The First Step

Persistence is a virtue, and it’s impossible to foresee the way political tumblers will fall into place and suddenly unlock. That’s an oversimplification — it’s possible that Andrew Cuomo might have been swayed by the changes State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. baked into the latest version of his Community Housing Fund legislation, which allows the East End towns to create a transfer tax patterned on the Community Preservation Fund to generate revenue for affordable housing. But his rapid demise, and the arrival of Governor Kathy Hochul, meant Mr. Thiele’s persistence paid off last week when the legislation was finally signed into law.

When it comes to “fixing” a major problem — the disappearance of affordable dwellings in Southampton and East Hampton towns, and even in communities a short commute away — this is a solid first step. As with so many persistent issues, the first stumbling block is always money. Mr. Thiele’s legislation allows the five East End towns to add a 0.5 percent tax on most real estate transfers, with low-end sales mostly excluded, to open a steady pipeline of cash to put toward solutions.

That will mean millions of dollars a year, reliably, for each of the towns that chooses to take advantage. It’s an enormous seed that, once planted, will yield fruit for years — as the CPF has done, pouring $1.75 billion into land preservation over two decades on the East End (Southampton Town alone passed $1 billion in revenue recently).

But it is, essentially, only the first step. Getting this legislation through Albany was a heavy lift, and Assemblyman Thiele deserves full marks for sticking with it over the long haul. But, arguably, the next step is going to be even more challenging.

Now, town and village leaders are going to have to roll up their sleeves and get to work. It does no good to talk about how we need more affordable housing — now they actually have to figure out how to make that happen in a way that’s sustainable and beneficial for the communities they serve. Platitudes were always empty, but now they’re insulting: Don’t tell us what’s needed, tell us how you’re going to make it happen. Be specific, show your work.

Money from a Community Housing Fund can be used in a variety of ways to create affordable housing. One is to actually build some, but that’s a tricky proposition in communities where intensive development is anathema — remember, the CPF was created precisely to limit density. It’s also going to be difficult to find land that’s affordable and acceptable, especially since even modest attempts to construct affordable housing have sometimes come under heavy fire from neighbors worried about quality of life and property values and impact on resources.

But if the goal is truly to “solve” the housing riddle, and it’s accepted as an existential dilemma, building some rental units as workforce housing is going to be part of the answer. In addition to crafting ways to spend the money, town and village officials should start working now, hard, to change the public’s perception and to nip the NIMBYism at the bud.

Then there’s one more step before this success story can be written — and that’s on you, the voters.

Once the towns craft a plan for how to spend the money, they will ask the public to turn on the spigot with a vote in 2022. There’s reason to believe it will win solid support: The CPF legislation was an easy sell, as were its updates and expansions, and there isn’t a person on the East End who hasn’t felt the impact of the housing crunch, especially after the pandemic sent demand for properties soaring.

The usual arguments will be made to try to undermine the support: schools will be overrun, a new tax will weaken the real estate market, property values will plummet. Voters should examine each argument carefully and look for the holes, which are gaping. Remember that similar arguments about tax impact were aimed at the CPF — and its creation in 1998 arguably ushered in the golden years for the region.

There’s reason to be optimistic that a similar bright future lies ahead after the CHF. Instead of wringing hands and lamenting, it’s another time this community can actually take action to improve and invest in its people. It acknowledges that working families are still the beating heart of the East End and deserve the chance to live in the community they work in.

It’s taken hard work, and there’s much, much more to do before popping champagne to celebrate.

And the clock is officially ticking.