“When I was at the Partnership, we studied what [affordable housing developments] did to area housing prices,” says Morgo, referring to the early part of this decade. “They showed that prices went up faster than the home values outside of the areas where the Housing Partnership did homes.”
Another study just completed for the Housing Partnership by Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association, looked at 140 multi-family housing complexes in Nassau and 186 complexes in Suffolk, regardless of whether they had affordable units or not, and by using 2008 U.S. Census data, determined the ratio of school-age children per dwelling unit to be 0.16 in Nassau (10,926 units, 1,770 kids) and 0.17 in Suffolk (24,978 units, 4,232 kids).
“The big issue when we go out to a public hearing is that it’s going to be a drain on our schools,” says Peter Elkowitz, president and chief executive officer of the Long Island Housing Partnership. “Obviously, single-family detached homes with three or four bedrooms generate more kids from the community than the multi-family rental housing that has one or two bedrooms.”
“Single-family, detached homes have many more kids and cost the municipality more than they contribute in taxes. Certainly more than the attached homes,” says Morgo.
That equation was certainly on the minds of the Huntington School Board last year, which voted 6-1 to support AvalonBay’s Transit Oriented District in Huntington Station. The Bonavita family had planned to construct 109 single-family homes with three- to four-bedrooms on the site, near East 5th Street and Manor Field Road, calling the parcel Evergreen Estates. Then the real estate market went south, and AvalonBay stepped into the picture, seeking a zoning change to allow for higher density. It approached the school board, offering the district $1.5 million, part of the developer’s community benefits package. (Other funds would go to upgrading the train station, improving the walkways, adding a stoplight on Park Avenue, etc.)
A study was completed comparing the relative impact of Evergreen and AvalonBay’s proposals on the school district. According to William Dwyer, president of the Huntington School District, AvalonBay, with its one or two-bedroom apartments, would generate more taxes than the costs of providing services, and the fewer number of school-age kids would also be in its favor: 45 to 105 school-age children from the apartments versus 150 children from Evergreen.
“We were presented two options,” Dwyer recalls. “It’s not a very difficult decision.”
The town board was supposed to vote on the rezoning June 15, but for various reasons, such as providing greater “transparency” and allowing AvalonBay more time to respond to concerns raised at the last public hearing held in March, the decision was postponed to July 6. Someone working closely with AvalonBay called the delay a “big mistake.” To the protesters milling outside town hall, several wearing Conservative Society of America t-shirts, it was a gift. Now they had more time to organize opposition.
“Huntington Town is going to get more taxes because of my development,” says AvalonBay’s Matt Whalen of the $110 million project. “You’ve never seen a public hearing like that [in March] where there were 250 people coming out in support of our development. Now, were there 30 or 40 people in opposition? Absolutely. Some said, ‘This site should be preserved.’ This site abuts the railroad station!”
The selection of this site for apartments delights Marianne Garvin of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island, which like the Housing Partnership, makes homes and apartments affordable for families and individuals.
“I find it tremendously ironic that the initial thrust of Housing Help is that they didn’t want to do high-density housing in Huntington Station. That was the cause célèbre!” she says, her eyes bright with amusement. “Now what are we talking about? We’re talking about transit-oriented development as a really good tool to have. People live near public transportation, it’s smart growth, the communities are walk-able. That’s the new mantra.”
AvalonBay’s Whalen was more earthy: “I hope it makes a difference for people to see that a development of 20 units an acre by the train station shouldn’t scare the shit out of you.”
Breathing Room
One of the complaints frequently heard against affordable housing plans like those of Housing Help, the Housing Partnership, CDC, and others is that the developments will be filled with Section 8 voucher holders. AvalonBay says that will not be the case in Huntington Station, not because of any animosity toward Section 8 recipients but because HUD imposes strict regulation of both landlords and tenants with the vouchers. It’s not welfare, but it does come with red tape. Plus, AvalonBay’s affordable apartments will be priced at a higher range.
To Corinne Hammons, senior vice president of the CDC, which administers 3,500 of the 4,000 Section 8 vouchers distributed in Suffolk County, the program makes everyone participating in it a good neighbor, whether landlord or tenant.
“As in any program, there are bad apples,” Hammons says, “and they’re eliminated from the program. But I think there’s a lot of fear in our communities about who those folks are, and we’re trying to dispel them all the time. Like the myths that Section 8 brings crime and might lower the housing standards, which is ironic, considering that we have to inspect every unit of housing to make sure that they meet the standards to qualify for the voucher program.”
Maria Vasquez, who asked that her real name not be mentioned because of the stigma against Section 8 people, said the voucher was a godsend. She was on a waiting list for five years, living in shelters, moving from place to place. With the voucher, she pays $820 a month for a two-bedroom apartment that rents for $1575.
“Now I’m holding down a full-time job,” says the mother of one. “I got an associate’s degree and I’m working to get my bachelor’s.”
The hardest part for Vasquez was waiting; she said more than 25,000 families and individuals applied, but only 5,000 got on the list when she did. She doesn’t mind the regulations that come with Section 8.
“Once a year they do income verification and I have to submit all my pay stubs just to make sure that I haven’t gotten a huge increase, and I don’t need the program anymore,” she says. “They don’t focus on what I decide to spend my money on. They only look at my income. If I decide not to eat, that is my business.”