Opinion: Common Council Housing Proposal Will Throw Cold Water on Housing Plans
By Kingston Mayor Steve Noble
I want to address a proposal that has been put forward in the Common Council to change the definition of affordable housing in the City of Kingston’s new zoning code.
Though this may sound good — even heroic — in theory, make no mistake: housing development in Kingston will grind to a halt if the Common Council passes this zoning change.
To be clear: we all want more affordable housing. My administration has worked tirelessly to lay the foundation to actually building new housing in the City of Kingston, and most of the housing approved during my tenure has been low-income housing tax credit projects, generously supported by federal, state and local taxpayers. This includes affordable housing at the Lace Mill, Energy Square, Landmark Place, Golden Hill, Van Dyke Apartments and Birchwood Village. These projects have created hundreds of stable, affordable homes for Kingstonians.
I have heard the rhetoric surrounding lower-cost housing, but the only way to achieve this is by building units. Without actual projects, there will be no lower-cost housing. The new zoning code, which carefully calculated the affordability ratio, has been in effect for just over a year and, in that time, we have built only a handful of units. We are optimistic that there will be a growing interest in development in the years to come, but if this proposed zoning change moves forward, the extreme limitations will signal to all would-be developers that the City of Kingston does not want new housing built in our community. If we have had limited development with our current requirements, it stands to reason that tightening those requirements further will stifle development completely.
It should also be noted that Kingston was a pioneer in requiring affordability in all new development. No other New York jurisdiction, not Newburgh nor Poughkeepsie nor Hudson nor New Paltz, mandates the level of affordability proposed by this legislation. In fact, some of these nearby municipalities have no citywide affordability requirements whatsoever. After extensive work and research, Kingston took a progressive step forward, and now that enormous success is being baselessly dubbed “not enough.”
The city’s Comprehensive Plan calls for housing at all levels of affordability. The Common Council has already endorsed this goal. If we only build low-income housing, we will not be able to grow our tax base and our municipal services will suffer as a result. We will never be able to meet the need for new housing. Residents will see their taxes increase as city revenue stagnates and costs rise. The only thing this proposed change would accomplish is to place our homeowners and renters in a position where they will be paying more. Meanwhile, other municipalities that haven’t made any effort on affordability will get new market-rate accommodations, further stressing Kingston’s limited affordable housing supply.
I urge the Common Council to see past what looks good on paper and see the bigger picture of the harm this legislation would do.
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