Eviction Notice: Housing Policy

Governor’s Housing Compact Rejected

production should be a top priority for all New Yorkers and required collaborative solutions steeped in data-driven analysis and supportive of local conditions and character.

Excerpts from the letter read,

“AIANYS believes governmental policies, programs, and incentives to promote the design, construction, renovation, rehabilitation, preservation, and stabilization of safe, healthy, and affordable housing is a top priority…

The 2023 Legislative Session appeared destined for a breakthrough on housing policy in New York after the governor unveiled her plan to produce 800,000 housing units over the next decade. Under Governor Kathy Hocul’s Housing Compact, local jurisdictions across the state would be assigned a triennial housing growth target, coupled with alternative compliance pathways based on preferential zoning and land-use changes. The preferential actions included local adoption of policies to authorize the creation of more accessory dwelling units (ADUs), lot splits, increased density, removal of restrictive zoning, and rezoning commercial areas for residential or mixed-use. Included in the Housing Compact was the Transit-Oriented Development Act of 2023. This Act would create a tiered framework to increase density near rail stations governed by their proximity to NYC.

The teeth of the Housing Compact were embedded in the creation of a new fast track housing court, with the authority to penalize local jurisdictions failing to meet growth targets or adopt some of the preferential actions. Moreover, the Compact would authorize the State to override local zoning and land use authority to compel non-compliant local governments to build more affordable housing. The TOD Act took a similar approach, authorizing the State to force the creation of new housing in these areas, and providing a right-to-action for developers seeking permit approval for housing. Heavy on the stick, light on the carrot, these provisions stoked fierce backlash from suburban and rural legislators in both parties, prompting the Assembly and Senate to jettison the governor’s plan from their one-house budget response, and replace it with their own incentive laden housing plan.

In response to the governor’s proposal, the AIANYS Government Advocacy Committee (GAC) drafted and sent a letter to legislators serving on the Assembly Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee outlining the organization’s position on housing and the various proposals. It was made abundantly clear in the letter that new affordable housing

AIANYS recommends pursuing a course whereby the State works in partnership with local governments, provides model guidance and laws related to best practice land use and zoning ordinances, and incentives to local governments to comprehensively study timely, sensitive, and equitable affordable housing.

Lingering Discontent and Fallout

Ultimately, the housing negotiations were so contentious and deleterious that even the minor housing proposals, such as allowing NYC to raise the floor area ratio (FAR) cap, re-authorize the 421-a affordable housing tax rebate, and providing a path to legalize non-compliant basement apartments, were dropped as well. Tensions carried over into the post-budget portion of session, tainting three-way negotiations on several highprofile policy initiatives. The death knell to housing policy was punctuated by a joint press release sent near the close of session by the Assembly Speaker and Senate President Pro-Temp, announcing the breakdown of housing and tenant protection negotiations with the governor.

Hope for a grand deal on housing next year is already being overshadowed by the 2024 election cycle, which will determine control of the White House, the U.S.

Congress, and the State Legislature. As the election draws closer, suburban lawmakers may be wary to support measures that will be used as political fodder, such as a prohibition on restrictive local zoning and land use ordinances, which has been used in campaign ads as a ban on “single-family zoning,” and in more hyperbolic terms the “death of the suburbs.” Regardless of resistance from suburbia, State legislators should be looking at measures to provide urban areas and other localities interested in housing production, TOD, sustainable development, and smart growth, with the resources to accomplish these goals. The failure to act on housing threatens the vitality of the economy and imposes an artificial ceiling on the State’s ability to maintain relevancy and stem the outmigration of New Yorkers looking for jobs and livable communities.