AMSTERDAM -- City officials are seeking to have Amsterdam designated as a pro-housing community to access state funding streams in the future.
"The availability of funding is always the prime incentive to do any of these sorts of programs. The governor's asked everybody in the state to do this, so, you know, we figured we'd do our part," said Daniel Gray, Amsterdam's director of community and economic development.
As part of the state budget for this fiscal year, state Gov. Kathy Hochul secured an agreement requiring villages, towns and cities to become certified pro-housing communities to be eligible for up to $650 million in state funding.
A total of 253 communities across the state have been certified and 426 have submitted letters of intent seeking designations as of December.
In Montgomery County, the village of Canajoharie, Fort Plain and St. Johnsville are certified pro-housing communities. Fonda and Platine Bridge are seeking designations.
Although funding for next fiscal year is uncertain, Gray said the city wants to be prepared to access any available opportunities moving forward.
"I think it's going to provide tremendous benefits to our efforts to expand the amount of housing in our city by taking advantage of opportunities this program will make available to us," Mayor Michael Cinquanti said.
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The Common Council unanimously passed a resolution adopting the pro-housing community pledge in December. It promotes the creation of new housing of all kinds to provide access and choice for residents at all income levels.
"The basis is that we're going to support the creation of housing and affordable housing within our community," Gray said. "There's a serious need of safe, affordable housing in the city."
As part of the measure, the city committed to streamlining the permitting processes for housing projects, adopting policies that promote fair housing, incorporating regional housing needs into planning decisions, increasing development capacity for residential uses and enacting policies encouraging a broad range of housing development.
However, Gray said the city doesn't actually need to make any changes at this stage, as existing policies and zoning regulations already align with the pro-housing community program.
Both Cinquanti and Gray acknowledged the stigma surrounding affordable housing projects, as well as the real concerns from residents when developments are proposed in their neighborhoods.
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"There's a lot of misunderstanding and misconceptions about affordable housing projects," Gray said. "It is a balancing act, ensuring that you provide housing options while also keeping a neighborhood's integrity together."
Officials said zoning regulations govern where projects are allowed and provide rules for their development.
Still, Cinquanti said it's essential for the city to work closely with developers to ensure neighbors are informed of prospective plans and any potential concerns are addressed to prevent negative impacts to neighborhoods before projects are able to proceed.
Appropriate site selection is another vital step to ensure projects fit within neighborhoods and are the best use of particular properties.
"It's got to be a good match," Cinquanti said. "I'm a housing advocate and a blight remediation advocate. But what I don't want to do is put these projects in places where there's other opportunities that are better."
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Promoting the creation of new homes and dwelling units of all kinds to house individuals and families at all income levels and getting deteriorating homes into the hands of owners capable of bringing them up to code to make them livable once more has been a major focus for the city in recent years.
The need for properly maintained rental units in the city has grown as the number of renter occupied units grew from 3,876 in 2000 to 4,087 in 2020. Owner occupied homes dropped from 4,107 in 2000 to 3,492 in 2020, according to housing data from the governor's office.
At the same time, median monthly rents in Amsterdam have risen from $680 in 2010 to $781 in 2020. The share of city residents burdened by spending over 30% of their monthly income on rent and utilities has grown from 44% in 2010 to 54.8% in 2020.
"Amsterdam needs affordable housing. There's no question about it," Cinquanti said. "This is a really important step, an important relationship, that will help us accomplish that."
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