The Easy Stuff - Editorial Board

The two biggest obstacles to providing affordable housing on the South Fork are cost and public opposition. But there are some affordable housing opportunities that don’t require taxpayer money and meet only mild resistance. The Village of North Haven has identified one such opportunity and is poised to pick this low-hanging fruit.

The Village Board is considering “family” accessory housing, a plan that would enable homeowners to build accessory dwelling units specifically for relatives and live-in nurses and home health aides. The units could be either attached to a main house or located in a garage, pool house or other detached structure.

North Haven Village Trustee Claas Abraham reported that the idea for the legislation came when a resident recently visited Village Hall to ask if it would be legal for her to create a separate living space for her mother. No legal mechanism existed for her to do so, but Abraham, with the backing of Mayor Chris Fiore, wisely concluded that there should be.

The plan calls for no changes to lot coverage, height limits and parking requirements. It also includes assurances that homeowners could not turn the units into short-term rentals — making this a plan that no reasonable person could get up in arms about.

There is a need for larger affordable housing projects and — gasp! — density spread among South Fork communities to resolve the East End’s housing crisis, and those projects will come in time. But there are things that are within reach right now, like North Haven’s plan, that can immediately begin to chip away at the problem.

Other villages, and the towns, should follow North Haven’s model and brainstorm other widely palatable solutions that will be easy to get over the finish line in the short term.

https://www.27east.com/southampton-press/the-easy-stuff-2163712/