Affordable housing lacking in the area

By TOM KANE

RIVER VALLEY — There is a serious lack of affordable housing in the counties of Sullivan, Pike and Wayne and no one is doing much about it. Yet.

This was the conclusion reached by local leaders and participants in last month’s Second Forum on Economic Development in the Delaware River Corridor presented by The River Reporter.

The meeting brought together municipal officials, business people and residents of the three counties who focused on what the region must do to prepare for the growth that is expected.

The same opinion was the conclusion of a group of local builders, architects, a banker and a code enforcement officer who met several months ago at a meeting sponsored by The River Reporter.

“Housing for the high end of the salary scale—luxury housing—and the low end—county-sponsored housing—is satisfactory but not for those in the middle of the salary range,” said Narrowsburg builder Terry Tenbus on the occasion of the meeting.

Village of Monticello Housing Director David Kaufman doesn’t agree entirely with this position.

“People on the low end of the income scale don’t have adequate housing either,” Kaufman said. “But I have to agree with the fact that there is a serious lack of affordable housing for people in the middle salary range. This is having serious implications for business growth in the county.”

Kaufman said that new jobs that are expected to come to Sullivan County because of gaming and the new performing arts center will be filled by people who live outside the area.

“If workers can’t find affordable housing in the area, they’ll go to Port Jervis or Ellenville and they’ll spend their money there,” he said, adding “without adequate housing for the middle and lower salary people, there can’t be much successful industry in the county.”

Judith Maier, Commissioner of Health and Family Services in Sullivan County, agrees with Kaufman about those on the low end of the salary range.

“We’re seeing an increase in the number of people who can’t afford any decent housing,” Maier said. “I think it should be a part of any economic development effort to encourage builders of moderately prices housing.”

Carson Helfrich, a community planner from Pike County, said at the forum that such housing could not be done without some government intervention like a tax credit or low interest loans.

In a recent article in the Times Herald Record, the “housing wage”—the hourly income one has to earn to afford a modest two-bedroom house—needed by a resident of Sullivan County was $12.70 per hour.

During the forum sessions, Pike County builder Tom Hogan of Hogan Homes of Milford said that a community could develop affordable planning if it wanted to.

“It takes planning,” he said.

Many at the forum echoed his opinion.

“There just isn’t any incentive for a builder to build something that is in the $70,000 to $80,000 range,” Hogan said. “Digging a well and putting in a septic system is extremely expensive. Those items push the price up.”

The rising cost of labor and the escalating cost of land is also a factor, Hogan said.

Michael Sullivan of the Sullivan County Partnership on Economic Development predicts that the county will need 5,400 new housing units by 2005 because of expected growth. He estimates that there will be around 9,000 jobs developing within the next several years.

While some developers were beginning to appear on the scene because of the possibility of gaming, most of the homes will be in the $170,000 to $200,000 range.

“A worker in the casino making around $25,000 to $30,000 would not be able to buy one of these homes,” Sullivan said. “For a family to afford one of these homes, both husband and wife would have to make around $30,000, which means that they both would be forced to work.”

He said there was some interest by a company to build a plant to produce manufactured homes which would be a lot cheaper, but nothing came of it.

Dave Chant of Davis R. Chant Realtors said that he thought there was affordable housing in places like Port Jervis where you’d find homes costing around $100,000 to $150,000.

“But it depends on what you mean by affordable,” Chant said. “In Pike an average house sells for $150,000 to $200,000. Somebody making $25,000 to $30,000 can’t afford that.”