A plea to address the housing crisis

Dear Editor,

The recent TW story on the important issue of affordable housing contains an egregious error that should be corrected. Councilperson Nguyen told the reporter that Auxiliary Dwelling Units (ADUS) are illegal in Ithaca. Councilperson Nguyen spoke in error. As he is well aware ADUS have been legal in Ithaca for decades.  We have houses with bump out additions, basement apartments and freestanding backyard structures In owner occupied houses throughout the City.  What Councilperson Nguyen wants to legislate is the elimination of the owner occupancy requirement. Instead of ADUS providing an opportunity for owner occupiers to house relatives or owners to earn rental income, the Councilperson would make the “right” to construct one available to any owner. A developer potentially could buy a house, add a backyard structure and double their income.  Unlike owners who reside on the property, they would be able to write off all their taxes and expenses. I fear the result of this in our housing market would be a further decimation of properties  available to potential homeowners.  One need only to drive around South Hill to see how rapidly property developers  can transform a neighborhood of residents who make their permanent home in Ithaca into a profit driven district that caters to and is occupied by transient, affluent, mainly student renters.

We have an affordable housing challenge in Ithaca that we must meet. I have been heartened by the numbers of affordable units that I watched go up in the past  few years.  I hope to see more. Still, we must recognize that zoning changes will not fix the problem by themselves. Berkeley, CA  has adopted many zoning reforms but most new housing construction contracts continue to be targeted at the affluent.  The Collegetown upzoning that took place years ago resulted in a massive increase in posh, even luxurious, rentals, with no decrease in the rent economically pressed students pay to live in that neighborhood. Visit for more information on this: https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/07/25/berkeley-housing-boom-construction

I urge the City and County to push for a variety of approaches to our housing crisis.  We must stop the ever increasing purchases  of houses for sole use as short  term rentals. We must consider smarter zoning and a vigorous pursuit of developers who will build affordable housing.  City  and County officials must also face up to the enormous property tax burden that residents of Tompkins County and Ithaca carry.  Our retirees  can face property bills upwards  of $17,000 on houses purchased decades ago.  A large part of the money  renters pay landlords  also goes to pay these ruinous taxes. Local officials must relentlessly lobby our Albany representatives to end unfunded mandates.  They also must call out  New York Republican Congressmen like Marc Molinaro  who  have abjectly failed to use their leverage to force Congress to raise the cap on the  $10,000 tax deduction for our state local and state taxes. 

Solving the affordability housing  issue is  worth a fierce effort. False information like that conveyed in this article only muddles useful discussion. 

Best,

Ann Sullivan

City of Ithaca