HUD TELLS WESTCHESTER COUNTY ZONING CODES EQUALS DISCRIMINATION-THE AMERICAN AWAKENING-STOPPING AGENDA 21

 UPDATE 6/2/13

Hud tells Westchester County NY Zoning Codes = Discrimination

Sorry no option to embed video:

Battle over affordable housing in New York county-VIDEO
Hud is trying to strong arm this community.  Everyone needs to pay attention to this because it is coming to your community, if it hasn't already. 

Westchester County Housing Settlement Letters from HUD:
Read the HUD letters and see for yourself how Westchester County is being bullied by the federal government.   Here are some of the key documents.
Westchester County website 

• May 13, 2011 letter:  HUD says Westchester must go "beyond the four corners of the settlement." 
• March 13, 2013 letter: HUD says real goal for affordable housing units is 10,768  -- not the 750 that was agreed to in the settlement.
• March 25, 2013 letter: HUD threatend to reallocate $7.4 million previously promised to Westchester and local communities.

 See other documents and press releases relating to the housing settlement. 

 The Battle Over Affordable Housing Heats Up in Westchester

Concerns about over development in Scarsdale could extend far beyond the shoehorning of oversized houses onto undersized lots or the destruction of heritage trees. If the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has it their way, villages like Scarsdale and Bronxville could find their local zoning ordinances under attack. These zoning ordinances ensure the unique character of these towns as they define minimum lot sizes, maximum height and bulk, residential vs. commercial zones and the siting of single-family vs. multi-family homes. Without these ordinances, apartment houses and town houses could spring up on 2-acre lots in Murray Hill, clogging residential streets with parked cars and straining the local infrastructure and educational system.

County Executive Rob Astorino paid a visit to the Scarsdale Forum on Thursday night April 25 and presented his side of the county's battle with HUD to meet their obligations as stipulated in the 2009 Affordable Housing Settlement that Astorino inherited when he came into office. 

Among other remedies, the court mandated Westchester to build 750 units of affordable housing at a total cost of $51.6 million. Ironically the county is well ahead of schedule on construction of the units and plans to complete 305 by the end of 2013.

Building the required housing has not been the source of the clash between Astorino's office and the HUD Chair. Two additional requirements of the legislation have caused much consternation.

First, the settlement required Astorino to promote sources of income legislation that would bar landlords from discriminating against tenants who use Section 8 vouchers or other government income to pay their rent. Rather than advance this legislation, Astorino vetoed the bill when he came into office. After HUD threatened to penalize Westchester by reallocating $7.4 in Community Development Block Grants due to Westchester this month, Astorino has re-introduced legislation that bans discrimination against potential homeowners and renters based on their source of income and has vowed to sign it. Astorino has also appealed to Governor Cuomo to lobby for the HUD funds and administer them to Westchester.

However, he still faces another hurdle.

The most vexing portion of the settlement requires Westchester to submit a zoning analysis and a plan to overcome "exclusionary zoning practices." Specifically, the county was ordered to:

• Identify local zoning practices that have exclusionary impact or fail to take into account regional need


• Develop a process to notify municipalities of zoning issues that hinder the county's obligations and changes that must be made as well as consequences for failing to make them.


• Identify types of zoning practices that would, if not remedied by the municipality lead the county to pursue legal action.

In a letter to the county dated March 13, 2013 the Federal Monitor, James Johnson, asks the county to assess the impact of restrictive zoning practices including:

• Restrictions that limit or prohibit multifamily housing development;


• Limitations on the size of a development;


• Restrictions on lot size of density requirements that encourage single-family housing;


• Limitations on townhouse development;

and "the impact such practices have on racial and ethnic composition."

Westchester County has submitted three such zoning analyses and failed to identify exclusionary zoning practices. According to Astorino, "The County has supplied volumes of data as well as a thorough legal analysis showing Westchester's zoning is not exclusionary." In comments at the Scarsdale Forum meeting, Astorino charged HUD with refusing to accept the county's zoning analyses because they did not reach HUD's conclusions -- not because the data was invalid or deficient.

Does HUD have the right to force municipalities to change their zoning codes? Professor John Nolon of the Pace University Law Land Use Center, who consulted on the case said in June, 2012, "Only towns, villages and cities have zoning power in New York. There is no constitutional or statutory definition of exclusionary zoning in New York to determine the obligations that these communities have to zone for housing that can be made affordable by housing developers." He cited the "Berenson" cases in New York which ruled on issues of affordable housing and said though these cases require the county to consider "regional needs," they did not define what region needed consideration. Is it Westchester County? New York City? The Tri-State Region? Connecticut? He concluded by saying that though the region's Economic Development Council has been charged by the state with developing plans, none of its current plans establish regional housing needs or a methodology for estimating them.

How to get beyond this impasse?

After HUD turned down all three analyses, James Johnson, who is the Federal Monitor assigned to the case, has now undertaken his own zoning analysis and sent letters to each of the municipalities with a report card for each showing their progress on meeting targets for the number of affordable units. Though Scarsdale has passed a model zoning ordinance that requires developers to build one affordable unit with each group of 10 market-rate units, the report says that the ordinance "provides no zoning incentives for affordable housing." The report notes that "the few areas in which multifamily housing is allowed as-of-right are "fully built out" and recommends that the village "provide density or other incentives for affordable housing, mapping additional areas where multifamily house is permitted as-of-right, and permitting accessory housing in "faux" garages as well as quadraplexes and cottage-style housing." It shows that as of the 2000 census only .4 percent of total village acreage is zoned for multi-family housing and that 4 percent of the population is Hispanic or Black -- the only two minority groups considered in the settlement.

Since Scarsdale is already fully developed, the only way for the village to expand its inventory of affordable housing would be to change the zoning code, an idea that is unpopular with residents who are already up in arms about development and absorbing big annual tax increases to pay for schools and services.

The biggest surprise in the "report card" was the assertion that Scarsdale is targeted to build 160 AFFH units -- a number pulled from "The unadopted Affordable Housing Allocation Plan produced in 2005 by the county's planning department." The letter states that "none of which have been built in the interim."

According to Astorino, this same 2005 report called for the construction of 10,678 units county-wide, far beyond the scope of the 750 units mandated in the 2009 settlement.

In an April 15, 2013 response to the Federal Monitor, the Scarsdale Board of Trustees told Johnson that "the village has fundamental disagreements with the position taken in your letter... Specifically we note that the village in not a party to the litigation and settlement agreement referred to in the "report card. " Further, the "unadopted Affordable Housing Allocation Plan does not impose any obligation on the Village."

Astorino says that these new targets "expand the agreement beyond the four quarters of the settlement," and that HUD has taken a very aggressive stance, claiming that any restriction is a restrictive zoning practice that must be abolished. Saying "there is no rhyme or reason" for HUD's demands, he called on residents to contact their congressmen and senators to voice their concerns about HUD's demands.

As it stands today, $7.4 million in grant money could be lost for Westchester if the county fails to comply. HUD is also calling for Westchester municipalities to make fundamental changes to their zoning codes that would radically alter the character of the 31 municipalities who, according to the outdated 2000 census numbers, do not house adequate numbers of black and Hispanic residents. The zoning code HUD is challenging includes lot size, stipulations for single family housing and structure bulk and density, which is common among suburban communities across the country.

Many in Scarsdale are shocked and offended that HUD is charging the village with exclusionary zoning and racism. The population is a diverse mix of whites, blacks, Hispanics, Indians, Asians, and others who live together in harmony. As one 40-year resident said, "anyone who says Scarsdale is racist simply doesn't know the community."

Can a federal agency force a locality to change their zoning code? That's the battle that could be in the offing.
Source: Huffington Post 

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While the following video and many of the links reference California, this is happening across this country.  Even in the great red state of Texas.  If it can happen in Texas, it can happen anywhere.  Do your research.  Understand what is going on behind the curtain.  It should frighten you.  Reach out to your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors and help in educating those that are completely unaware of this insidious overreach of our government.  

Silence is Approval

Agenda 21 In California

Flash Gordon’s entry for the Alex Jones’ Infowars Reporter Contest covering Agenda 21
www.infowars.com - www.prisonplanet.com - www.prisonplanet.tv

References for the video

Agenda 21:
Document
http://www.freedomadvocates.org/images/pdf/Agenda21-Earth%20Summit-The%20Unit…
Who Funds Agenda 21
http://www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com/who-funds-un-agenda-21.html
More References
http://www.freedomadvocates.org/research_center/
Rosa Koire:
www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com
Full Video Presentation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDtCb45Lqt0
Interview with Alex Jones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqgwf3p7gnc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyujynj0UHU&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkwN-T-ZsLA&feature=relmfu
Vaccines for Population Control:
http://www.naturalnews.com/028887_vaccines_Bill_Gates.html
Presidents Council on Sustainable Development:
http://clinton2.nara.gov/PCSD/
American Planning Association:
http://www.planning.org/
http://www.planning.org/growingsmart/
One Bay Area
http://www.onebayarea.org/
Wall Street Journal- California Declares War on Suburbia
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303302504577323353434618474.html
World Future Society- World Future Forum in Toronto
http://www.wfs.org/content/register-worldfuture-2012

More links on Agenda 21:
AGENDA 21 COURSE: Understanding Sustainable Development and How It Affects You
American Policy Center 
John Birch Society-Stop Agenda 21

UPDATE 2/20/12

Tom DeWeese: Agenda 21 & International Redistribution of Wealth

Uploaded by CountySheriffProject on Feb 16, 2012

Tom DeWeese, the founder and director of the American Policy Center (http://www.AmericanPolicy.org) informs the sheriffs about the origins of Agenda 21, the central planning strategy that has grown out of the United Nations since 1987 to become soft law in the cities and counties across America to control all facets of the economy for an international redistribution of wealth.

On January 30-31, 2012 over 100 county sheriffs and peace officers, from over 30 states, united to uphold their oaths of office, protect citizen liberty, and stop state and federal tyranny. Inspired and led by the example of former Graham County Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, the meeting, which was held in Las Vegas, was funded by the generous donations of thousands of Americans from all fifty states, as well as the support of freedom loving sponsors.

The agenda included training on the Bill of Rights, Interposition, Nullification and the importance of Property Rights versus Privileges. Many sheriffs, a police chief and even a county commissioner shared their experiences, challenges and actions taken to uphold their oaths of office, directly with the sheriffs in attendance.

The videos of these presentations are shared here on the County Sheriff Project YouTube channel. We hope that you will share these videos with your own county sheriff and all the oath takers in your county. To read the meeting agenda, see the event sponsors, learn more and show your own support for helping back more constitutional county sheriffs, visit http://www.CountySheriffProject.org

Think outside the gun!

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Rosa Koire, of Democrats Against Agenda 21, has made it her mission to speak out against Agenda 21. While this is a long video, it is worth watching.  

SOUNDS LIKE SCIENCE FICTION...OR SOME CONSPIRACY THEORY...BUT IT ISN'T.
Have you wondered where these terms 'sustainability' and 'smart growth' and 'high density urban mixed use development' came from?

Doesn't it seem like about 10 years ago you'd never heard of them and now everything seems to include these concepts? Is that just a coincidence? That every town and county and state and nation in the world would be changing their land use/planning codes and government policies to align themselves with...what?
 
Click here for more: http://www.democratsagainstunagenda21.com/index.html

Who are we?
 
We are engaged in educating ourselves, our peers, and our country about UN Agenda 21, ICLEI, Sustainable Development, Smart Growth, Form-Based Zoning, Green Energy Mandates, Carbon Offsets, Cap and Trade, Redevelopment and other programs that restrict our land rights and civil rights.

This vitally important information transcends party lines and illuminates much of what we have witnessed over the past two decades.
 
This is not a left or right issue. It's an American issue. The information on these sites will help you to identify what is happening in your town and to stop it.

http://www.PostSustainabilityInstitute.org
http://www.DemocratsAgainstUNAgenda21.com
http://www.SantaRosaNeighborhoodCoalition.com
Need a DVD, submit a request at: http://teapartymedia.net/listen_live_/disk_request_.htm
We the People Radio interview: http://teapartymedia.net/20111218/

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REDEVELOPMENT-THE UNKNOWN GOVERNMENT

There is an unknown government taking over our country city by city. 

Unlike new counties, cities and school districts, it can be created without a vote of the citizens affected.

Unlike other governments, it can incur bonded indebtedness without voter approval. Unlike other governments, it may use the power of eminent domain to benefit private interests.

This unknown government provides no public services. It does not educate our children, maintain our streets, protect us from crime, nor stock our libraries. 

It claims to eliminate blight and promote economic development, yet there is no evidence it has done so in the half century since it was created.

Indeed, it has become a rapidly growing drain on this country's public resources, amassing enormous power with little public awareness or oversight.

This unknown government is Redevelopment.

It is time Americans knew more about it.

(This report was specifically put together for Californians but is relevant to every state. This AGENDA 21 farce has infested every state and is rapidly taking over our cities)

   Redevelopment: The Unknown Government - Norby by Paul Murphy