Does Harrison Need Mandated Affordable Housing?

Following a far-reaching discrimination lawsuit, Westchester County this month agreed to spend over $50 million to create 750 low-income housing options throughout the county over the next seven years.

While the exact locations of these developments has not been determined, eligible towns in our immediate area include Harrison, Rye, Mamaroneck, Bronxville, Scarsdale, Larchmont and Eastchester.

Reviewing the list, Harrison appears one of the least obvious of the over twenty communities named as potential sites for the mandated low-income housing.

Many of the communities named have minimum lot sizes and large tax bases that have made residency impossible for those with low to median incomes. Harrison's varying lot sizes, which include smaller lots and lower resulting real estate taxes, are in direct opposition to this.

Equally importantly, the town's existing zoning allows for a large number of two-family homes, which has created a community where high and low income residency has been encouraged.

This is backed by statistical evidence.

Under the agreement the large majority of these mandated low-income homes must be situated in communities in which Hispanic residents make up less than 7 percent of the population and black residents less than 3 percent. School enrollments in the Harrison School District from 2010 indicate that we already exceed these requirements.

Additionally, Harrison has a substantive section 8 – that is low-income - resident base already. In fact, as a result of  the two-family homes, as opposed to high-density housing developments, the town has been more successful than most in integrating low and high income housing across multiple neighborhoods and housing areas.

Mandated affordable housing in Harrison would be superfluous. Even worse, it would provide a slap in the face to a community where the basic tenets of the legislation are already being successfully enacted.

This is an important and timely consideration, as a federally appointed monitor is currently considering implementation options, according to Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh.

"It is my understanding that the federal monitor on the case has rejected two options already and is currently considering a third option for implementing the settlement, " Walsh said, adding that Harrison has always been a community based on integration. She also said that the current population statistics would seem to make mandated affordable housing unnecessary.

"There is no indication that Harrison is to be one of the sites. In fact, minority populations are scattered throughout Harrison and are well represented compared to the rest of the county. We are an integrated community and there is no reason Harrison should be targeted for mandated housing regulation."