Developer Anthony Bartone, managing partner at Terwilliger & Bartone Properties in Farmingdale, agrees that overarching mandates are the wrong way to address the need for more affordable housing, and believes it can lead to distrust among residents. “The zoning we’d call into service in Greenport would be vastly different than Manhattan, and when the state tries to impose statewide zoning regulations, it sends a shockwave through the local communities, which then becomes a viral disease on social media.”
John Cameron Jr., executive principal of Cameron Engineering, an IMEG company, and chairman of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, also recognizes that the backlash against affordable housing is partly a response to attempts to override local zoning, as well as a rejection of the type of development being pushed by New York State. “There was a strong negative reaction to the governor’s efforts to supersede local zoning,” he says. “Long Islanders’ aversion to building height makes it difficult to get sufficient density for affordable units.”
