The Village of New Paltz is participating in the second round of the Plus One ADU Program, which provides funds to assist low-moderate income property owners in Ulster County with grants of up to $125,000 to construct or rehab existing code-compliant Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). The program is a partnership with the Ulster County Planning Department (UCPD) and the Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO).
During a presentation at village hall on Wednesday, September 18, Kai Lord-Farmer, a senior planner with the UCPD, put the program into perspective by first detailing some of the housing issues facing local residents.
“Essentially we are in a housing crisis, not just in Ulster County but the Hudson Valley in general,” said Lord-Farmer.
According to the presentation, the average rent for one and two-bedroom apartments have increased by approximately 40 percent over the past decade while wages have stagnated or declined. Even more worrying is the steep rise in average housing sale prices over just a four-year period, from around $245,000 in 2019 to $415,000 in the third quarter of 2023. The increases have led to around 12 percent of homeowners and 29 percent of renters in the county spending more than half of their monthly income on housing costs.
Adding to the crisis, according to the presentation, is a “mismatch between the housing needed and the housing built,” primarily with larger homes being built to serve fewer residents.
“In 1950, the average square footage of a new single family home was 983 square feet,” said Lord-Farmer. “In 2017, it was 2,500 or so square feet. The number of people in 1915 per household was 3.8 people living in 900 square feet and then in 2017, households dropped at 2.5 people and our houses have gotten a lot bigger. So we’re housing less people in more space.”
An ADU can be built from around 300 square feet up to 1,000 square feet, said Lord-Farmer.
“We think of it’s like not a lot of space, but that’s all the homes some of us maybe grew up in where our parents grew up in,” he said.
In the first round of the Plus One ADU Program, 14 houses were awarded a piece of available grant funding. For Round 2, Ulster county and RUPCO have received $5 million to award applicants interested in building or upgrading an ADU. The grant is expected to cover 40 units, and there is the potential for future funding from the state.
An ADU is any form of additional unit on a residential property, either attached, like a basement apartment, or detached, like a converted garage or cottage.
In the presentation, the benefits of an ADU were identified as helping meet housing demands, offering homeowners potential supplemental income and increasing their home value, environmental benefits like a lower carbon footprint and options for energy-efficient prefabricated units, and community benefits such as adding foot traffic to neighborhoods and preventing displacement of residents.
Interested applicants must meet the low and moderate-income threshold of earning 100 percent or less of the county’s AMI (area median income) of between $82,066 and $117,200, depending upon the number of people in a household. Applicants can receive up to $125,000 (minus around $13,000 in administrative and management fees) in exchange for agreeing to rent the apartment at an affordable rate for ten years, or occupying it with a family member. ADUs built through the program cannot be used as a short-term rental.
Grant selection scoring factors include a preference for shovel-ready projects, an increase in affordability to 60 percent AMI for renters, access to an existing sewer district, and locations within 1/4 mile of public transit. Once a grantee is selected they enter into a funding agreement with RUPCO. Grantees will then have between 60 and 90 days to submit their first building or planning permit.
“We want, and we will select, applicants who are very motivated to move the process forward,” said Lord-Farmer. “RUPCO can help, but they cannot do everything, especially for 40 units. And so self-starters, motivated individuals are prioritized.”
The application period opened on Tuesday, September 17 and will close on Monday, November 18. Shovel-ready projects are asked to submit within the priority application window, which closes on Monday, October 14.
The Village of New Paltz joined the City of Kingston, the towns of Woodstock, Saugerties, Rosendale, Lloyd and Ulster; and the Village of Ellenville as participating municipalities.
For more information on the Plus One ADU Program, visit: https://rupco.org/plusone/.
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