Editorial of April 4, 2024

A Tale of Two Housing Units

Housing. A polarizing topic these days, right up there with politics and religion, it seems. Two of the most divisive news stories in Otsego County these past months involve housing proposals. In the Village of Cooperstown, a proposal by the Templeton Foundation to build housing for Bassett Healthcare Network employees was met with strong opposition when first introduced in January 2023. That project has since gone back to the drawing board, so to speak, to address a handful of environmental concerns. In the City of Oneonta, a proposal by Rehabilitation Support Services continues to cause all kinds of hullabaloo. The vote on that project, expected to take place on April 2, has now been postponed until October.

According to an NPR report on February 17, the hottest trend in New York State cities right now is zoning reform to allow more housing. “America is facing a housing crisis,” the report begins. “The U.S. is short millions of housing units. Half of renters are paying more than a third of their salary in housing costs, and for those looking to buy, scant few homes on the market are affordable for a typical household.”

The report, written by Laurel Wamsley, says cities are finding that their current zoning rules make it too hard and too expensive to build new homes. Sound familiar?

Let’s take a look at the southern end of the county first, and Otsego’s only city. Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek and other city officials have been called to task for courting the RSS project, but their efforts appear to be in line with “Opportunity Oneonta,” the City of Oneonta Comprehensive Plan, updated in 2019 under then-Mayor Gary Herzig.

“A Comprehensive Plan is a document that enables residents to set a vision for their community’s future and then outlines the policies and projects required to achieve that vision. It helps guide decision-makers on infrastructure spending, policy decisions, land use regulations, and economic development strategies,” reads page three of the comprehensive plan.

Page 34 is specific to housing issues and needs identified as part of a housing study conducted prior to the 2019 Comprehensive Plan update. The key recommendations of that study included:

• Preserve the City of Oneonta and Otsego County’s existing single-family housing stock.
• Enhance housing and amenities in downtown Oneonta and the other villages and towns throughout Otsego County.
• Implement a voluntary inclusionary zoning policy for multifamily housing within the City of Oneonta and other areas of Otsego County.
• Create additional, good quality mixed-income housing within the City of Oneonta.
• Create additional, good quality senior housing within the City of Oneonta and Otsego County to support the need for affordable senior housing in the next five years.
• Create additional, good quality supportive housing within the City of Oneonta and Otsego County to support the need for supportive housing.
• Educate low to moderate income households on how they can purchase homes and encourage the use of first-time homebuyer incentive programs.
• Convert unused space in the downtown area of Oneonta into live/work units for young professionals and small businesses.

It could be argued that the current city administration is working to address the above needs as per the comprehensive plan created by those who came before them. Of the steering committee and city staff named in the comprehensive plan, only Community Development Director Judy Pangman remains. However, a contingent of citizens is not pleased with the RSS proposal, in spite of the fact that it addresses two of the key recommendations: the creation of additional good quality supportive and senior housing.

Christine Nealon, RSS director of strategic partnerships, has explained that residents of the proposed housing unit—whether seniors, families or individuals—would be comprised of those whose household income falls between 30-70 percent of the area median income, or AMI, which is based on household size (e.g., for a household of two people, the AMI in Oneonta is $52,250.00). Nealon provided the following example: A single mother with one child takes a job as an office assistant at SUNY Oneonta and earns $34,152.00, which is just under 50 percent of the AMI, making them eligible for a two-bedroom apartment in this proposed building, and would pay between $900.00 and $1,000 toward their rent.

“Essentially, the demographic of individuals who we proposed to live at [27 Market Street] would be those seeking, and who are deemed eligible for, right-sized rents so they can invest the remainder of their household incomes in the same manner those of us who now can afford market rent/mortgages did to get where we are. These folks are in the beginning of their wealth building journeys. Low-income housing tax credits were created by Ronald Reagan as a way to ensure all Americans have a chance at participating in the economy,” Nealon said.

Of the 45-50 apartments planned, only 15 are earmarked for individuals who choose to engage in supportive services with RSS, Nealon clarified.

Examples of residents in other RSS-owned housing units provided by Nealon include a 23-year-old female who is healing from family trauma and anxiety through supportive services she chooses to engage with. This individual is now able to work part time at one of the RSS employment service sites, allowing 20 hours a week to attend individual and group support appointments and pursuing her next steps in her education. Another is a retired male from a local employer who lost a significant family member and became depressed and unable to leave his home. This individual turned to RSS for assistance and is now working part time cleaning area offices while spending the balance of his time with his peers, attending group therapy, and developing new relationships and a sense of belonging.

Heading north to Cooperstown, where folks have been up in arms regarding the proposed Templeton Foundation multi-residential project on Averill Road, at the edge of the village, opposition is also a bit perplexing.

According to officials, the proposed project will support the continued operations of Bassett Medical Center and Bassett Healthcare Network with the construction of one 24-unit apartment building and two clusters of townhomes consisting of six units each, for a total of 12 townhomes. The development will be similar in design to the Templeton-owned community of 40 townhomes located on Fernleigh Drive, which houses Bassett Medical Center employees.

The Averill Road buildings will be constructed in accordance with an energy-efficient design and the site has been designed to be environmentally friendly, project leaders said, and the development will also involve improvements to the village municipal water system with the construction of a new water tank at no cost to the village, together with improvements along Averill Road in front of the project site.

It is no secret that rural hospitals are up against insurmountable obstacles right now.

“Rural hospitals and healthcare facilities face amplified financial challenges amid persisting workforce shortages, rising costs and leveling reimbursement. Reserves are dwindling and without urgent action, hundreds of facilities face closure,” according to a piece published in January of last year by “Becker’s Hospital Review.”

Housing shortages are making recruitment and retention even more challenging. An article by Brendan Stermer published by Rural Health Information Hub recounts the struggle of a small regional health center in Colorado in sourcing permanent employees, and the long list of promising candidates lost to lack of housing. “…we’d make an offer and they’d either be looking for housing on the Internet or they’d come out and not find anything — and they’d have to rescind their acceptance,” the CEO said.

Staci Thompson, named interim president and chief executive officer of Bassett Healthcare Network upon the resignation of Dr. Tommy Ibrahim in January, emphasized recruitment and retention when it was announced recently that she is now officially the head of Bassett.

“My focus will continue to be recruiting physicians, advanced practice clinicians, nurses, other clinical professionals, and the many other roles needed so Bassett can provide the care our patients and communities deserve,” Thompson said in the release. “Also, importantly, we will continue to emphasize retaining staff and creating meaningful pathways for people to build long-term careers at Bassett,” Thompson said.

The Village of Cooperstown’s $4.5 million NY Forward award further reinforced the need for housing, as public input identified housing—“housing for local employees, housing of all/any kinds, affordable housing, affordable long-term housing, housing for year-round renting, long-term rental housing”—as a priority for investment. Four residential housing projects, including both townhouses and apartments, were among those submitted by the Village of Cooperstown for possible NY Forward funding. NY Forward-awarded projects have yet to be confirmed.

So. Need for housing of all types has been identified by the City of Oneonta in its own comprehensive plan. Need for housing of all types has been identified by the Village of Cooperstown and by the NY Forward Local Planning Committee. Why, then, are the RSS and Averill Road projects so controversial? And where, if not the proposed locations, could those housing developments be located?

Away. Not here. Not there.

The fate of the Averill Road and RSS projects is uncertain at this time. What has become very clear, however, is that everyone wants more housing. Everyone agrees we need more housing—for all income levels. They just want it “somewhere else.”

A functioning community needs people of all occupations, ages and incomes. It needs workers for every kind of job, and it needs them to have affordable, conveniently located housing so they have the time, space and disposable income to patronize the local economy and participate in community life. The choice facing Oneonta and Cooperstown is the choice between a socially integrated town or local landholding elites; between a living community and a dead one. To choose NIMBYism is to choose the latter.