Astorino: County Has Complied With Affordable Housing Settlement

County Executive Rob Astorino announced Tuesday that Westchester has complied with the terms of the affordable housing settlement with the federal government, apparently ending a contentious seven-year battle with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

During an afternoon press conference at the county building in White Plains, Astorino said building permits have been issued for 790 new affordable units in the 31 mostly white municipalities named in the 2009 settlement, exceeding the minimum 750-unit threshold for compliance by the end of this year.

Close to 400 of the units are already built and occupied, he said. Another 100 units are expected to receive approvals throughout the county in 2017. Westchester has used about $82 million of its money in subsidies, about $30 million more than the county was required to spend.

“Today is a very proud day for Westchester,” said a satisfied Astorino, who repeatedly tried to debunk characterizations that the county had discriminated against minorities with exclusionary zoning. “We have shown that Westchester is a very welcoming community, a place that meets its obligations and a county that can successfully and firmly stand up to an overzealous and overaggressive federal government on behalf of our cities, towns and villages.”

The only tasks remaining will be to file another Analysis of Impediments (AI), which addresses zoning, and to enhance the county’s marketing and outreach efforts, Astorino said. Eight previous AIs have been rejected by HUD. The county and HUD have agreed to have an independent planning firm, VNB of White Plains, to write and submit the new analysis.

Calling those issues “peripheral,” Astorino anticipates those matters to be resolved in the next couple of months.

The settlement was reached by former county executive Andrew Spano, the result of a lawsuit brought in 2006 by the Manhattan-based Anti-Discrimination Center (ADC), a nonprofit that fights housing, employment and education discrimination. The suit alleged that the county violated the False Claims Act by taking federal funds earmarked for housing without certifying that they were used to build housing.

If the county failed to comply with the settlement, it risked millions of dollars in fines and penalties. Federal Judge Denise Cote, who has presided over the case, will ultimately determine if the county is in compliance. It is expected, however, that Astorino will encounter far less opposition and a much friendlier administration in Washington once President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month.

Astorino, who was elected a few months after the settlement was reached, had consistently been at odds with HUD and federal monitor James Johnson for attempting to portray the county as engaging in discriminatory practices by perpetuating exclusionary zoning that severely limits multifamily housing. During the past seven years there were numerous court appearances on various disputes. Also, the issue often split along party lines among county officials.

On Tuesday, the county executive took repeated swipes at critics, including HUD and Johnson. He said Westchester is the fourth most diverse county in the state based on the percentage of African-Americans and Latinos that reside in Westchester. Furthermore, the county has been building affordable housing for more than 30 years.

The expense of acquiring property and the cost of construction in Westchester has been the biggest obstacle. Each new affordable unit costs $290,000 to build on average, Astorino said.

“Whether this settlement was in place or not, we were always going to build affordable housing, just not with the threat of the federal government over our heads,” Astorino said.

“Contrary to what the federal government was accusing, we actually had in place zoning in this county that could build affordable housing, that could permit affordable housing to be built, and we said that from the very beginning,” he later added.

County Legislator John Testa (R-Peekskill), the Board of Legislators’ minority leader, released a statement Tuesday on behalf of the Republican caucus, echoing much of what Astorino said. Testa said he was hopeful that HUD will accept the new AI, which has been “arbitrarily rejected.”

He pointed out that the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded in September 2015 that there was no finding Westchester engaged in housing discrimination.

“The Republican Legislators are proud to stand with County Executive Astorino and our local communities in recognizing the completion of Westchester County’s obligations under the terms of the 2009 fair and affordable housing settlement,” Testa said. “I applaud the County Executive, the Westchester County Planning Department and our municipal partners for not only meeting but exceeding the requirement to build 750 units of affordable Housing by the end of this year.”

Meanwhile, Democratic Majority Leader Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining) in her statement barely acknowledged Astorino making any contribution to comply with the settlement.

“I’m encouraged that the County Executive will no longer be able to use this housing settlement as a politically divisive way to further his personal ambitions and that taxpayer money will no longer be spent on lawyers fighting with the federal government,” Borgia said. “The end of the settlement is a perfect opportunity to conduct a true, fact-based housing needs assessment to determine the types of housing needs to be built to meet the changing needs of our county.”