Meeting with Newburgh City Planner Ian MacDougall

On March 20, CVH members met with Newburgh's City Planner Ian MacDougall and Assistant Planner Garrett Duquesne. We invited him to meet with us so we could present our 6 recommendations for the City's Master Plan. The housing section of the Master Plan includes very little protections for low-income housing and very little direction to ensure affordable housing in the future. CVH members Jennifer Smith, Cleo McKinney, and Cleveland gave testimony about how their lives are impacted by the lack of good low-income housing and how the City could improve it with their Master Plan. After each testimony, we asked Mr. MacDougall if he would include that recommendation in the Master Plan, writing his "yes" or "no" answer on a scorecard. Our 6 demands included adding an Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance to require new development to include housing affordable to Newburgh residents, using Newburgh's Median Income rather than the Area's, and developing programs to rehabilitate abandoned buildings for affordable housing. Of the 6, Mr. MacDougall agreed to only one, but he did agree to mandate the inclusion of low-income residents and residents of public and subsidized housing on any Housing Boards or Commissions the City creates!