Aug. 13—YOUNGSTOWN — The village is joining a growing number of state municipalities in signing on to be a Pro-Housing Community.
The village’s Board of Trustees approved the resolution to join the state program by a 4-1 vote. Kristel Stevens was the only one against it, saying she was not aware of the measure prior to Thursday’s meeting and did not want to make a quick decision on it.
Mayor Robert Reisman said the resolution shows the village is attempting to provide housing for incoming families and the village is open to new developments.
Deputy Mayor Rick Stortecky added that while resolution shows intent, the one-square-mile village does not have much land available for development.
The program started as Gov. Kathy Hochul signed Executive Order 30 in July 2023, which rewards local governments working to address the state’s housing crisis.
As part of the program, localities must achieve Pro-Housing Community certification to apply for various state grant programs. Those include the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the NY Forward Program, the Regional Council Capital Fund, and the New York Main Street program.
Two listed ways of achieving certification, for upstate communities, are by showing through permitting documentation they increased housing stock by 0.33% over the past year or by 1% over the past three years.
For localities that have not seen housing growth, they can still be certified by submitting their data and passing a pro-housing resolution. Municipalities will be notified within 90 days of submission of their approval or disapproval.
Other Niagara County municipalities that are certified or submitted letters of intent include the cities of Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, and Lockport, the Village of Wilson, and the Town of Newfane.
Statewide, 336 communities have so far submitted letters of intent and 162 have been certified. Across Western New York, 28 have so far submitted letters of intent and nine have been certified.
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