» Articles from February 2006
Red Hook Revisited
One of the most effective programs for containing growth and preserving farmland through free-market incentives is well into its third year in the northern Dutchess Town of Red Hook, and its financial advantages and political popularity appear to be as compelling as first advertised. Read more
Affordable Housing SeminarMonday, February 20, in Hillsdale
A panel discussion, “Affordable Housing: Possibilities for Meeting the Needs of Our Community,” will take place in Hillsdale on Monday evening, February 20, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, junction of Routes 22 and 23.
The panel will feature four speakers who will give an overview of affordable housing issues and discuss a spectrum of possible solutions. The audience will be invited to participate in a question, answer, and discussion session following the talks.
Read an earlier “Views From Gallatin” column, entitled Affording Affordable Housing for some background on the issue.
The panelists in Hillsdale will include:
Tim Geller is Executive Director of Tri-Corner Community Development Corporation, which creates affordable housing and economic development opportunities in eastern Columbia and Dutchess counties, NY, northwestern Litchfield County, CT, and southern Berkshire County, MA. He has been involved with housing development in southern Berkshire County since 1998, and will give specific examples of affordable housing activities around the region.
Deborah S. McMenamy, Chair, Board of Selectmen, Town of Stockbridge (MA) will represent an elected official’s perspective on the issue of affordable housing, and will describe how that town has responded to the need for creating and preserving affordable housing stock. Deborah is on the Stockbridge Affordable Housing Committee and is a past member of the town’s
Finance Committee.
Kevin O’Neill, Executive Director of Housing Resources of Columbia County, will give a summary of the broad range of programs and policies that a community might adopt to respond to the affordable housing need, including some small zoning changes, rehabilitation of existing housing, small scale development projects, education for prospective first time home buyers, acquisition of additional rental housing subsidies, and others.
Susan Witt is the founder and Administrator of the Community Land Trust in the southern Berkshires, and the Executive Director of the E. F. Schumacher Society. She has written and spoken widely on economics and community land trusts and has been involved with both organizations for twenty-five years. She will describe an alternative model for affordable housing.
The program will be moderated by Frank K. Upham, Wilf Family Professor of Property Law at New York University School of Law, where he teaches in the areas of property, law and development, and comparative law. Prior to joining New York University in 1994, he taught at the law schools of Ohio State University, Harvard University, and Boston College and at various institutions in East Asia. At New York University, he has served as Faculty Director of the Global Law School Program and he created the Global Public Service Law Project, which brings public interest lawyers from developing countries to NYU for a year of study and interaction. Professor Upham is a
resident of Hillsdale.
This is the fifth forum in “The Future of Hillsdale” series and is jointlysponsored by the Hillsdale Land Use Group and the Affordable Housing Subcommittee of the Hillsdale Comprehensive Plan Review Committee.
The evening is free to all. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, call Kathy Schmidt at 518-325-7265, or Ellen Levy at 914-552-5674.
Rail Trail Opponents Are Off-Track
The latest uproar against proposals to expand two “rail trail” networks in Columbia County raises important questions about the cost to taxpayers of improving the trails. Judging by recent letters sent to local newspapers, however, the trail program’s opponents seem to be missing the forest for the trees. Read more
Town Budget Scorecard — 2005
Rankings of 28 towns in Columbia and Dutchess based on key measures of fiscal performance.
Words Worth Repeating:
“Local governments in New York State have a wide swathe of authority to invent techniques needed to encourage appropriate uses of the land.”
– Professor John Nolon
Pace University Land Use Law Center
For more on “impact fees” and other methods for containing the costs of growth, read the March, 2005 “Views From Gallatin” column entiitled Making An Impact.)