Housing Task Force

Housing Task Force Meeting # 42 Minutes Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025 @7:00 pm Location: Village Hall Conference Room 222 Grace Church St Port Chester NY Attendees: Chester Edwards, Monica Fonseca, Kathy Pandekakes, Jane Lippman, Aldo Vitagliano, Andrew Weiss, Ursula Winchell, Absent: Arley Arno, Joan Grangenois-Thomas, Catrina Shivers Meeting opened 7:05pm via a unanimous motion by Andrew Weiss and seconded by Aldo Vitagliano. Meeting Overview: The meeting focused on preparing comprehensive housing report, assigning sections to different members and discussing how to present data and recommendations effectively. The group concluded by addressing zoning codes and displacement issues related to new developments, while planning their next meeting in December and discussing ways to improve communication with absent team members. The Task Force broke off into smaller two person groups to tackle one recommendation per group for final report. The Task Force agreed to limit the November and December meetings to the 2nd Thursday of each month only, due to the holiday seasons. HOC Project and Mee0ng Updates Mee#ng minutes for October were approved via unanimous consent. The Task Force agreed to have Housing Ac#on Council’s Tiffany Zazula write an opening cover leEer. Chairman Edwards men#oned conver#ng the PowerPoint presenta#on into a narra#ve summary using AI and edit the power point slides as needed. The group discussed the need to finalize the report before the next mee#ng in December, and to follow up with Village Planning Director, Greg Cutler, for his input on the draO recommenda#ons. Team Approach to Report Recommenda0ons It was suggested to break off into smaller groups with each group taking one recommenda#on/slide and expand upon it for the final report. Each two-person team would create a draO for the report of one of the five main recommenda#ons. The group decided to include exis#ng charts and sta#s#cs without extensive narra#ve explana#on, while Secretary Monica Fonseca and Chairman Chester Edwards agreed to handle the public forum comments and data integra#on into the recommenda#ons. Report Task Distribu0on and Edits The team assigned tasks for a report, with Monica and Joan leading sec#on 1, Arley and Jane handling sec#on 2, Ursula working with Katrina on sec#on 3, Andrew and Chester on sec#on 4, and Kathy and Aldo on sec#on 5. They decided to remove references to "essen#al workers" from sec#on 2B, op#ng instead for a broader local preference policy. Zoning and Displacement Mi0ga0on The group discussed the current state of zoning codes and displacement issues related to new developments. They clarified that while the Fair Mi#ga#on Fund was recommended in a housing needs assessment, it does not currently exist and would need to be established to address developer contribu#ons for displaced residents. The team agreed to review examples of similar programs in other communi#es and to consult with Greg Cutler about the specifics of fair mi#ga#on policies. They also discussed past displacement cases, including the Tarry Lodge project, and emphasized the importance of future planning for displacement mi#ga#on in new developments. Report Prepara0on and Data Presenta0on The group discussed the prepara#on of a report, focusing on how to present data and documents effec#vely, with all agreeing not to make the final product too lengthy. The Task Force tenta#vely scheduled their next mee#ng for the second Thursday of December, with the possibility of including Greg Cutler as a speaker. They also discussed the need to send out a summary and clarify certain points with absent team members. The mee#ng ended at 8pm by unanimous consent. Next Steps • Monica will email the clerk tomorrow to ensure last two mee#ng minutes are posted on Village website and will contact Greg Cutler to invite him to December mee#ng. • Monica will also add newer minutes to Google Drive and resend login/password informa#on to all members • Monica will ask Tiffany Zezula to write and send a draO cover leEer for the report. • Chester will send summary email of task assignments with updated PowerPoint, AI- generated summary of Power Point. • Chester will separate emails to absent Task Force members explaining tonight's decisions and their assignments • All teams will draO their assigned recommenda#on sec#ons using available resources. • Monica and Joan: Lead on wri#ng Policy Recommenda#on 1 • Arley and Jane: Lead on wri#ng Policy Recommenda#on 2 • Ursula and Catrina: Lead on wri#ng Policy Recommenda#on 3 • Chester and Andrew: Lead on wri#ng Policy Recommenda#on 4 • Kathy and Aldo: Lead on wri#ng Policy Recommenda#on 5