Workforce Housing Coalitionc/o 75 South Broadway-Suite 340

White Plains, NY 10601(914) 683-1010

www.workforcehousingcoalition.org

Friday,  June  26,  2015Mr.  Thomas  HeaslipChairmanTown  of  Harrison  Planning  Board1  Heineman  PlaceHarrison,  NY    10528

Re:    Referral  File  No.  HAR    15-­‐001B—The  Residences  at  Corporate  Park  Drive

Dear    Mr.  Heaslip:

Thank  you  for  listening  to  our  concerns  at  the  public  hearing  for  the  DEIS  for  The  Residences  at  Corporate  Park  Drive.  

You  correctly  said  that  many  of  our  concerns  about  affordable  housing  policy  should  be  addressed  to  the  Town  Board.    You  said  that  you  could  only  “recommend,”  and  I  said,  “Then  recommend.”    

There  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  Planning  Board  from  requiring  consideration  of  the  impact  of  the  project  on  the  need  for  affordable  housing  in  the  Draft  Environmental  Impact  Statement,  as  we  requested  on  January  21  at  the  scoping  session.        It  is  just  as  important  as  the  number  of  school  children  generated,  or  the  trafTic.        

Given  the  crisis  of  affordability  in  Harrison  and  Westchester  County,  one  could  argue  that  it’s  even  more  important.    And  given  the  U.S.  Supreme  Court’s  decision  yesterday  afTirming  consideration  of  disparate  impact  under  the  Fair  Housing  Act,  one  could  argue  that  the  town  MUST  consider  whether  the  failure  to  include  affordable  housing  has  a  disparate  impact  on  protected  classes.        Westchester  County  HUD  Monitor  James  Johnson  has  cited  zoning  in  the  Town  of  Harrison  as  discriminatory  and  in  violation  of  the  Fair  Housing  Act  (Huntington  standards)  and  Berenson  Line  of  Cases.    With  this  record,  does  the  developer  and  the  Planning  Board  really  want  to  risk  litigation  for  failing  to  include  consideration  of  affordable  housing  in  the  DEIS?  

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In  order  to  help  you  and  the  board  understand  the  need  for  consideration  of  the  impact  of  the  project  on  affordable  housing  need,  I  provide  the  attached  demographic  data.

Summary  of  Attached  Maps

First  of  all,  there  has  been  a  dramatic  rise  in  cost  burdens  for  Harrison  residents,  both  homeowners  and  renters.    In  2000,  31.6%  of  homeowners  were  paying  more  than  30%  of  their  income  for  housing.    By  2013,  that  number  had  risen  to  42.3%.    The  percent  of  severely  cost-­‐burdened  homeowners,  meaning  families  paying  more  than  50%  of  their  income  for  housing,  rose  from  16.2%  in  2000  to  25.6%  in  2013.

Renters  have  also  felt  the  housing  pinch.    In  2000,  36%  of  renters  were  cost-­‐burdened  compared  to  51%  in  2013.        Looking  at  the  percentage  of  renters  with  severe  cost  burdens,  paying  over  50%  of  their  income  for  housing,    that  number  was  15.4%  in  2000,  and  almost  doubled  in  percentage  terms  to  27%,  in  2013.    

These  are  devastating  statistics  for  the  quality  of  life  of  Harrison’s  residents  and  unsustainable.  ReTlecting  the  strain,  Harrison  is  facing  an  exodus  of  young  adults.    The  over  all  percentage  loss  of  25-­‐34  year  olds  is  about  12%  since  the  2000  census  but  it’s  much  higher  in  the  richest  zip  codes  like  10577,  where  Purchase  lost  over  half  of  this  population  cohort  since  2000.

The  population  of  35-­‐44  year  olds  has  also  declined,  with  a  loss  of  17%  over  all,  and  56%  in  the  10577  zip  code.    

If  you  look  at  a  website  maintained  by  the  Department  of  Transportation  and  HUD,  combining  the  cost  of  housing  and  transportation,  you  see  just  how  unaffordable  Harrison  is  for  the  typical  working  individual  in  the  region  making  about  $33,000  per  year.    Harrison’s  average  combined  housing  and  transportation  costs  would  take  90%  of  their  salary.

But  the  town  has  maintained  its  lack  of  diversity.    Harrison  continues  to  have  a  diversity  index  of  only  33  versus  61  for  Westchester  County  as  a  whole.    Harrison’s  African  American  population  is  just  over  2%.

Business  vacancies  in  Harrison  as  a  whole  reached  18.2%  in  the  Tirst  quarter  of  2015  and  21%  in  the  10577  zip  code.    

All  of  this  data  argue  for  growth  that  will  swell  tax  revenues  and  restore  economic  vitality  in  the  tax  cap  era.    But  growth  this  time  should  at  least  

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consider  the  approximately  42%  of  the  Westchester  County  population  earning  under  80%  of  the  Area  Median  Income  (about  $85,000  for  a  family  of  four)  that  would  be  eligible  for  affordable  housing.    To  ignore  this  population  would  be  unethical  and  illegal.

I  hope  this  snapshot  using  U.S.  Census  data  gives  you  enough  ammunition  to  recommend  that  the  effect  of  the  project  on  the  affordability  crisis  in  the  town  of  Harrison  represents  an  impact  that  should  be  included  in  the  DEIS.    

Sincerely,

Alexander  H.  RobertsWestchester  Workforce  Housing  Coalition

c.c.  Rosemarie  Cusumano

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