Long Island is a poster child for New York’s housing problem. At its heart is a bad bargain: The state has bestowed it with an extensive commuter rail network, yet localities cling to single-family zoning.
A 2023 analysis found an astonishing 89 percent of the buildable, residential land in Nassau and Suffolk counties was zoned for single-family. Another 8.5 percent allowed two-family homes. Just 3.6 percent was zoned for multifamily, meaning three or more units.
Making matters worse, Long Island has more than 1,200 zoning districts, and multifamily projects often require a tax break from a politicized IDA to pencil out. It takes a Ph.D. to build apartments there.
Progress is happening — incrementally, because Long Island politicians helped defeat statewide zoning reform in 2023. In April, for instance, Huntington’s town board approved Bethpage developer Steel Equities’ plan for 110 condominium units and 290 apartments on 17 acres of a light-industrial area, Newsday reported.
The project, which includes retail, a clubhouse and a pool, was made possible by the Melville Town Center Overlay District, which was created in December 2024. Melville’s goal: a walkable downtown.
Town Supervisor Ed Smyth called the project “the model of what development should be in Melville,” according to Newsday. Now he just needs a few more like it, as do all Long Island localities with LIRR stations.
Progressive politics never limits development on Long Island the way it does in New York City, where elected officials demand heavy doses of money-losing affordable housing.
On Long Island, it’s traditional conservatism that holds housing back: People cling to large-lot, single-family zoning, and resist even modest reforms, such as making it easy to add an accessory dwelling unit.
Consider Islip, which has five Long Island Rail Road stations. To build a single ADU, a homeowner must provide four off-street parking spaces. The parking would take up more space than the dwelling itself!
It gets worse: If you want to live in your ADU and rent out your house to a family, you can’t. An ADU owner in Islip must use the main house as a primary residence. So much for property rights.
As if that weren’t enough, Islip has made it illegal to put an ADU in a detached structure, like a garage, or to build one larger than 800 square feet.
Did I mention that ADU applicants must also endure a public hearing? Not just to get a permit approved, but every time they need to renew it. “Sorry, Grandma, you have to move out — our permit expired!”
Islip put up a fig leaf a couple of years ago, offering state grants of up to $125,000 to create an ADU — without changing the rules that make it virtually impossible to do so.
Some towns are making efforts to provide affordable housing. On the North Fork, Southold Town just scrapped a comprehensive zoning reform after five years to start from scratch.
Southold officials realized that no amount of tweaking their initial proposal would make a dent in their affordability problem, which has made it difficult for local businesses to hire staff. Wage workers just cannot afford to live in the area, where half of the residences are second homes.
But don’t hold your breath for a solution. Southold planners say the rezoning’s public process will have 10 phases and take three to five years.
Read more
Politics
New York
Hochul’s housing plan: Reality check for propagandists
Politics
New York
Death of a housing plan: Who’s to blame?
Development
Tri-State
Suffolk County cuts JLL out of Midway Crossing project