing an increase in units as long as they were affordable. Any affordable unit built is filled by lottery system from the 9 county surrounding area. Can we try to set aside for Port Chester residents? Could we create affordable housing for workforce of Port Chester, veterans, or seniors? We would need an expert to see if that’s possible. Port Chester doesn’t have a Section 8 program that they manage. If they were able to issue emergency vouchers, it could be a requirement that, for first year, those people would have reside in P.C. Additional types of housing: Emergency housing space currently proposed at Village Hall. 120 Bloomingdale (White plains) reduced their parking lot to provide housing for senior housing. Could village parking lot be realigned for housing? The approved United Hospital project has 10% set aside for affordable housing. They also have assisted living. Some assisted living, has requirement for some set aside for Medicaid recipients. Does the project have that? Water Approval Holding up Development Water Company Veolia (formerly Suez) were not notified of zoning changes in Port Chester. They halted all water approval, and wouldn’t extend those that expired, as they needed study to determine increased capacity for supply, distribution, and storage. Estimated cost was $50 million, with percentage paid by developer and percentage paid by rate payers. Cost to developer is around $5000 per unit. There is also a disagreement between how the cost to replace pipes will be split between village, developers, and water company, as was done in New Rochelle. PSC is weighing a decision which will hopefully come in April. The State could also intercede. If nobody can get water, then projects won’t be built. Then, this committee will be left with finding housing from existing stock. Some developers are willing to pay what Veolia wants but they can’t because PSC case isn’t resolved. Guest Speakers It was discussed to have Aldo’s sister Norma come speak to group about affordable housing, local preference, tiering affordability levels, etc. Aldo will follow up with availability for her to speak to our group. Attendance Is it a problem to miss more than one meeting? It makes a difference if the BOT wants to appoint someone in the place of members that cannot attend. Chester will follow up with other committee members to see what their intentions with future meetings will be. Subcommittees How do we work subcommittee idea? What’s the vision? The idea is to divide and conquer by studying different populations and make recommendations. There might be different laws and requirements that pertain to specific populations. Chester sent out list of potential subcommittee categories. It was decided to postpone subcommittees until after speaking with Norma. If we are looking at this from Housing Needs Assessment, we must also ensure that we are employing a fair housing perspective, and we are conducting ourselves in a way that won’t have anyone look at us askew. Everything would have to abide by Federal Fair Housing Act and NYS Human Rights Law in terms of the housing categories. Ultimately, the goal is affordable housing for the community and determining who are those people that need the housing…who are they; where are they; and what’s the legal framework for that? Meeting adjourned. Next meeting Thursday, February 22, 2024 7pm Village Hall Conference Room.