The Woodstock Housing Committee hopes a proposed development moratorium designed to buy time to tackle a housing crisis will go beyond a pause on short-term housing, hotels and motels and address other growth that keeps affordability beyond reach and destroys neighborhoods.
The committee presented its concerns at a Town Board public hearing June 8 at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center to hear comments on a nine-month moratorium effectively banning development of new bed-and-breakfasts, motels, hotels, sort-term rentals and all other forms of transient housing. It would also prohibit conversion of residential structures to non-residential use and the demolition of existing housing stock.
The above uses reduce the long-term housing availability and drive up rents and real estate prices.
The moratorium will not apply to any construction or building permits issued prior to the enactment.
But the Housing Committee, which initially called for the moratorium, wants the language to be clearer.
Its recommendations don’t stop at trying to reduce the influx of short-term housing. Its multi-pronged approach includes putting a stop on all subdivisions of high-end single-family homes on large parcels.
“We’re not thinking about smart growth,” said committee member Urana Kinlen, who explained a proliferation of single-family homes reduces the availability of housing that is accessible to people and families whose income is below the median level. She noted such development also contributes to sprawl and loss of habitat.
Instead, multi-family homes can be made to look like traditional single-family homes and conform with the architecture of the area, she noted.
“The draft moratorium language, by focusing so narrowly and almost exclusively on short-term rentals and conversion of residential to commercial use, falls far short of what is needed at this time to address current development pressures and get the land-use tools in place envisioned in the Comp Plan,” the committee said in a summary of its recommendations, which have been sent to the Town Board and were presented at the public hearing.
The committee recommends exceptions be made for construction of single family homes that sell at or below Ulster County’s 2021 median price or would be accessible to low- or middle-income residents.
It also recommends repairs and renovations be exempt, as well as renovations to commercial properties where there is no change in use.
The committee further suggests accessory dwelling units, such as attached apartments or converted garages, where the owner lives on premises, be allowed if rented at or below the county median rental and available to low- or middle-income renters.
Permits should be allowed for any projects on town-owned land if it meets criteria set forth in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan.
The nine-month pause will allow the Housing Committee, Zoning Revision Committee and Complete Streets Committee to come up with changes in regulations to promote more long-term housing.
The Housing Committee suggests incentives for developers, such as time-saving fast-tracking or projects that include multi-family homes or smaller single-family homes and density bonuses to encourage developers to build multi-family housing. It also recommends updating the zoning to streamline approval process and build in efficiencies to a code that hasn’t had a major revision since the 1980s.
“We need to tell developers you’re not going to go bankrupt but you need to shift your practices,” said Kinlen, who added the goal is to work toward housing that all Woodstockers can afford.
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