Mandates required for workforce housing.

Alec Ornstein, president of Garden City-based Ornstein Leyton Company, one of the region's largest homebuilders, said elected officials on Long Island will need government mandates to move forward on affordable workforce housing.

Speaking as a member of a panel at an industry symposium sponsored by the Real Estate Institute at Hofstra University, Ornstein, who is also president of the Long Island Home Builders Institute, a trade group, said mandates for workforce housing would give officials political courage to stand up to residents of their communities who oppose these housing units.

"People don't want workforce housing next to them," he said.

"If we had elected officials with goals and mandates you would see more workforce housing," Ornstein said. "Elected officials would have to take a mandate and make it happen."

Ornstein said the administration of Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has helped the cause for affordable homes by requiring the Suffolk County Department of Health to provide expedited processing for development applications that include affordable homes. The homebuilder said redevelopment of dysfunctional or under-used properties are key to the future growth of Long Island and there should be a greater effort by the real estate industry to promote this.

Redevelopment, he said, "means we can peacefully co-exist with environmentalists."

Ornstein Leyton Company has proposed redeveloping the 65-acre site of the UA Patchogue Theater into an active adult community with 323 homes.

The developer intends to dedicate 20 acres of wetlands and buffers along the property as open space. The company also other projects in Miller Place, Center Moriches and Shoreham.

The Ornstein Leyton Company executive noted that developers proposing redevelopment projects do not have as-of-right permission to move forward on their projects.

Developers, he noted, must seek zoning changes and are required to install sanitary facilities and deal with issues such as school populations, setback requirements, parking and traffic. All of this is challenging, he said. "There are people out there who want to stop all development."

Moreover, said Ornstein, elected officials should not require developers to meet with local community groups, who are often small and vocal opponents of development projects.

"It shouldn't be planning by consensus," he said.

Ornstein Leyton Company was founded in 1991 and since then it has built more than 1,000 homes throughout Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Duchess, and Putnam Counties. OLC is committed to offering a variety of architecturally distinctive home designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also emphasizes the livability of its homes for generations to come.

With an extensive track record of top flight communities of various styles, including attached town homes, maintenance-free condominiums, single family neighborhoods, estate enclaves, and active adult resorts, OLC has built for every price range and customer.