Housing density could be linked to affordability

RHINEBECK, N.Y. » The Town Board is reviewing a proposed zoning amendment that would allow some higher-density housing projects that offer affordable units.

The Workforce Housing District could be created within the existing Village Gateway District.

Four locations in the town, immediately outside the village, are zoned as Village Gateway District: at the north and south entrances on U.S. Route 9, on the east on state Route 308, and west on West Market Street.

At a Town Board meeting Monday, Workforce Housing Committee Co-Chairman Jonathan Mensch said the proposed amendment would increase the current maximum of six units per acre to 10 units.

“The area that we’re talking about is already the hottest density district in town,” he said.

Town officials said the additional units could be sought if a developer plans to have 80 percent of the dwelling units conform with affordable housing pricing regulations.

Board members questioned the value of creating a “floating” district to be applied solely within one established zoning district.

“I’m wondering why create a floating district and then say it can only settle there?” Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said. “Why not just allow this in that area?”

Mensch said other districts have a much smaller density threshold with as few as one unit allowed per acre.

“We thought we would start with this one because it’s most conducive,” he said.

The proposed amendment would be in addition to provisions in the town Affordable Housing Law that was adopted last year. Under that law, developers pay a fee of $1 per square foot for each unit they seek to exempt from requirements that 10 percent of a project include affordable housing.

There also are provisions in the Affordable Housing Law that allow developers to exceed zoning limits on the maximum number of housing units that can be constructed in some districts, with a $10-persquare-foot fee charged for each additional unit.

Workforce Housing Committee member Sally Mazzarella said the proposed district seeks to fulfill goals in the Affordable Housing Law.

“The ... point is walkablility,” she said. “You have this high density this close to the village, the ability to walk into the village where services are available, and you have access to it.”

Town Board members said they want to review the proposed amendments before considering whether to set a public hearing on adoption.