In an attempt to stem the tide of valuable members of the community moving away because finding affordable housing in Great Neck has become increasingly difficult, the board of trustees of the Village of Great Neck unanimously voted to approve an affordable housing law on Jan. 22.

The public hearing held late last year, had resulted in suggestions, many of which were incorporated into the revised legislation. The highest priority of individuals who would be eligible for below market value housing would be active members of the volunteer fire and ambulance departments; next would be village employees; followed by young people who have been long-term residents of the village under the age of 30; ending with people, also long-term residents, over the age of 65. All of these categories of eligibility would also need to meet financial limitations of income and assets as spelled out in the law. The village would make the final determination in assessing eligibility although the fire departments would play a role in vouching for a volunteer's good and active standing.

The law, which went into effect immediately, states that the village will issue no permit for construction or conversion of any residential building unless at least 10 percent of the residential floor area be set aside for workforce housing units. The law will not affect buildings with a residential floor area of less than 10,000 square feet.

The units would be priced at 80 percent of fair market value, but not more than 30 percent of the combined income of the eligible person and persons in the household.

Every year the eligibility requirements would be reviewed by the village administration.

One of the firefighters told the Record that the "boldest part of the legislation lies in the fact that it is mandated by village, but there are no paybacks or financial incentives to the building owner."

If there are not enough units to rent to people who have an equal priority, the village will hold a lottery to determine ranking. The confidentiality of the names of the applicants will be protected to the extent allowed under the New York State Freedom of Information Law.

This law will be in effect until January 2023 and will automatically be renewed for 10-year periods unless overturned by the board of trustees.

Vigilant Chairman Andrew De Martin spoke with the Record by phone and said, "We commend the Village of Great Neck for this wonderful legislation and for thinking outside of the box." He went on to add that firefighter leadership is worried about the problem of housing on an immediate basis since the effects of the law just passed will only emerge in the future. He said, "Many of the potentials and ideas for housing have ended in dead ends...It is going to take all of the villages and the input from concerned citizens to deal with the problems we have today."

Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said, "I would like to thank everyone who helped Jeff Bass and me in creating this new and important law. While no one spoke against it, we reached out to everyone and many residents and nonresidents offered constructive comments, most of which are reflected in the law. This is a perfect example of good government at work... We recognize that this law does not provide an immediate solution to the firefighter affordable housing shortage, but it is a first step in the many steps that we, as a community, must take to solve this problem."