Board directs committee to explore standalone affordable‑housing law after county presentation

Boardmembers described new data presented at a recent county housing event that showed steep home‑price increases and falling inventory. A town board member summarized the county numbers during the meeting: “the median home sales price since '9 since 2018 has increased 99%,” and noted available homes for sale fell from 648 in 2018 to 304 now. The board discussed rental scarcity and median incomes, and concluded existing zoning limits are constraining affordable housing options.

The Zoning Review Committee (ZRC) has been examining zoning changes and asked the town board to consider directing the committee to draft a standalone local law to encourage affordable housing. A motion to direct the CRC to investigate a standalone law that would encourage affordable housing was made and seconded; the motion carried. Boardmembers discussed possible tools, including lot‑size adjustments and cluster housing approaches that could lower costs for developers such as Habitat for Humanity’s panelized construction approach.

Boardmembers noted funding and design challenges and said further work by the ZRC would be needed to draft zoning language for review. The town will receive the data package from the county presenter and pass it to board members for study; the ZRC will report back with options.