RVC mayor to fight Hochul's zoning plan

It's a huge mistake. We will not let that happen.”

Mayor Francis Murray

Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray said at a meeting Monday night that he planned to fight Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recently unveiled plans to centralize zoning, which, Murray said, would take authority away from municipalities.

Murray, the new president of the New York State Conference of Mayors, will meet with Hochul, and State Senate and Assembly leaders, next week to voice his concerns about the governor’s zoning proposal for this year’s state budget, which, he said, he shares with many other mayors around the state.

“Nassau County village officials and Suffolk County village officials — we are going to fight her on it,” Murray said. “She wants to take zoning away from municipalities. It’s a huge mistake. We will not let that happen. And I believe she will back off it.”

In her State of the State address on Jan. 5, Hochul proposed the elimination of single-family zoning law and directing municipalities to allow a minimum of one accessory dwelling unit on owner-occupied lots in residential zones. The plan, she said, would encourage the construction of apartments and limit local governments’ ability to stop them.

“In the wake of the pandemic, it’s crucial that we tackle the housing crisis and make New York a more affordable place for all,” Hochul said in her speech. “These bold steps are a major step forward in transforming our housing market, protecting affordability and increasing the housing supply.”

According to Hochul, the state would invest $25 billion to create and preserve 100,000 affordable homes over the course of five years. As part of the sweeping changes, she would also propose legislation to promote multifamily construction in zones drawn by municipalities around rail transit stops within commuting distance of New York City.

This transit-oriented development, as it has been called, was the topic of a Rockville Centre village meeting last October at the Sandel Senior Center. There the mayor and trustees presented a preliminary plan for multi-family, transit-oriented development, and many residents — along with village Trustee Michael Sepe — voiced their opposition, citing fears of overdevelopment and changes in the character of the village.

Sepe backed Murray’s message to Hochul on Monday, raising concerns about Hochul’s method of passing zoning changes that would affect roughly 600 municipalities in the state. “If approved, debate is circumvented, publicity is circumvented, and it essentially becomes law by virtue of the budget process, as opposed to the standard legislative process,” Sepe said.

Sepe, head of a law firm on Front Street, noted what the governor’s proposal would mean for the village. The zoning changes would essentially end single-family housing in Rockville Centre and other regions, he said, with residents empowered to rent parts of their homes or accessory structures like garages. In a Jan. 5 statement on the ny.gov website, Hochul said the policy would allow municipalities to set size requirements and safety standards for accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.

“To the credit of the organization that our mayor is now the president of, NYCOM, reaction was fierce from both sides of the political aisle,” Sepe said. “Because, putting aside your views on what proper housing should be, to govern by executive diktat and essentially wipe out the developed zoning codes of 600 different communities … with the stroke of a pen generated a reaction that I, personally, was very proud of seeing.”