Senator Kaplan Stands Against Efforts Undermining Local Government Authority

CARLE PLACE, NY (February 2, 2022) - Today, Senator Anna M. Kaplan (D-North Hills) sent a letter to every local Mayor and Town Supervisor in the 7th Senate District informing them of her strong opposition to proposed legislation that would undermine local government authority. The information was shared with local officials to ensure that they were apprised of the Senator's efforts to combat the proposals, and in order to disseminate the information to members of the community who were reaching out to local officials with their concerns.

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FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER:

Dear Mayor:

Governor Hochul has included two proposals in her SFY 2022-2023 Executive Budget that I believe will adversely impact how local governments can regulate their own communities, and I’m writing to you today to let you know that I will be fighting back against these proposals.

The specific proposals can be found in the legislation S.8006/A.9006 under parts AA and EE. Part AA would require every city, village, and town to permit at least one accessory dwelling housing unit per lot in areas zoned for single-family or multifamily residential use or where there is an existing residential use.  Part EE would require that when a city (this section is solely applicable to cities and amends the General City Law only) has a designated transit hub, the municipality would be forced to amend its zoning to permit transit-oriented housing, permitting 25 units per acre.

I have serious concerns about the infringement these proposals would have on New York's long-standing history of municipal home rule. Moreover, I believe these proposals would have a profound impact on our communities here in Nassau County and I have made my opposition to these proposals known and will continue to fight against them.  

Unrelated to the Governor’s budget proposals, but also important to note, legislation has been introduced in the Senate, S.7574, that would effectively ban single-family zoning in New York, eliminate off-street parking requirements in cities, towns and villages, and prevent localities from imposing lot size requirements for homes.  Please know that for the same reasons I enumerated above, I will be standing firmly against this proposal as well. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Sincerely,

Anna M. Kaplan
New York State Senator
7th Senate District