Foil: Your right to Know.
From the Rockland County Business Journal Jan 26, 2025
“HUD says County and Spring Valley Violated a 2018 Voluntary Compliance Agreement That Resolved An Earlier Illegal Housing Complaint; County Says Compliance Was Impossible
The United States government, on behalf of the Department of Housing And Urban Development (HUD), filed suit in federal court last week against Rockland County and the Village of Spring Valley to enforce the terms of a 2018 Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) requiring Rockland County and Spring Valley to develop or rehabilitate affordable housing units.
The VCA resolved an earlier complaint filed with HUD alleging a private developer used HUD grant money given to Rockland County and the Village of Spring Valley to build 62 condominium units. The developer illegally designed and marketed the units to White Hasidic Jewish homebuyers, and excluded prospective Black homebuyers from the process.
As part of HUD’s investigation, it estimated that 44 deed holders at the condominium development, more than 91 percent, were likely to be White and non-Hispanic, in a census tract where only 14.4 percent of the population is White and non-Hispanic.
According to the lawsuit filed in the United State District Court for the Southern District of New York, Rockland County and Spring Valley agreed in 2018 to ensure that a separate group of 62 affordable housing units would be developed or rehabilitated during a seven-year period. The terms required approximately 25 of the affordable units be built within the first three years of the Agreement, but only four affordable units meeting the requirements of the Agreement were completed.
In September 2020, Rockland County requested that the deadlines for the remaining units be extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Rockland County and Spring Valley were granted additional time to provide the other 58 units – 18 of which were required to be completed by March of 2023.
The complaint charges Rockland County and Spring Valley missed the deadlines and otherwise failed to complete a “a single additional affordable housing unit meeting the terms and criteria set forth in the VCA since the completion of the four units in the Nyack Point project in 2018.”
Under the amended VCA, 15 additional units were to be completed by March of 2025; 13 more by 2027, and 12 more by 2029. 31 of the 58 units were to be home ownership, not rental units.
In a written response to RCBJ, a county spokesperson said, “This lawsuit flagrantly mischaracterizes the County’s actions and attitudes and alleges facts that have never occurred. The County has never discriminated in any aspect of housing development, funding, construction or sales.”
“The lawsuit stems from the Village of Spring Valley’s misuse of $102,438 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding which they received in 2004 and for actions that took place between 2006 and 2016, primarily before County Executive Ed Day’s administration took office. Once the County was made aware of this misuse, we assisted in filing the original Fair Housing complaint and the funding was recovered by this administration in 2014.”
“Certain HUD officials acted as unrealistic activists rather than professionals seeking an attainable goal placed ludicrous demands on the County in the VCA including requiring a 150-year affordability period for new units (well beyond the 30-year industry standard), forcing construction of units within the dysfunctional Village of Spring Valley and setting an unrealistic timeline for unit construction (in a best-case scenario it takes 5-7 years to design, finance, and construct affordable housing units from start to finish).”
After being notified of the breach on November 26, 2024, neither Rockland County nor Spring Valley identified specific steps they are taking or intend to take to come into compliance with the VCA, according to the court filing.
Spring Valley claimed it has built affordable housing units and is in compliance with the VCA. The government says it has not substantiated those claims, nor could it be in compliance because it never developed a HUD-approved marketing plan or deed restriction for any affordable units, as the VCA requires.
The County has held two annual Affordable Housing Forums since April of 2023, and engaged the Hudson Valley Pattern For Progress, a nonprofit think tank, to conduct a comprehensive community and affordable housing needs assessment. The County also recently declared the Sain Building in New City as surplus property, clearing the way for development of affordable housing on the site.
The development of affordable housing units in the County has been a challenge because of the high cost of land, difficulty in securing financing and tax credits, obstacles in securing necessary PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) Agreements from Town Supervisors, and community opposition to multifamily developments in the County where single-family zoning dominates much of the landscape.
A Rockland County representative added, “The County signed the VCA with optimism that the Village of Spring Valley would be a cooperative partner in meeting its goals and that HUD would provide adequate feedback and technical assistance. Upon reflection and with the benefit of hindsight, the County entered into the VCA without adequate background or appreciation of the complexities of current day affordable housing development, trusting that HUD was acting in good faith.”
The lawsuit asks for a Court order compelling Defendants to comply with the VCA and ensure completion of the remaining affordable housing units within an appropriate period of time. The court also has the authority to impose civil penalties to vindicate the public interest in an amount “not to exceed $127,983 for a first violation, and $255,964 for any subsequent violation, for violations occurring after November 2, 2015,” according to the complaint.”
For this article and other business news visit the Rockland County Business Journal.
