Village Trustees Agree to Model Code Provisions for Affordable Housing in Scarsdale

Scarsdale moved one step closer to compliance with the Westchester Housing Settlement that requires Westchester to construct 750 units of affordable housing in 31 eligible communities by 2016. Though the federal monitor, James Johnson has still not approved Westchester County’s plan in its entirety, Johnson has approved a model-zoning ordinance for local municipalities to incorporate into their code in order to encourage new fair and affordable housing.

At a meeting of the Trustees Law and Land Use Committee on February 22 trustees reviewed provisions of the code and heard recommendations from Village staff on which portions of the code to adopt for Scarsdale.

Village staff had reviewed the code and advised the trustees on which portions to they considered appropriate for Scarsdale. The model ordinance provisions can be viewed here and below are the elements that the committee agreed to adopt:

The definition of Affordable Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Unit is as follows:

An AFFH unit for sale is deemed to be affordable if the cost of a unit including common charges, principal, interest, taxes and insurance does not exceed 33% of 80% of the area median income (AMI) for Westchester. Currently the AMI for Westchester is $103,000, so 80% would be $82,400.

The annual cost of an affordable rental unit including rent and utilities should not exceed 30% of 60% of AMI for Westchester.

For developments of 10 or more units, 10% need to be affordable units.

Though the model code also called for an affordable unit in developments of 5-9 units the staff did not recommend that Scarsdale include this provision. However, after considerable discussion, and a suggestion by Stacey Brodsky, the Board opted to adopt this provision for commercial areas of town where multi-family housing will be permitted.

In regard to the provision outlining incentives to create affordable housing, the staff recommended the Village retain a consultant, at an estimated cost of under $10,000 to determine appropriate incentives.

The maximum rent and sales price for an affordable unit shall be established in accordance with HUD guidelines for Westchester.

Units shall remain affordable for 50 years.

The exterior appearance of multifamily units shall be indistinguishable from the other units in the development but interiors can be reduced in quality. For single family units, the staff recommended that Scarsdale code stipulate that the appearance of the exteriors of the homes be “indistinguishable to the great extent possible.”

As for AFFH unit sizes, the trustees agreed to adopt the provisions on “Minimum Floor Area” in the model code as well as occupancy standards that outline maximum occupancy of units to prevent overcrowding.

The resale amount of an affordable unit shall not exceed an amount affordable to a household at 80% of AMI. For rental units, if the renters’ income grows to exceed 60% of AMI the tenant can finish out their lease term and either rent another unit or be granted a one year renewal but shall not be eligible for another renewal beyond the expiration of the lease.

The municipality or a non-profit agency will be responsible for monitoring the units

Applicants for development shall be entitled to have a pre-application meeting to review the development application and plan.

Now that trustees have agreed to the language, the Village staff will draft the proposed local law and put it before the Planning Board for consideration. If the model code is adopted, Scarsdale will be one of the first communities in Westchester to take this step.