Hochul rolls back zoning proposal

Gov. Kathy Hochul has pulled a proposal from her 2022-23 state budget that would have required local governments to allow an expansion of apartments in single-family neighborhoods. Local officials cheered the action at a news conference on Feb. 18 outside an East Meadow home.

Hochul had put this proposal in her January budget before the Legislature. It has been widely criticized by local elected officials. Some argued that so-called accessory dwelling units would put a strain on Long Island resources and that it would be an end to suburbia. Hochul, however, saw it as a way to potentially alleviate the state’s affordable-housing crisis.

Raheel Ahmad, an East Meadow resident whose street the officials gathered on, said that he was grateful housing on Long Island would stay the same. He moved his family from Brooklyn to Long Island six years ago.

“It feels amazing — this is why I moved here,” Ahmad said at the news conference. “I’m thankful for the elected officials who raised up for the residents and got a victory for us.”

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin said that thousands of residents signed online petitions against the controversial budget proposal. He added that the town received letters from residents stating their opposition to the proposal, and on Feb. 4 the Town Board wrote a letter to Hochul calling for her to remove it from the budget.

“The biggest investment in someone’s life is buying a house in the suburbs,” Clavin said. “The governor’s attempt, by throwing this in the budget to eliminate single [family] housing, is wrong.”

The legislation would have essentially removed “home rule,” meaning that local governments could not determine zoning based on the character of the community and the wishes of those in their jurisdiction.

According to officials, the Town of Hempstead already has zoning provisions in place that provide for senior citizen accessory apartments as well as parent/child property owner setups. The main denunciation of Hochul’s plan, officials said, was that the local governments wouldn’t have a say.

County legislator Tom McKevitt, who found the ADU proposal in the budget that was on page 126 of 5,000, said at the news conference that this was a great example of people at all levels of government coming together to preserve their quality of life. “We’re putting forth the word to the governor and to state representatives,” McKevitt said. “Do not try this again, do not put it in there, we’re going to be watching and protecting our communities.”

If Hochul didn’t pull the proposal, she risked the passage of the entire budget. If the spending plan is approved by the legislature, it will take effect April 1 of this year.

​​Town Councilman Chris Carini wrote in a statement to the Herald, “This bill could not pass on its merits as a stand-alone bill and was hidden in the budget to force its passage, this was the same tactic used to pass bail reform. I was proud to join with other local officials to expose this smash and grab of our local zoning.”

The ADU proposal isn’t the only piece of Hochul’s budget that has caused some backlash. Officials have also spoken out against the cutting of library infrastructure funds. In the 2022-23 budget, $20 million would be cut from library construction aid. In the current budget, the library construction aid is $34 million.

Brendan Carpenter contributed to this article.