Board considers waiving application fees for affordable housing projects

By JEFF MORRIS 

The Bedford Town Board on Feb. 17 approved waiving building, planning and zoning application fees for three specific affordable housing projects, but said any wider policy will need further consideration.

At its previous meeting, the board was asked to consider a request by Blue Mountain Housing Corporation to approve a waiver of standard permit application fees for any all-affordable building that is either owned by Blue Mountain or sold to a developer to facilitate construction or refurbishment of affordable housing.

That request was met with questions from board members. Stephanie McCaine questioned whether fees should be waived completely when there are expenses associated with applications and approvals, and Bobbi Bittker volunteered to look into what other towns are doing rather than try to come up with some arbitrary amount. That resulted in the matter being tabled.

On Feb. 17, the board resumed consideration of the request. Bittker said she found that just a flat waiver policy is not a widespread practice in the county.

In New Rochelle and White Plains, for example, which she noted are cities, the waiver program is funded by an affordable housing fund, which is paid for by the in-lieu-of fees paid by developers who do not want to provide affordable housing. Bittker said that meant the fees are covered by a source other than the municipality.

Bittker pointed out that Bedford already has an in-lieu-of-fee policy, with the proceeds going directly to Blue Mountain, though it has not been used in quite some time. She also found that town code gives the planning board the discretion to give a fee reduction or waiver if a plan includes 20% or more affordable housing, which she said should mean that 100% affordable projects get a waiver.

The request from Blue Mountain specified that the waiver would apply only to 100% affordable housing projects that are sponsored by Blue Mountain. There are three projects in which it is currently involved. One is an extensive renovation of the Doyle House, a four-unit low-income building located at 5-7 Katonah Avenue. Blue Mountain has owned and operated this project since 1994, and is applying for a grant from New York state and hoping to receive $800,000 to completely renovate the units. An additional $100,000, provided by ARPA funds from the town, is earmarked for soft costs as well as the costs associated with moving existing tenants to alternate locations during the renovations.

A second project is Bedford South, four townhomes planned for 12 McLain St., which is in the process of getting financing for construction.

The third project is Valley Road Apartments, which Blue Mountain purchased in 2024. The 12-unit project is fully occupied and in good condition but the four buildings were built in 1970. Blue Mountain is working with Bedford 2030 and NYSERDA to explore funding for renovations and energy upgrades, with numerous improvements planned.

In her request, Julie Stern, Blue Mountain’s board chair, noted that renovation, construction and operating budgets for these projects are very tight, margins are thin, and all dollars matter. She said the Building Department sets permit fees based on a scale of $15 per every $1,000 of construction.

“Waiving these fees would provide significant relief, allowing us to cover other necessary expenses,” she said.

Stern, who appeared at the meeting, said right now they are focused on those three projects and asked that those three be granted the waivers, though she thought a blanket policy for affordable housing would be good.

“Maybe it could be limited to just Blue Mountain,” she said. “You guys have the discretion to do whatever you feel is best. I don’t know that a lot of 100% affordable not-for-profit-sponsored affordable developments are coming down the pike in Bedford.”

She said there are some other parties, such as A-HOME, Fellowship Hall and Antioch, that would be worthy of consideration.

Supervisor Ellen Calves made a motion to approve the waiver for the three Blue Mountain projects, saying they might want to consider adding it to the law in the future. McCaine recalled that she was the one who raised objections to a 100% waiver initially, but saw nothing wrong with moving forward with this. Bittker said moving ahead with it as a policy would be different than approving this recommendation, “although right now we’re approving a recommendation for something that we don’t actually have a dollar amount for, so that’s the only thing that’s giving me a little bit of pause.”

She said it would be more fiscally responsible to approve something for which they had an actual dollar amount.

Bittker said she would like to approve it pending the dollar amount, but neither Calves nor Stern could provide an estimate of what those amounts would be.

“I appreciate that perspective on fiscal responsibility,” said McCaine. “On the other hand, I don’t know that knowing that is going to change what it is we’re trying to accomplish right now.” She agreed that if they want to implement a wider policy going forward, they should think about budgets and consider limits, but said they also know that Blue Mountain “doesn’t have a ton of money.” 

Bittker said she just wanted a ballpark idea of the cost; Stern provided details about fees already paid for the projects, which supported an estimate given by Calves of under $50,000. Board member Tom Catoliato offered to work with Bittker on developing a wider policy moving forward.

The board voted to approve the motion waiving fees for the three projects.