You are at risk of losing control over local zoning in your communities all across America. The danger is real and the consequences would be grave.
Joe Biden, if elected, plans to reinstate the HUD rules called “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) that will lead to a federal takeover of local zoning laws. The Obama-Biden administration established these rules and applied them in Westchester County, New York on a trial basis against much opposition from local authorities. See here an article by Rob Astorino, a former county executive of Westchester County. Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York, in an article in the New York Post on July 21, 2020, called it “one of the worst abuses of the Obama-Biden administration — a raw power grab masquerading as racial justice.”
On July 23, 2020 Secretary Ben Carson and President Trump released a new rule that repeals the Obama-Biden AFFH rule and respects State and local decision making for their communities. For now the attempted federal takeover of local zoning laws has been blocked. Remember, however, that elections have consequences. Biden has said he intends to reinstate the AFFH rule across America.
What would be the consequences? Betsy McCaughey summarized some of them in her article as follows: “Biden’s plan is to force suburban towns with single-family homes and minimum lot sizes to build high-density affordable housing smack in the middle of their leafy neighborhoods — local preferences and local control be damned.
Starting in 2015, President Barack Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development floated a cookie-cutter requirement for “balanced housing” in every suburb. “Balanced” meant affordable even for people who need federal vouchers. Towns were obligated to “do more than simply not discriminate,” as a 2013 HUD proposal explained. Rather, towns had to make it possible for low-income minorities to choose suburban living and provide “adequate support to make their choices possible.”
Had the rule been implemented nationwide, towns everywhere would have had to scrap zoning, build bigger water and sewer lines to support high-density living, expand schools and social services and add mass transit. All pushing up local taxes. Towns that refused would lose their federal aid.”
There will be grave consequences for the suburbs if Biden is elected.
President Trump is committed to protecting our local decision making and quality of life in our communities. See here the statement from the White House on July 23, 2020: President Donald J. Trump Is Protecting Our Suburbs and Preserving the American Dream for All Americans
Homeowners and homemakers need to focus on what is at stake for their families. The future for life in the suburbs will be much safer, more stable and more responsive to local community needs under a Trump Administration.
