HAMPTONS TOWN ACCUSED OF ILLEGALLY BLOCKING AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLAN
.
This summer, the Town of Southampton, an affluent enclave on the eastern end of Long Island, rejected a proposal to build a 50-unit affordable housing development for veterans and people with mental illness on a vacant five-acre plot.
The decision was perhaps unsurprising in the Hamptons, where the wealthy vacation in beachside mansions while some of the workers who maintain their yards and pools sleep outside in encampments because they can’t afford to live anywhere else.
But on Wednesday the nonprofit developer behind the proposal sued Southampton in federal court, asserting that the town discriminated against people with mental illness by rejecting the development, in violation of federal housing laws.
“People deserve to live in numerous different communities, and it is our mission to advocate for them and to develop the housing that they need,” said Ralph Fasano, the executive director of the nonprofit, called Concern.
James Burke, town attorney for Southampton, said the town had recognized the need for affordable housing. But he added that the proposal was rejected because of questions about sewage and wastewater disposal and because the development could make traffic worse on a congested county road.
He said the town would be willing to “explore further options and to see if an appropriate solution can be reached,” which might include a settlement.
The conflict over the development, known as Liberty Gardens, is a case study of how difficult it can be to build apartments in New York City’s suburbs. In some situations, it can take decades and several court fights to get approval.
Towns and villages on Long Island — as well as in Westchester County north of New York City — are building housing at some of the slowest rates in the nation. That, in turn, contributes to a regional housing shortage that is a major reason it is so expensive to live in the New York City area.
The issue became a flashpoint in New York State when Gov. Kathy Hochul unsuccessfully tried to pass a housing plan in 2023 that would have forced suburbs to accept more development.
Still, suburbs often recognize the need for more housing.
In 2017, Southampton asked Concern to look into developing an affordable housing project on the lot behind Southampton Full Gospel Church on County Road 39, according to the lawsuit. And in a recent housing plan, the town wrote that without more affordable housing, it would “become increasingly difficult for the town to attract and retain a work force and continue to grow a vibrant and sustainable local economy.”
In 2022, Southampton residents voted to approve a half percent tax on real estate transfers that is being used to finance affordable housing projects in the town.
The Liberty Gardens project was ostensibly another attempt to deal with those problems. The development would have been built on a wooded lot behind the church. It would have been financed by both federal and state subsidies that would have allowed it to charge less than roughly $300 a month for 25 one-bedroom apartments and between $1,200 and $1,900 for the remaining one- and two-bedroom homes. Half the units would have been for veterans and people with serious mental illness, and the rest for others with low incomes.
Negotiations between the town and Concern continued for seven years as the developer worked on environmental studies and attended several tense public meetings. During those meetings, many residents said they were worried about more density, fearing that increasing the local population might strain the police or emergency medical workers, who were already stretched thin.
Some residents described the prospective tenants as “a compromised population” and said the project would “import a large population of people who may not be able to work,” according to the lawsuit.
The project became a major issue during local elections in November 2023. One town board member, Cyndi McNamara, emerged as a leading opponent of the project during her failed campaign for town supervisor, the town’s chief administrative position.
At a hearing about the project in 2023, Ms. McNamara said that the project might bring veterans with a “discharge that is other than honorably discharged,” according to the lawsuit.
Ms. McNamara did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In June, the Town Board voted 4 to 1 to reject the proposal, saying in the findings statement of an environmental review that the project had “good intentions” but a location that was “problematic and therefore unsuitable” for more density.
“It’s a good idea, but it’s in the wrong place,” William Pell, a councilman on the Town Board, said at the time, according to Newsday.
The lawsuit contrasts the rejection of the Liberty Gardens proposal with the approval of a nearby apartment complex that had units that were affordable for middle-income people.
“The board’s dissimilar treatment of the Liberty Gardens application was not based on legitimate, environmental considerations, but on the fact that Liberty Gardens would serve people with mental disabilities and veterans,” the lawsuit states.
Today, the vacant lot hosts some homeless encampments.
