Village of Croton-on-Hudson Report of the Croton Housing Taskforce November 2021 Members: Hollis Anzani, Jana Bluestein, Adam Decker, Julie Evans, Greg Maher, Carol Shanesy, Nance Shatzkin, Sherry Horowitz (Trustee Liaison) and Brian Pugh (Trustee Liaison). Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Data III. Recommendations A. Protecting Our Residents B. Ensuring Fairness and Including in Housing C. Planning for the Future IV. Appendices Report of the Croton Housing Taskforce Page 2 I. Introduction In November 2019, Westchester County released the Westchester County Housing Needs Assessment. This Assessment showed the extent of the housing crisis facing Westchester County as a whole and provided municipality specific information about the housing crisis facing our Village. On January 6, 2020, Mayor Brian Pugh and the Board of Trustees created an ad-hoc Croton Housing Taskforce with the following members: Hollis Anzani, Jana Bluestein, Adam Decker, Julie Evans, Greg Maher, Carol Shanesy, Nance Shatzkin, Sherry Horowitz (Trustee Liaison) and Brian Pugh (Trustee Liaison). The Task Force was charged with examining all aspects of housing in Croton-on-Hudson with special attention to affordability and the issues raised by the Westchester County Housing Needs Assessment. In constituting a Task Force, the Mayor and the Board of Trustees were acting in line with the recommendations of the Village’s 2003 Comprehensive Plan, which recommended that “creative study of the existing situation will aid in understanding the need for affordable housing in the future and in identifying opportunities for expansion of the affordable housing stock. Studies should be designed to identify the economic groups now living in the Village as well as their living conditions. This should include an inventory of existing rental stock, both legal and illegal under current rules, with a determination of the rents being charged and the income of the occupants. Analysis of this data will prove invaluable in the ongoing effort to identify and meet affordable housing needs. Future planning for affordable housing in the Village should include exploration of opportunities to create choices allowing senior citizens to “age in place” and remain in the community as well as for new families to enter the community.” The Task Force took seriously its charge and over the course of almost two years met regularly to analyze the data collected by the Westchester Housing Needs Assessment as well as other demographic information available regarding housing in Croton. We were specifically interested in determining whether the County Needs Assessment was accurate in its resident numbers, its reflections on the condition of current housing stock for both owners and tenants and the recommendations set forth in the County Housing Needs Assessment, as well as other solutions proposed to specific housing concerns including those tried by other New York municipalities. To build upon the expertise already present in the Task Force members, we invited participation from Dan O’Connor, Village Engineer, Rose Noonan of the Housing Action Council, Alec Roberts of Community Housing Innovations Inc., Andrew Germansky of Westhab, Inc. and Rebecca Garrard, of Citizen Action of New York We also spoke with Village residents who live in our existing multifamily buildings to hear their concerns about their buildings and the responsiveness of the Village to their needs. We researched and reached out to other Westchester and State municipalities to discover what has been tried, what has succeeded and what is being Report of the Croton Housing Taskforce Page 3 considered as solutions to our housing crisis. Finally, we were proud to host a publicfacing meeting where Norma Drummond, Westchester County Planning Commissioner, presented a Village-specific presentation on the findings of the Westchester County Housing Needs Assessment and Croton residents were given the opportunity to discuss the Housing Assessment as well as housing concerns generally. During the period in which the Task Force met, the global pandemic altered many of the very facts we were researching. As the Task Force continued its work, it became clearer that the pandemic had exacerbated existing affordability and housing shortages in the Village. There is also early evidence that changes to the character of work following the pandemic may necessitate changes to the traditional ways our Village has functioned and our traditional revenue sources. The pandemic has also pointed to the need for consistent re-evaluation and re-collection of data as it becomes available via the decennial census or other data collection events. The overarching goals around which our last Comprehensive Plan (2003) was built were preserving traditional qualities, strengthening assets, and protecting resources. It is the belief of this Task Force that the recommendations set forth herein will help Croton-onHudson build a stronger community while addressing the crisis of affordability in Westchester County and Croton-on-Hudson. Many of the neighborhoods which best define the unique beauty and character of our Village, including the residential neighborhoods of Harmon and the mixed-use developments of the Upper Village highlight a way forward