Millbrook explores the issue of affordable housing

MILLBROOK — As the town of Washington works to update its comprehensive plan, affordable housing is one of the major subjects that is being addressed. At the Board of Trustees meeting for the village of Millbrook on Tuesday, May 31, there was discussion about which aspects of the comprehensive plan will be updated, and housing is in the mix.“It appears to be an important topic, one that we feel very close to and needs to be addressed, and that’s why it has come to the floor,” said Stan Morse, deputy mayor.“The village is simply 31 percent of the town. It’s a major component of the town population center, business center and so on,” said Morse. “The town’s going to address it, then the village is going to address it as well.”Unfortunately, when the subject of affordable housing is brought before the public, unfamiliarity with the language can sometimes hinder the discussion. “That is were the crux of the problem comes. We have to get away from the emotionally laden term of affordable housing, which for whatever reason has become excessively emotional in nature,” said Morse.Morse argued that the majority of the argument against affordable housing is anecdotally based, with no actual data to back it up. Currently there is a fair housing survey that has been distributed by Dutchess County and the city of Poughkeepsie community development programs to grasp a better understanding of issues of fair housing. The survey is anonymous and can be completed online. The information will be used for Dutchess County’s and the city of Poughkeepsie’s Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice Report, which is a required report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).“So much of the argument has been emotionally based, anecdotally based, none on information, no data has been presented, that’s why I was so delighted to find the American survey available,” said Morse. “I want to turn that around and say, let the data tell the story. Because that’s what you should be doing in any efforts of this nature.”Morse said he believes that misconceptions of what affordable housing is come from a lack of information. He also blames negative depictions of affordable housing presented in the press. “You get into all sorts of prejudicial arguments and social differences between people,” said Morse. “All of what I would refer to as the nonsense of it. I think it’s been misconstrued as to what it is and what it should be.”Though affordable housing triggers discussions of social issues, by definition, according to the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development, everyone strives to have affordable housing because it equates to 30 percent of one’s salary.If 30 percent of an individual’s salary goes to their residence, that qualifies as affordable housing; if more than 30 percent goes to one’s housing, then the buyer has “over-priced housing,” according to Morse. The 30 percent rule is not based on a law, but rather is a guildline to understand the range of affordable housing. Dutchess County planning suggested changing use of the term “affordable housing” to “moderately priced housing” (MPH).“I asked them to define it and the definition is, let’s say relative to the term affordable housing, affordable housing is 30 percent of your income. Moderately priced housing is something else,” said Morse. In 1985, after the master plan was done, in the village 41 percent of total residences were rentals; now that number is higher than 50 percent, according to the deputy mayor.With half of the residences of Millbrook being rentals, it’s clear that affordable housing is an important topic deserving of discussion. The Village Board made clear that affordable housing would be a part of the updated comprehensive plan.