Most of Putnam County (5 of the 6 towns) is in the New York Assembly’s 94th District, which is represented by former Yorktown Supervisor Assemblyman Matt Slater. Philipstown, which is the western-most town in the County and lies along the Hudson River, is in the 95th District represented by Dana Levenberg, who is also a former Town Supervisor (Ossining). I had an opportunity to meet with Dana and her staff recently at the first meeting of one of her recently formed Legislative Committees. Dana’s team is committed to Building Healthy Communities and doing so in an equitable and inclusive manner. The meeting, hosted by Dana and her colleagues Victoria (Chief of Staff), Rebecca (Legislation Director) and Acacia (Communications Director) was held at the Town of Cortlandt Town Hall.
Prior to this meeting, Dana and her colleague NYS Assemblyman Chris Burdick hosted a housing summit for local elected officials in White Plains. Commenting on the success of the summit, Dana said “It is absolutely imperative that we get something accomplished on housing next year, and we must start by listening to local leaders. We need their input to ensure any legislation put forth is feasible and can pass. Hopefully we can also learn from successes and best practices in other states so we do not have to reinvent the wheel.”
Also focused on housing, the Legislative Committee’s “Building Economically Healthy Communities” meeting was led by Dana and Tim Foley, CEO of The Building & Realty Institute. Tim reminded the group of the growing affordability issues in NYS, particularly in those areas which are close to New York City, and the woeful shortage of housing units that are considered “affordable” according to federal government guidelines. This shortage has led to a shrinking in the size of the 30 to 45 year old demographic group, which is certainly not consistent with the theme of building economically healthy communities. But rather than letting the discussion get bogged down by dwelling on the impediments to an improving housing outlook, Tim was quick to introduce some of the positives that are associated with building new multi-family units. Most notable were a slowdown in the growth of rental costs, a pick up in job growth and the positive impact on tax revenue in the municipalities where new units have been built. Committee member Emiljana Ulaj, newly elected Westchester County Legislator from District 9, described several encouraging developments in the Town of Croton where small numbers of affordable housing units have been added to the adaptive repurposing of existing buildings in mixed use applications. These examples of adding “missing middle housing” with a “gentle density” profile are a hopeful sign of innovation and creativity in addressing the housing shortage.
In stressing the need for more creative solutions to housing needs, Tim and Dana encouraged local officials to update their Comprehensive Plans and zoning codes, taking advantage of grant opportunities that exist to support these activities. They also called out the important work Patterns For Progress and the Pace Land Use Law Center are doing to assist municipal officials in understanding what they can do to improve the housing situation. Dana brought the Legislative Committee Meeting to a hopeful close by saying “the status quo is not sustainable for our economy, our environment or our society, just from a human perspective.”