State and County Debate Faith Based Housing

As the New York State Senate considers the fate of the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act (S2297/A3647) another local leader in Rockland has joined calls to reject the proposal which  would require municipalities to allow the construction of residential buildings on parcels of land owned by a religious corporation.

In a statement shared with the RCT on Wednesday, County Executive Ed Day denounced the proposal as “a blatant attempt to override the rights of local communities and force high-density housing onto municipalities without their say.”

As written, the current proposal would allow construction of housing units as tall as 55 feet, or the height of the tallest building, with a density of  50 units per acre in communities that have a population between 50,000 and 1 million residents. 

Characterizing those specifications as over development, Day vowed to fight the law if passed. 

“Rockland County will not stand by while Albany once again tries to demolish home rule and local control and impose a one-size-fits-all housing policy that disregards the impact on our residents, infrastructure, and quality of life.”

Day stated that the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act would significantly accelerate the construction approval process for housing developments on religious properties and “dramatically” accelerate the time line on which affordable housing on religious property can be built while reducing bureaucratic hurdle. 

As explained by former  State Senator David Carlucci in an op-ed shared with the Rockland County Business Journal, new homes created on religious properties would be constructed “as-of-right,” “meaning they do not require a municipal discretionary review process, allowing for a streamlined process. Municipal building departments must issue permits within 60 days of the application receipt.” Such developments would also be exempt from environmental impact reports, if they meet certain alternative certifications.

 While opponents of the bill have painted these exemptions as a green light for quick, and perhaps irresponsible development, champions of the legislation have maintained that any new residential property erected would be subject to the same state and local building, fire, and energy codes as any other housing unit. Regardless, Executive Day has argued that, if implemented, the law would allow developers to circumvent local zoning guidelines 

“ It would allow houses of worship such as churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques, to bypass local zoning rules as long as they are building affordable housing that complies with “reasonable” density standards: 30 units per acre for small municipalities with less than 50,000 people and 50 units per acre for localities with more than 50,000 people,” wrote Day

Of course the speed and ease of development that the bill would allow is very much intended. Rockland County and the rest of New York face a shortage of affordable housing that Faith-Based Housing Act could mitigate:  the bills sponsors estimate that the act could generate up to 60,000 new housing units in the Empire State.

Those estimates have not been enough to persuade all local leaders to embrace the proposal. 

During a town board meeting in  March, Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny described the measure as “an insane law” and unanimously passed a memorializing resolution warning Albany of the town’s stringent opposition to the bill.  As housing stock runs low, Rockland’s leadership must grapple between the need to provide living space for it’s residents and the desire to remain autonomous from a state government that appears willing to embrace less conventional solutions to the issue. 

“We are not against development and in fact are addressing this very issue in Rockland in a multitude of smart and sensible ways, with the local municipalities having the ability to determine what is and isn’t right for their community,” concluded Day.