• Downstate- 3% growth in housing stock every three years; Upstate- 1% growth every three years

• Rezone for multifamily development, as-of-right lot splits, rezone for existing commercial areas, accessory dwelling units, remove exclusionary measures

• Municipalities with MTA transit stations are required to rezone for more density a half-mile around stations.

No, the proposal does not eliminate environmental review. Local governments will continue to be able to consider environmental concerns when adopting preferred actions.

The compact incentivizes land conservation by promoting infill strategies and encouraging development near existing infrastructure.

Preferred actions still must conform to state health, safety, and sanitary regulatory standards and flood resilience, wetlands and watershed protection policies.

Review of impacts to drinking water, wastewater services, utility services and project aesthetics remain in place.

Communities can adopt preferred actions to gain safe harbor from the fast track approval process. It is up to localities to decide which preferred actions they will adopt and how they will work to reach their growth targets. Under the proposal, communities can decide what works best for them, selecting from a menu of options that includes rezoning for multifamily development, allowing lot splits, rezoning for existing commercial areas, allowing accessory dwelling units, and removing exclusionary measures.

Each municipality will have three years to put at least two of these preferred actions in place. If they don’t act within three years, then a fast track approval process to move development projects forward will take effect.

If after three years a municipality fails to put at least two growth strategies in place, then a developer whose project is denied by a municipality will be able to appeal to a state board for project approval.

Only projects that have a percentage of affordable units - either 20% of units at 50% area median income or 25% of units at 80% of area median income - would be eligible for appeal to the state.

Municipalities will still be able to review health, safety and infrastructure capacity issues of projects that are fast tracked.

The Housing Compact focuses on creating more housing supply and housing types, which is an essential piece of the puzzle in creating more affordability.

Towns get twice as much credit towards meeting their growth targets for creating affordable homes versus market rate homes.

If a locality does not enact a plan to accommodate growth, the only projects that would then be fast-tracked are those that provide 20% of units at 50% of area median income or 25% of units at 80% of area median income.

The Housing Compact proposal recognizes that in some cases, infrastructure improvements will be necessary to support new development, and the proposal includes funding for such infrastructure.

Under the Housing Compact proposal, municipalities retain the power to review impacts on drinking water, wastewater and utility services.

Additionally, public servants such as teachers and firefighters are often priced out of the communities they serve, causing localities to face shortages in certain industries. With more affordable options, these service industries can welcome more workers and actually improve.

Many municipalities already have underutilized or vacant assets that could be adapted to provide more housing options. Adaptive reuse of strip plazas, malls, and former office campuses, for example, could provide much needed housing.

Transit-oriented development creates more housing options in communities where transit already exists and the state has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure. It makes communities more, not less, livable by making them more walkable and pedestrian-friendly places to be, limiting the need for new cars, reducing traffic and focusing development on areas already served by infrastructure.

Transit-oriented development isn’t a new concept and is part of the historic fabric of our communities. Many of the favorite places in New York are transit-oriented downtowns. From the subway and bus systems in New York City to local and commuter rail in Westchester and Long Island, having a transit system that connects towns, suburbs and neighborhoods is part of what makes New York such a great place to live.

Underused spaces around train stations can be transformed into vibrant areas where people can live, eat, shop and socialize, which is good for local business and makes these places more enjoyable and attractive.

See this TOD report from the New York Housing Conference for examples.

With incentives alone it is very likely that towns will continue to reject the call to action to create the homes New York needs to meet the needs of residents and support our economy. While many municipalities see the compact as an opportunity to make progress towards creating more homes in their communities with technical assistance and infrastructure funding from the state, in places that have historically resisted more housing choice, mandates are a necessary tool to facilitate action.

Growth targets offer a new framework that pairs carrots and sticks, providing municipalities with an opportunity to take action in the ways that work best locally with funding assistance from the state for planning and implementation, while also motivating all communities to take action. Growth targets reward communities that make good faith efforts to make progress towards creating more housing choice and provide a remedy for moving housing choice forward in communities that choose not to be proactive.