Navigating the Currents of Westchester County Affordable Housing

By Nina Recio Cuddy

Speaking to a packed room at the Local Summit’s most recent breakfast at the Nautilus Diner in Mamaroneck on November 18, Rosemarie Noonan and Catherine Parker addressed the tough issues faced by many in trying to find affordable housing in Westchester County and spoke about the impact of the Fair and Affordable Housing Settlement Agreement that was signed by former County Executive Andrew Spano in 2009. Noonan is Executive Director of the Housing Action Council and Parker is a Legislator on the Westchester County Board of Legislators.

Spano signed the Settlement Agreement in August 2009 to resolve litigation that was brought by the Anti-Discrimination Center of New York, and the settlement was approved by the County Board of Legislators. The lawsuit alleged that the County, after applying for federal Community Development Block Grants, had failed to comply with certain mandates to encourage fair housing, and that its certifications of compliance were false.

Rosemarie Noonan, an advocate who has spent her career working on affordable housing issues, explained that the Housing Action Council is a non-profit organization that works with other non-profits, municipalities and developers to generate and manage affordable housing within the County. The task, she asserted, is “getting harder and harder” and, in fact, has not been made easier by the County’s settlement. Noonan described the settlement as a “curve ball” that actually changed the conversation and took the County in a different direction on the issue of affordable housing.

Under the terms of the settlement, the County was given seven years to build 750 new units of affordable housing in certain communities within the County where there were few Hispanic and African-American residents. Noonan noted, however, that the intense focus on complying with the settlement has actually diverted attention from the fact that far more units are needed in the County than were contemplated by the settlement. She cited a Rutgers report issued some years ago that concluded that an additional 10,000 units of affordable housing were needed in the County. In her view, there remains a severe lack of affordable housing within the County and compliance with the settlement will not be sufficient to address the need, even as the County works towards completion of the various developments.

Catherine Parker addressed the fact that one of the issues confronting the County is the adequacy of the document entitled “Analysis of Impediment” that was submitted by the County under the terms of the settlement. The settlement calls for the County to complete a so-called “Huntington analysis” that would assess the County’s compliance with the Federal Fair Housing Act and be acceptable to HUD. Thus far, HUD has not accepted the County’s submission, and the parties have not been able to resolve their differences. Although the federal monitor assigned to oversee the implementation of the agreement also prepared a Huntington Analysis, that analysis was also rejected and the issue remains unresolved.

Parker further reported that failure to comply with the settlement also carries a substantial cost to the County and its taxpayers. The County lost millions in federal community development block grant money for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. Those grants, which had been allocated to Westchester, have since been allotted to other communities and are no longer available. According to Noonan, the County Executive did not apply for federal block grant money this year and proposed to make up for the lost funds through the county capital budget. Parker said that the Board of Legislators is now in budget discussions and the loss of these funds will have an impact on the discussions and the county’s finances.

Meanwhile, work has continued on the affordable housing project, Pinebrook Condominiums, located at 2101 Palmer Avenue in Larchmont, which is being completed as part of the units required for achieving compliance with the settlement. When completed, the development will offer 51 units of one and two bedroom apartments, five of which will be designated for individuals and families having a connection to Larchmont. The remaining 46 units will be counted towards the settlement goal of 750 and will be marketed affirmatively within the five New York City counties, as well as Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Fairfield (Ct.).

Noonan’s organization will assist in determining the qualifications and selection of applicants for the apartments. The process began with a lottery for the applicants so as to establish an order. In the next stage, the applications will be reviewed to determine if an applicant meets the program requirements as well as the financial/asset requirements. To start, in order to qualify, an applicant’s maximum income cannot exceed 80% of the medium county income adjusted for family size. If the applicant meets this threshold test, the application is then examined to ascertain if the proposed occupancy is appropriate for the unit size in accordance with the county’s occupancy standards and if the applicant has sufficient assets and income to purchase the unit. This process will continue until each unit is sold.

This breakfast forum was hosted by The Larchmont-Mamaroneck Local Summit, a volunteer community organization founded in 1995 dedicated to facilitating dialog and collaboration among government, schools, non-profits, business and citizens in order to promote positive change within the tri-municipal Mamaroneck, Larchmont and Rye Neck community. Its monthly public meetings are usually held at the Nautilus Diner in Mamaroneck at 7:45 a.m. on the third Tuesday of the month. The next breakfast meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 9, and will feature County Executive Rob Astorino.