Providing housing that residents can afford on a moderate-to-low income is an issue local officials struggle with and strive for constantly.
To discuss solutions and suggestions, the Northern Dutchess Alliance hosted a forum, “Affording to Live in Dutchess County,” on May 26 at the Norrie Point Environmental Site in Staatsburg.
The Northern Dutchess Alliance is a group of municipalities that work together on issues facing them all. The towns of Hyde Park, Clinton, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Pleasant Valley, Stanford and Milan belong to the Northern Dutchess Alliance, as well as the villages of Tivoli, Red Hook and Rhinebeck.
The Alliance works to promote regional cooperation and economic growth. Many of the issues they address, such as affordable housing, affect all of Dutchess County and the outlying areas.
A six-member panel, consisting of local government and development officials, spoke about the present state of affordable housing in Dutchess County and affordable housing initiatives and projects that are already under way.
Disparity in numbers
Deborah DeLong, executive director of the Dutchess County Workforce Housing Coalition, said the median price to purchase a new home in the county is $315,000. By comparison, the cost of a new home in the year 2000 was $174,000, according to Sal Prividera, director of communications for the New York State Association of Realtors.
The costs continue to climb on rentals, as well.
In 2004, the median price of a two-bedroom apartment in Dutchess County, DeLong said, was $1,069 per month and $900 per month for a one-bedroom lodging.
According to the Rental Housing Survey of the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development, the average price of a two-bedroom apartment in 2000 was $810 per month, with a one-bedroom apartment costing $666 per month.
DeLong said that the median annual income of all households in Dutchess County is currently $73,900, compared to $53,086 in the year 2000, according to the Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation
“There is a growing gap between what we earn and the cost of a home,” DeLong said. “With the new homes being built, many are priced over $500,000. The new homes are on the high end.”
Senior housing
Town of Fishkill Supervisor Joan Pagones said her town has in place a senior housing ordinance and a workforce housing ordinance. The senior housing ordinance, Pagones said, is in place for the entire town on sites where developers could create affordable senior housing.
Pagones said the ordinance deals with federal housing and urban development guidelines and is for people who work as firefighters, police officers, health care workers and other service professionals.
Pagones said these two ordinances, implemented one-and-a-half years ago, can be amended and are “works in progress.”
“There have been 150 units created since the senior housing and workforce housing ordinances were set,” Pagones said.
Paul Gromkowski, housing director for the Town of Fishkill, said his town’s ordinances carry a density bonus for housing developments. Gromkowski said, for example, if a developer proposed building 100 apartments on 20 acres, he would allow the developer to build 15 extra units if half of them were affordable living units.
“Now, the laws in Fishkill are voluntary,” Gromkowski said. “They (developers) don’t have to have affordable units. This is to give them the incentive for developers to build affordable units. They can increase their profits and at the same time build affordable units in the town.”
Cleaning up
Town of Red Hook Councilwoman Sue Crane said she and other members of her community began looking for space for affordable housing and found the abandoned Perx property on Route 9 in the Village of Red Hook, a site they have been looking at to build affordable senior housing on for the last few years.
Crane said the 21-acre site that the county currently owns was in bad condition when they first saw it, and started looking for another site immediately.
“The site was dangerous,” Crane said. “There are buried oil tanks, open barrels and asbestos in the buildings. The site has not been cleaned environmentally.”
Crane said they have been working with the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development with their plans for the Perx property.
“It’s moving incrementally toward housing,” Crane said. “We’re confident the clean-up will take place and the senior housing will happen. Some of the housing that exists in Red Hook would be freed up for younger families.”
Norman Greenberg, vice president with Baker Companies, said his firm is also involved in proposing a housing development in the Town of Hyde Park off St. Andrews Road.
The proposal, Greenberg said, calls for building 228 housing units that include single-family homes, duplex units, and townhouses for sale.
Greenberg said his firm has built roughly 2,000 affordable homes. Getting affordable housing in a municipality, Greenberg said, starts with the zoning laws.
“It’s the willingness to sit down with the developers and work through issues,” Greenberg said. “My company has built about 40 housing developments that had components of affordable housing.
“It’s important to have senior housing, but also to have places for young people, too,” added Greenberg.
Northern Dutchess Alliance President Marc Molinaro was pleased with the information shared at the seminar.
“The goal today is to have folks listen to what’s going on in and around their communities and take back with them information that they didn’t have,” Molinaro said.