Ulster Exec Metzger backs some environmental review exceptions for some housing project – Daily Freeman

KINGSTON, N.Y. — Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger has come out in support of soem elements of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to streamline State Environmental Quality Review Act reviews for certain housing projects, which has drawn concerns from environmental groups and the Kingston Common Council.

In an op-ed submitted to media outlets on Friday, Metzger said SEQRA reform could support the housing Ulster County needs so long as some tweaks are made to Hochul’s proposal.

In her letter, Metzger said she believes Hochul’s proposal includes “common sense changes” to the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

“These include projects that are vital to public welfare (housing) or are of limited environmental impact (parks and trails), and would reduce excessive project costs while delivering the benefits to our communities sooner,” Metzger said in her letter.

Mayor Steve Noble has said in a letter to Hochul supporting the changes to SEQRA regulations that the new regulations would allow projects with up to 100 units on previously disturbed land to be listed as a “Type 2 Action” not requiring “lengthy paperwork and unnecessary steps.”

That said, Metzger called for adding limits to the exemptions surrounding the affordability of the units in a project and green and energy efficiency elements being incorporated into a project.

“The housing exemption should be modified to apply to housing in which the majority of units are affordable, in the range of 30-80% of area median income,” Metzger said.

When asked by a reporter about concerns by housing advocates and local and state officials, including Metzger, that the 80% AMI figure used to set affordability units is too high, Metzger shared the following answer in an email to the Freeman on Friday.

“I do favor them at the lower end, and do support requiring a range of affordability, including deeply affordable units at 30% AMI,” Metzger said. “The majority of units should be affordable, and should reflect the income diversity of the community.”

In August 2024, Metzger said local rents are not affordable and more housing below 80% AMI needs to be added as area median incomes have continued to skyrocket since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by an influx of high-income earners from New York City.

Metzger also called on exempted projects to be required to “meet the state Division Homes and Community Renewal Sustainability Guidelines or other baseline standards aligned with New York’s Climate Act to ensure they deliver needed climate and energy-savings benefits.”

“Properly structured, the SEQRA exemption would incentivize the kind of housing we most need, at a time when housing and energy costs are unaffordable to our residents,” she added.

When asked by the Freeman about a cap on the number of units allowed for an exempted project, which has drawn concerns from the Kingston Common Council and environmental groups alike about the proposed 100-unit cap, Metzger said she believes it should be “entirely dependent on the project and where it’s located.”

“That decision is also going to be informed by local zoning laws and other permitting requirements,” Metzger said.

Metzger said she has extensive experience dealing with SEQRA reviews when she served as Chair of the Town of Rosendale Environmental Commission and on Rosendale’s Zoning Code Review Committee to protect environmentally sensitive resources.

“I am a big believer in the value of the SEQRA. But this does not mean the law is perfect,” she said.

Metzger expressed support for the exemption to apply to mixed-use projects, which has drawn concerns from the Common Council and environmental groups who have called for limits on what types of additional uses would be exempted in proposed mixed-use projects.

“The housing exemption allows for mixed use, which is appropriate to our downtown areas, and has guardrails that limit environmental impact and encourage development in the right places (including those with access to public transportation,” Metzger said. “The exemption applies only to projects on previously disturbed sites. Projects must also stay off floodplains and agricultural lands, and must be connected to existing water and sewer infrastructure — a highly limiting requirement that will deter sprawl and avoid sensitive natural areas.”

“If affordability and sustainability criteria are added to the mix of requirements, we are likely to see more of the right kind of housing — and we’ll see it sooner,” Metzger added.

Metzger’s letter to the Freeman comes just one week after most members of the Kingston Common Council penned a letter on March 27 to Hochul echoeing the concerns of environmental groups about the proposed reforms.

The council’s letter stands in stark contrast to one from Mayor Steve Noble and multiple town supervisors expressing strong support for Hochul’s plan.

The Noble letter was co-signed by Saugerties Town Supervisor Fred Costello, Esopus Town Supervisor Roscoe T. Pecora, Marbletown Town Supervisor Rich Parete, Gardiner Town Supervisor Michael Hartner, Olive Town Supervisor Jim Sofranko, and Wawarsing Town Supervisor Joseph P. Stoeckeler, along with other town and city leaders up and down the Hudson River.

The Common Council letter was signed by Common Council President Andrea Shaut, Majority Leader Michele Hirsch, D-Ward 9, Sara Pasti, D-Ward 1, Michael Tierney, D-Ward 2, Marissa Marvelli, D-Ward 3, Ben Falk, D-Ward 4, Teryl Mickens, D-Ward 5, and Ruth Katz, D-Ward 8. Not listed as signatories are Bob Dennison, D-Ward 6, and Michael Ham, D-Ward 7.

In their letter to Hochul, city lawmakers wrote that, “We respectfully urge you to work with the Legislature to refine the proposed legislation to provide clear definitions, maintain protections, ensure that development exemptions apply only to truly disturbed sites, prohibit development on contaminated sites that have not been properly remediated, and protect environmentally sensitive areas.” The lawmakers added, “With these improvements, the State can advance both housing goals and environmental protection in a balanced and durable way.”

Lawmakers said the review process remains critical for communities like Kingston, located along the Hudson River with flood-prone areas, wetlands, and former industrial lands.

Noble has argued that the current SEQRA regulations for such projects create unnecessary red tape and delays and downplayed the environmental impact of such projects.

“These are projects that, years of data have shown, rarely have significant environmental impacts, which means that we are subjecting these kinds of projects that we all know are innocuous to the same kinds of rigorous reviews that much larger, more disruptive projects have,” Noble said in his letter.

Hochul’s office said in a Jan. 13 press release announcing the proposed reforms after her State of the State Address, that a review by both New York City and the state Division of Homes and Community Renewal over the last five to 10 years of over 1,000 housing projects found that virtually none of these projects ended up having significant environmental impacts, but still faced lengthy SEQRA reviews.