Need
The median age of Hurley residents has increased to
44.3 in
2000. Many of us are planning for retirement now. We
want to stay in the community, but through choice
or necessity will need alternative housing.
When older adults look for alternative housing
they think about two things – a fixed income and a layout
that is accessible – no stairs, wide doorways, etc.
Three issues related to
senior housing confront us.
 -
How can we increase the stock of housing that is physically accessible
for seniors with growing physical
limitations?
- -
How can we ensure a supply of financially accessible housing
units
for seniors on fixed or shrinking incomes?
- -
Should senior housing be segregated from other new development?
Physical Accessibility
Our growing physical limitations
contribute to a need for accessible building design – no
stairs, wide doorways, easily manipulated hardware -- and freedom
from the responsibility of maintaining a building and landscaping.
Anyone can live in a home that incorporates accessible
design, but a person with limited mobility can't easily live
or visit a home without it. Today, there's a movement to encourage
'universally accessible design' in all new development, not only
in units
dedicated
to senior citizen housing. Everyone building or renovating
should review accessible design principles and include them in
their projects wherever feasible.
Neighborhoods and PRD's should include sidewalks
and benches so seniors can walk, rest, and participate in the
public life of the community. Financial Accessibility
Fixed incomes,
changes in the stock market, and/or rising real estate taxes
may make
current
housing economically untenable. Rising real estate taxes and
assessed values can necessitate leaving the home you have owned
for years.
Others share these financial challenges. The
Ulster County Planning Department studies confirm that many
of our children can't afford to start their families here.
Increasingly, middle class and lower middle class families
find their housing costs absorbing a greater, often unhealthy
percentage of their income. [See Housing discussion] Pro's and Con's of Segregated Senior Housing
In considering housing solutions
for our aging population, the committee debated the alternatives
of integrated or segregated senior housing.
We concluded that a mix of both would best serve individuals
and the community.
Integration of senior housing
with the rest of the community contributes to healthy neighborhoods.
Seniors, at home during the day when others are
out to work, observe the
neighborhood,
keep an
eye on street life and
the comings and
goings of children. Neighbors look out for older neighbors
when storms hit or illness strikes. Children grow up
with daily exposure
to adults
of all ages outside the family. Many seniors, however, prefer the atmosphere
of a senior enclave. A senior citizen’s complex can often
accommodate a community room with social activities and subsidized
meals. Some prefer not to have children present on a daily basis.
Providing services like transportation
to shopping and medical care, planned recreation and social
activities, and the delivery of meals and home healthcare becomes
a challenge when seniors are scattered throughout the community.
Economies of scale argue for clustering those in need of these
services. Solutions
Hurley zoning codes do address multi-unit
senior housing indirectly in the Planned
Residential Development code. Unfortunately few sites
can meet the current PRD criteria, primarily because of the
requirement that there be access from a county or state road.
Other towns have adopted a range of solutions
from requiring a percentage of any new development be reserved
for senior housing to actively seeking out developers and
sites for seniors.
We recommend that Hurley become pro-active
in addressing our need for both integrated and segregated
senior housing.
As an immediate, but limited, solution the
town can revise the code to allow and encourage
accessible accessory (mother/daughter) apartments and
out-buildings.
The committee also recommends that through
workshops we investigate revising the code to accomplish
several goals
- Require
inclusion of a percentage of physically and financially
accessible housing units in all new development.
- Offer incentives for including a percentage
of 'affordable' and accessible units in Planned Residential
Districts.
- Offer incentives to integrate
economical housing for seniors and other limited income
residents into neighborhoods through the development of
infill lots using accessible design standards.
A workshop
should review the range of solutions implemented elsewhere
to develop a
strategy in keeping with the intent of the town.
Once a model or range of acceptable models
has been selected, the zoning should be changed to facilitate
development. |
