In 2023, Chemung County released a Housing Market Study prepared by outside experts in the field. The portion of the study focused on Elmira, combined with other data and on-the-ground observations, reveal real challenges for the city and our residents. These include:
• 56% of our housing was built before 1940• Only 40% of residential properties are owner-occupied• We are hundreds of units short of needed low-income housing• 31% of Elmira renters pay more than half their income for housing, well above the recommended one third
Our aging population has few affordable housing options, leaving many elders in homes that are too big, unsafe, and difficult to maintain. A few bad landlords, local and non-resident, neglect properties, impacting neighborhoods throughout the city.
With 90% of stock equity owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans, effectively closing the working class out of financial markets, homeowners have increasingly relied on their property value as an investment. This benefits homeowners, and in the short-term, local governments.
But when property values increase faster than wages, as has been the case for decades, it becomes impossible for younger generations to purchase a home, creating conflict between individual homeowners and economically sustainable communities. The intrusion of private equity and hedge funds into the single-family housing market nationwide has made matters worse.
The two of us have worked together throughout this term to address blight in our city and to stabilize existing housing. Now comes the real challenge.
With current construction costs, new builds on vacant lots are unprofitable. One approach that has allowed growth in some municipalities is permissive zoning for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). An ADU is a small second home on an existing residential lot, attached or detached. They have traditionally been built to accommodate aging parents (“granny flats”), and while that population is the first to benefit from ADUs, a secondary effect is to free up housing that is suitable for young families, as elders move out of homes in which they are currently trapped.
When elders die, as they inevitably do, ADUs become available as rental units suitable for singles and couples, often allowing extended families to live near one another.
The innovation and increased density that comes with permissive zoning for ADUs reflects historic patterns of sustainable growth for small cities. Highly restrictive zoning and NIMBY-ism (“not in my backyard”) are relatively recent developments, factors in our current housing shortage and the resulting fiscal stress we all face when fewer homes must support increasingly expensive essential public services.
While other zoning and permitting changes will be necessary in order to spur growth and strengthen our tax base, we hope residents and other local officials will support this critical first step.
— The Hon. Daniel J. Mandell, Elmira Mayor and The Rev. Gary Brinn, City Council Member
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Accessory Dwelling Units may help Elmira’s housing crunch | Guest Viewpoint
Reporting by Gary Brinn, Dan Mandell, Guest Viewpoint / Elmira Star-Gazette
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