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Guest attorney tells Orange County task force zoning, infrastructure limit housing supply
Summary
At a June 26 Housing Task Force meeting, attorney John Capello said local zoning, infrastructure gaps and NIMBY opposition constrain housing in Orange County and urged updating a 2004 tri‑county housing study and using county incentives or conditions to steer development.
John Capello, an attorney with J and G Law Firm in Walden, told the Orange County Housing Task Force on June 26 that local zoning and infrastructure shortfalls are major factors limiting housing supply and affordability in the county.
Capello, who said he has practiced land‑use law for more than 35 years and grew up in affordable housing in Niagara Falls, told the task force that “homes are now an economic investment” and that local policy choices — including low densities, deductions from density for slopes and wetlands, and opposition at public hearings — have made it harder to build middle‑income and workforce housing in communities across the Hudson Valley.
The presentation focused on several recurring themes: the county and its municipalities need updated data on housing need; municipal zoning often excludes multi‑family and manufactured housing; infrastructure (water and sewer) is missing in areas where development…
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