Forum dissects ‘crisis-level need’ for affordable housing in region

The housing panel, from left, Steve Rosenberg, Jocelyn Ayer, Gordon Ridgway, and Michael Polemis.
Photo by Maud Doyle
SALISBURY — Both affordable housing and conservation initiatives require land, rely on local financial and social support, and are necessary for a healthy, thriving community.
This was the premise of “Housing, Jobs, and Conservation: A Roadmap for Action,” a panel discussion convened by the Salisbury Forum at the Salisbury School on Friday, Sept. 22, before an audience of some 200 guests from New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Moderated by Steve Rosenberg, longtime leader in conservation in Hudson Valley and co-convener of Hudson Valley Affordable Housing and Conservation Strategy, the panel invited three representatives from local government, housing, and land trusts to discuss how these sectors could better work together in the broader region.
The context for the discussion was what Rosenberg described as the “crisis-level need” for affordable housing. Jocelyn Ayer, director of the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity, noted that 1,100 households on affordable housing waitlists in Litchfield County may wait for 2-5 years, and that 28% of Litchfield County households are “cost burdened” by their housing situation.
“Housing has become unaffordable for almost everybody that our community relies on,” said Cornwall First Selectman Gordon Ridgway.
Litchfield County boasts the oldest population in the state, and the highest occurrence of 20-somethings living with their parents; declining school enrollments are putting pressure on educational resources; the prohibitive cost of housing excludes young people and families, as well as seniors who need to downsize—in Cornwall, said Ridgway, the average sales price of a house has climbed from $350,000 to $880,000 in just three years (at this, a collective gasp from the room).
Teachers, emergency services volunteers, qualified municipal workers and volunteers, healthcare workers (including young doctors), entrepreneurs and mid-level bank employees, as well as the perennial “man who works at the meat counter at LaBonne’s” were all identified as essential workers excluded from the region by housing prices.
“The historic motivation for a land trust was always protecting the land. We never actually had a good conversation about what were we protecting the land for—and more importantly, whom,” said Michael Polemis, chair of the Land Trust Alliance, which includes 948 land trusts across the U.S. “The ‘who’ has become critical.”
The regional emphasis on land conservation has actually become part of the problem, he said. “One of the unintended consequences of our success has been that, as we protect more and more land, the land values actually rise all around that protected area, which means it’s less affordable for people who have been living and working in any community.”
Meanwhile, as Ayer illustrated with an overview of completed local projects, affordable housing is typically the most sustainable housing built in rural communities: Affordable units emphasize energy efficiency and often take advantage of renewables like solar to keep costs low for residents; denser housing (i.e. half-acre lots or multifamily homes) is more energy efficient; robust village centers that can sustain grocery stores and shops are more energy efficient (they make for shorter or even walkable commutes).
Families raised in vibrant communities with greater outdoor access also create more meaningful, long-term civic engagement, and inculcate environmental stewardship in the next generation.
“Beyond giving tax breaks to wealthy landowners, which is the engine of land conservation,” said Polemis, “How do we, the land trusts, actually serve a community?”
“The funding ability of land trusts is—um—impressive to me,” said Ridgway. In Cornwall, he said, state forest comprises some 7,000 acres, and the land trust has acquired about 2,000 acres, whereas Cornwall and its housing non-profit own under 100 acres.
“The amount we actually need to make significant gains in housing is under 100 acres,” he said. “So it’s a very small percentage.”
Meanwhile, said Polemis and Rosenberg, property offered to land trusts as a gift or at a steeply discounted rate isn’t always best utilized for conservation efforts, due to its size, location, or prior use.
“I would like to see the common interest in the environment unite” conservation and the building of sustainable community, said Ridgway.
In response to the audience question of how to create change, Polemis was succinct: “Show up, volunteer. And if you’re a member of a land trust, tell them to get off their rear ends and get involved.”
The Salisbury Forum, a nonprofit organization based in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner, hosts speaker forums that address global and local issues from wealth inequality to climate change to cybersecurity.
Habitat for Humanity assisted in the construction and sale of this house at 14 Rudd Pond Road for $392,000.
MILLERTON — Official Dutchess County property transfers for the four months ending in May are fascinating from the sale of the former Presbyterian Church on Main Street for $420,000 to the $300,000 sale of 8.3 acres of the historic Perotti farm for $300,000 where major barn restoration is now underway.
Actively listed properties at the end of July include 14 parcels of land ranging in price from $60,000 for a five-acre lot to six parcels over a million dollars. 15 single family homes are on the market including an $11,750,000 estate on Moadock Road and four village homes for under $500,000.
Residential
14 Rudd Pond Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on .64 acres sale recorded in March for $392,000 to Anthony M. Macagnone.
81 Rudd Pond Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on .45 acres recorded in April for $360,300 to Sara Whitney Laser.
926 Smithfield Road — Historic house and barns on 8.31 acres sale recorded in May for $300,000 to Colonial House & Barn LLC.
5408 Route 22 — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 5.38 acres sale recorded in May for $465,000 to Erich McEnroe.
The former Presbyterian Church on Main Street in the Village of Millerton was purchased in May for $420,000 and then pained grey.Christine Bates
Commercial
1 Smith Court, Village of Millerton — Office building sale recorded in March for $825,000 to OneJohnStreet LLC.
58 Main Street, Village of Millerton — Sale of former church recorded in May for $420,000 to 58 Main Street LLC.
5546 Route 22 — Sale of former restaurant on 2 acres recorded in May for $70,000 to Haithem Oueslati Trustee.
Land
State Line Road (#789358) — Sale recorded of 20.82 acres of vacant residential land in March for $150,000 to Elliott Squared LLC.
148 Morse Hill — Sale recorded of 30.03 acres of vacant productive farm land in 5 parcels in March for $800,000 to Thorne Water LLC.
*Town of North East and Village of Millerton property transfers from March through May not previously reported as sales in The Millerton News are sourced from Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly reports for March through May. Details on property from Dutchess Parcel Access. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Mariah Orms and her horse Shanaclough Quality Clover tore through the water jumps.
AMENIA — Competitors and spectators endured through high heat, rain and a smoky haze for the 40th annual Millbrook Horse Trials at Coole Park.
Four hours of dressage on Thursday, July 24, opened up the competition that puts riders and their horses through a triathlon of equestrian sports. Cross country jumping began on Friday, followed by stadium jumping on Saturday.
Over the last 40 years, the Millbrook Horse Trials has built a reputation that draws athletes and visitors from great distances. Numbering among the competitors were riders at the highest level of the sport of evening, including Olympian Boyd Martin. Martin finished the weekend with a win in the advanced division after a clean run around the showjumping ring on the horse Miss LuLu Herself on Sunday.
That was during a light drizzle that hung in the air over the event grounds on Amenia-Bangall Road. The weekend started with high heat on Thursday and Friday and towering thunder clouds threatening rain for much of Friday afternoon. Partly cloudy skies made way for a smoky haze on Saturday that triggered an air quality alert for the region.
Volunteer parking monitor Alexander King didn’t let the erratic weather keep him down, and he said he didn’t see a drop in numbers either. “Yesterday we probably had, give or take, 300 to 400 people,” he said on Sunday, the final day of the competition.
King travelled from Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife to attend the event.