Village president: Affordable housing goals unlikely for Sleepy Hollow

Trying to address the village's shortage of affordable housing units, Sleepy Hollow officials have devised a plan that includes creating a trust fund for future projects.

With affordable housing taking up 3 percent of the village's total housing stock, Sleepy Hollow falls short of the state statute requiring at least 10 percent of a local government's residential units be affordable.

After the state's Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act went into effect in 2004, the village was tasked with periodically submitting a plan for creating more low-income housing options.

As part of those efforts, trustees voted Monday to create a trust fund to help finance future affordable housing projects, which can include building new developments, refurbishing an existing house or paying off loans for such projects, Village President Stephen Pickett said.

The money put in the trust fund can come from a variety of sources, including donations and permit fees for the demolition of any existing structure, Pickett said. The village board can also budget certain monies specifically for that fund.

As per a suggestion from the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the village board also passed a measure earlier this year assuring that 15 percent of all new construction within Sleepy Hollow will be affordable housing, according to village documents.

Despite those efforts, Pickett said, meeting the goal of providing 10 percent affordable housing within its jurisdiction is almost impossible for the bedroom community, which has a population of about 3,300.

Sleepy Hollow has few empty lots and is surrounded on all sides by other municipalities, Pickett said, adding it also doesn't have many large parcels of land suitable for apartment buildings or other multiunit residential developments, he said.

“We have no large development happening. We have no area to build out,” Pickett said. “With what we've got, we're trying to do the best we can.”