New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to reform one of the oldest environmental laws in New York in order to create more housing across the state. In the Hudson Valley, where communities feeling a housing crunch, officials are saying ‘full steam ahead.’ But environmentalists have questions.
In January, Governor Hochul unveiled her plan to create more housing across New York State. In order to make this change, the governor wants to reform New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA.
Almost all buildings and other developments built in New York must go through the environmental review process. And many officials are in favor of the governor’s plan to speed up the review process for projects on previously disturbed land in order to build new housing.
The Mayor of New Rochelle, Yadira Ramos-Herbert, is one of those that has advocated for the change.
“If you see the title, you get nervous, because, environment is in SEQRA. But if you actually unpack it, it's looking at the Type 2 [actions]. It's looking at sites that have already been previously disturbed. We're not talking about building in acres of a pristine, untouched forest,” she explained.
Last month, Ramos-Herbert led a meeting of leaders from across Westchester County to discuss the governor’s plan, including leaders from White Plains, Pelham, Peekskill, and Mount Vernon
“If my other communities build it’s only gonna help all our residents. Our borders are like blocks apart. If we all have the opportunity to build, all our people will be able to benefit,” said Ramos-Herbert.
But some Hudson Valley officials are very concerned about some of the language in the proposal.
While Kingston Mayor Steve Noble recently led a letter in support Hochul’s SEQRA reforms, the city’s common council sent their own letter, the Daily Freeman reported, urging the governor to “provide clear definitions, maintain protections, [and] ensure that development exemptions apply only to truly disturbed sites.”
Environmental groups including Scenic Hudson, Riverkeeper, and Catskill Mountain Keeper, have similar questions.
Johnathan Clark, an attorney with Scenic Hudson, is worried about potential loopholes. He wants the reforms to clearly define a “previously disturbed site.”
“We don't want to have a case where you have a large parcel that's mostly forest, but you have a small house on a corner of it. We don't want that to be treated entirely as exempt from review. And we also want to be absolutely clear that we aren't including farmland, such as areas that are zoned for agriculture,” said Clark.
Clark says providing exemptions to SEQRA can make projects cheaper and faster, which is a great incentive for development, which is why it has to be done carefully.
But he says SEQRA is not the only cost-barrier that needs to be fixed.
“You have things like local zoning, you have things like legacy infrastructure, just all these other concerns that are playing into that affordability question, as much or more as SEQRA,” Clark explained.
In Ulster County, where home prices and rents have skyrocketed in recent years, County Executive Jen Metzger said any exemptions should also incentivize affordability.
“It's so impossible to live in this region affordably, like there's just not available housing that's affordable. So a shortcoming of the governor's exemption is that it applies to all housing. I think that is mistake,” Metzger said.
She suggested prioritizing housing for low-income residents, who make 30% of the area median income.
According to Governor Hochul’s office, more than 1,000 projects in the past 5 to 10 years faced lengthy SEQRA reviews although they did not pose significant environmental impacts.
