WHITE PLAINS—The end of a seven year conflict over zoning and fair housing between Westchester County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development appears to be nearing an end.

On Tuesday, Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino announced that HUD had accepted the county's 11^th submission of an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (AI), which most likely will end the back-and-forth issues that have dogged the county and HUD over zoning, marketing, Source of Income and implementation of the tenets of a $51.6-million fair housing settlement reached in 2009 with the administration of former Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano.

The settlement, which required the county build 750 units of affordable housing in 31 communities, stemmed from a housing desegregation lawsuit brought by the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York filed against Westchester County in 2006. Almost immediately upon taking office in 2010, Astorino battled HUD over the fair housing settlement and its terms and charged the federal agency with over-reaching, particularly on HUD's contention the county should aggressively go after communities that engage in exclusionary zoning. The county contended that studies found there were no exclusionary zoning practices in the county.

Saying the fight was worth it, County Executive Astorino said the last remaining issue between the county and HUD was resolved when the federal housing agency finally agreed that there were no cases of exclusionary zoning in Westchester. HUD had rejected the county's 10^th AI submission in April substantially over zoning concerns.

“This is vindication for Westchester County and our local municipalities and a victory won on facts, principles and persistence,” said Westchester County Executive Astorino. “From the beginning, my administration has been committed to meeting the county's obligations under the settlement. But we also said that we were not going to be bullied by HUD into doing things that were not in the settlement. HUD had no reason to intrude into legitimate local zoning, and we stood firm on that. In the end, we were able to successfully defend the constitutional principle of home rule and meet the requirements of the settlement.”

Jay Golden, regional director for HUD's Office of Fair Hosing and Equal Opportunity, in a July 14^th letter to Westchester Deputy County Executive Ken Plunkett, stated that HUD had reviewed the zoning analysis as part of the AI and that it had deemed the zoning supplement to be acceptable in accordance with the terms of the settlement agreement. “HUD appreciates the County's commitment to reaching an amiable solution of this matter and acknowledges the County's efforts in modifying the AI Supplement in order for it to be deemed acceptable to HUD,” Golden said in the letter.

A HUD spokesman confirmed that the agency accepted the county's entire AI, which appears to be the last major issue remaining between the county and HUD in the fair housing case.

In response to County Executive Astorino's characterization of the AI acceptance being vindication for Westchester and municipalities zoning practices, the HUD spokesman said in a statement, “In its earlier fair housing analysis, the County continued to make unsubstantiated statements that we found unacceptable. These unsupported statements claimed there is 'no correlation' between zoning and demographics. We considered these statements to be unsubstantiated set against the overwhelming evidence to the contrary…that zoning practices have a real impact on the demographic composition of a community. HUD asked that all unsupported language be removed and the County agreed. It's significant to note the County itself is finally agreeing that there is indeed a connection between local zoning practices and the demographic composition of that community.”

Ned McCormack, a spokesman for Westchester County Executive Astorino, says that minor changes were made to the county's latest AI submission by consultant VHB, but those changes did not in any way alter the county's long-standing position that there is no exclusionary zoning in Westchester County.

The county countered that based on VHB's detailed analysis of countywide demographics and zoning, VHB found and concluded that zoning is not the cause of demographic concentrations.

In December, the county met and in fact exceeded the settlement's benchmark having 799 units financing and building permits. County officials noted it has another 100 units in the pipeline.

With the AI approved and the benchmark on units met, the only outstanding issue between the county and HUD is for the county to complete its outreach campaign on the benefits of diversity and affordable housing. Called “One Community,” the campaign, which is underway and scheduled to run throughout the year, includes print, radio, cable television and social media advertisements. To date, the county has spent more than $1 million on marketing and outreach, well above the settlement's $400,000 requirement.

In late June, Lynne Patton was named administrator of HUD's Region II office in New York. HUD's acceptance of the county's AI came less than three weeks after Patton's appointment.

WHITE PLAINS—The end of a seven year conflict over zoning and fair housing between Westchester County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development appears to be nearing an end.

A HUD spokesman confirmed that the agency accepted the county's entire AI, which appears to be the last major issue remaining between the county and HUD in the fair housing case.

The county countered that based on VHB's detailed analysis of countywide demographics and zoning, VHB found and concluded that zoning is not the cause of demographic concentrations.

In December, the county met and in fact exceeded the settlement's benchmark having 799 units financing and building permits. County officials noted it has another 100 units in the pipeline.

In late June, Lynne Patton was named administrator of HUD's Region II office in New York. HUD's acceptance of the county's AI came less than three weeks after Patton's appointment.

Instant Insights /

County Executive Astorino Claims Vindication in Zoning Fight with HUD

Related Stories

Recommended For You