Southold needs to allow high-density development in order to create desperately needed rental housing, but should cap the number of units in any one development project to limit community impacts — and community opposition.
That’s the message carried to the town board today by Rona Smith of the town’s housing advisory commission.
There is a dire need for rental housing, Smith said at this morning’s work session. The need was underscored by the experience the town had with the Cottages affordable housing project in Mattituck, where the town had a difficult time qualifying homebuyers who most needed assistance, she said.
“It became clear that we needed rental housing,” Smith told board members. “There are virtually no legal affordable rentals that people can afford and live in year-round.”
Supervisor Scott Russell highlighted the town’s need for affordable rentals in his state of the town address on Feb. 25. In the speech, he called on the town to create a minimum of 50 new affordable apartments over the next three years, in small scale projects “scattered” throughout the hamlets. Russell also called for amending the zoning code to allow the development of up to six apartments as a principal use in commercial zones.
Smith said when the town put out a request for proposals a few years ago, it generated no interest from builders because the cost of land is too high.
“It is clear that unless we allow higher density we won’t get afforable housing,” she said.
The commission recommends limiting the construction to “relatively small developments of no more than 25 units” and to take steps to ensure the rental units are “affordable in perpetuity.”
Russell said the current affordable housing code allows up to six units per acre. “We actually met with people in the industry and they said they need 12 units per acre to make it work. I know that seems like a lot, but the reality is if we’re serious about creating affordable housing, that’s what we need to do,” he said.
Builders can make the numbers work with 20 or 25 units, but they have to do it on two or three acres, Russell said.
“When you’re using less land and building smaller communities, I think it’s more palatable,” the supervisor said. “Nobody is going to accept 40 to 50 units.”
Russell said a smaller project can more readily blend in with a neighborhood. He cited one constructed in Southampton Town that he and members of the commission toured. “It was gorgeous,” he said.
“I think you cap it at 24 units with the town having the option to go to 36 if it makes sense,” Russell said.
He also advocated having apartments as a principal use in commercial areas.
It should still be done with an affordable housing rezone, he said, but allowing the use as a principal use in a commercial zone will give the town more options.
“There’s a lot of structures out there. When we did that legislation the goal was to not lose our commercial downtowns,” the supervisor said. That’s still a good goal, he said, “but at the same time I’ve got over a 100,000 square feet of vacant retail space in Mattituck. It’s not like we need to protect it for businesses. I think some of these buildings are more suited for apartments,” he said.
“Let’s get it to code committee,” Russell said. Board members agreed to move forward with the process of a code revision. The subject will be taken up at the next code committee meeting in two weeks.
