Add ?94-e, Exec L; amd ?10-c, Hway L; add ?99-uu, St Fin L
Directs the department of state to create a state-wide catalog for preapproved, construction-ready housing plans; creates a housing infrastructure fund for infrastructure and housing assistance for certain municipalities certified as NEST communities; directs a study to be completed concerning the modification and establishment of minimum prescriptive requirements necessary to include three-family, four-family and six-family dwellings within the scope of the residential code of New York state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10736
IN SENATE
November 13, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the executive law, the highway law and the state finance
law, in relation to the creation of a state-wide catalog for preap-
proved, construction-ready housing plans; and directing a study to be
completed concerning minimum prescriptive requirements necessary to
include certain multi-family dwellings within the scope of the resi-
dential code of New York state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 94-e
2 to read as follows:
3 § 94-e. Empire state homes catalog. 1. Definitions. For the purposes
4 of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
5 (a) "Catalog" means the empire state homes catalog established pursu-
6 ant to subdivision two of this section.
7 (b) "Department" means the department of state.
8 (c) "Neighbors encouraging smart and thoughtful growth community" or
9 "NEST community" means a municipality certified as such by the secretary
10 of state pursuant to subdivision five of this section.
11 (d) "Previously disturbed land" means any site where human activity,
12 development, grading, clearing, or compaction has significantly altered
13 the natural landscape, soil profile, or native plant community.
14 2. Empire state homes catalog. (a) The department shall develop, main-
15 tain and publish a catalog which shall be known as the "empire state
16 homes catalog" which shall consist of construction-ready, preapproved
17 housing plans, which shall, at a minimum, include overall floor plans,
18 reflected ceiling plans, elevators, sections, partition types, finishes,
19 appliances and fixtures, and envelop specifications sufficient for a
20 general contractor to price and construct a project. The catalog shall
21 include complete construction-ready plans for each of the following
22 housing typologies:
23 (i) accessory dwelling units;
24 (ii) single-family dwellings;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16344-04-6
S. 10736 2
1 (iii) small clusters of single-family homes up to six units, commonly
2 known as cottage courts;
3 (iv) two-unit dwellings;
4 (v) four-unit dwellings;
5 (vi) six-unit dwellings; and
6 (vii) eight-unit dwellings.
7 (b) The secretary of state may further define the housing typologies
8 under paragraph (a) of this subdivision pursuant to rule or regulation.
9 (c) (i) For each housing typology under paragraph (a) of this subdivi-
10 sion, the department shall provide plans that include dimensional stand-
11 ards for lot sizes that maximize affordability of housing production,
12 and that adds to a neighborhood scale and density that supports transit
13 and pedestrian-friendly communities with neighborhood scale retail. The
14 department shall specify for each such housing typology the maximum
15 number of parking spaces per dwelling unit that a municipality may
16 require.
17 (ii) In initially developing such plans pursuant to subparagraph (i)
18 of this paragraph, the department shall hold at minimum three public
19 hearings distributed geographically across the state to receive feedback
20 on how to best develop such plans to include cost effective, energy
21 efficient, and residential quality of life technology. The department
22 shall update such plans to include latest best practice cost effective,
23 energy efficient, and residential quality of life technology every two
24 years, and shall hold at least one public hearing before the development
25 of each such update.
26 3. Preapproved project lot split standards. (a) The department shall
27 establish uniform standards for preapproved project lot splits dividing
28 a lot, tract, or parcel into two or more lots, tracts, or parcels. Such
29 standards shall include requirements under which each such divided
30 portion of a lot, tract, or parcel maintains frontage on a public way.
31 (b) No municipality shall be designated as a NEST community under
32 subdivision five of this section unless it has adopted rules for the
33 ministerial allowance of preapproved project lot splits or zoning chang-
34 es, consistent with the standards developed by the department pursuant
35 to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, for applicants who apply for a lot
36 split or zoning changes to build a form of preapproved housing published
37 on the catalog.
38 (c) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of the general city
39 law, town law, village law, local law, ordinance, rule or regulation:
40 (i) no public hearing shall be required or held on an application for
41 a preapproved project lot split where each resulting lot satisfies the
42 standards for frontage on a public way established pursuant to paragraph
43 (a) of this subdivision;
44 (ii) no procedural or substantive requirement shall be imposed for a
45 preapproved project lot split that is more stringent than the require-
46 ments under this section or contained in a municipality's local rules
47 and/or regulations otherwise applicable; and
48 (iii) where review of an application for a preapproved project lot
49 split is conducted by a municipal planning board or other equivalent
50 municipal body, a determination shall be made by a majority of the
51 members present and voting and shall be limited to whether such applica-
52 tion satisfies the applicable objective standards established under this
53 section.
54 (d) The provisions of this subdivision shall only apply to previously
55 disturbed land that:
S. 10736 3
1 (i) is not currently being used for agricultural purposes and has not
2 been used for such purposes within either:
3 (1) the last two years before the application for a preapproved
4 project lot split was filed; or
5 (2) three of the last five years before the application for a preap-
6 proved project lot split was filed;
7 (ii) is not located in a designated coastal erosion hazard area; and
8 (iii) either:
9 (1) (A) is not located in a one hundred-year flood zone, as determined
10 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or a special flood
11 hazard area, provided that the relevant municipality has not adopted a
12 law requiring new construction to be elevated above the base flood
13 elevation, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);
14 (B) has been substantially altered by an occupied, formerly occupied,
15 or demolished building, or by another improvement or use at least two
16 years prior to the application for a preapproved project lot split being
17 filed; and
18 (C) if located outside of an urban area, as defined by the United
19 States Census Bureau, abuts, adjoins, or is opposite from another parcel
20 that is or has been occupied or formerly occupied by a building, or
21 demolished building, or another improvement or use at least two years
22 prior to the application for a preapproved project lot split being
23 filed, provided that such abutting, adjoined, or opposite parcel is not
24 occupied by an industrial or agricultural use; or
25 (2) is located on residential, commercial, or industrial zoned land
26 that is not located in a one hundred-year flood zone as determined by
27 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or a special flood hazard
28 area, provided that the relevant municipality has not adopted a law
29 requiring new construction to be elevated above the base flood
30 elevation, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
31 (e) If there is adequate concern that the land subject to a preap-
32 proved project lot split may have contaminants due to previous uses, the
33 municipality may require the applicant for such lot split to certify
34 that a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment has been conducted in
35 accordance with federal Environmental Protection Agency standards and
36 all appropriate regulations regarding inquiries under the federal
37 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
38 (CERCLA), 40 CFR § 312, and that such applicant has followed or will
39 follow all applicable recommendations and hazardous waste laws.
40 4. Approval of applications. (a) A municipality shall approve any
41 application for construction of housing consistent with a preapproved
42 plan from the catalog, where such application is found to be objectively
43 consistent with the requirements under this section, including dimen-
44 sional standards under paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section.
45 (b) A NEST community shall be exempt from the preapproved project lot
46 split requirements under subdivision three of this section if it demon-
47 strates that it has added three percent or more to its overall housing
48 stock over the previous or current calendar year with homes from the
49 empire state homes catalog or the equivalent local substitute.
50 5. NEST community requirements. (a) Municipalities that allow by-right
51 permitting of housing constructions from plans under the catalog on the
52 equivalent lot sizes for each respective housing type shall be certified
53 by the secretary of state as NEST communities.
54 6. Consolidated local highway assistance payments. (a) The commission-
55 er of housing and community renewal, in conjunction with the commission-
56 er of transportation, shall be authorized to reduce and withhold up to
S. 10736 4
1 half of the funding received by a municipality under section ten-c of
2 the highway law, if such municipality is found not to have complied with
3 the provisions of this section. Such withheld funds shall be deposited
4 into the housing infrastructure fund created pursuant to section nine-
5 ty-nine-uu of the state finance law.
6 (b) The commissioner of housing and community renewal may make
7 payments to NEST communities, from funds held in the housing infrastruc-
8 ture fund under section ninety-nine-uu of the state finance law, to
9 support infrastructure improvement and creation of housing in such NEST
10 communities.
11 7. Rules and regulations. The department, the division of housing and
12 community renewal, and the department of transportation shall be author-
13 ized to promulgate any rules and/or regulations necessary to effectuate
14 the provisions of this section.
15 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 10-c of the highway law is amended by
16 adding a new paragraph (f) to read as follows:
17 (f) (i) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary,
18 for any state fiscal year commencing after the effective date of this
19 paragraph, the commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of
20 housing and community renewal, may reduce by not more than fifty percent
21 the apportionment otherwise payable under this section to a city, town
22 or village that is not certified as a NEST community pursuant to section
23 ninety-four-e of the executive law.
24 (ii) An amount withheld pursuant to this paragraph shall be paid to
25 the housing infrastructure fund established pursuant to section ninety-
26 nine-uu of the state finance law.
27 § 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-uu to
28 read as follows:
29 § 99-uu. Housing infrastructure fund. 1. There is hereby established
30 in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of
31 taxation and finance a special fund to be known as the "housing infras-
32 tructure fund".
33 2. The fund shall consist of amounts transferred pursuant to paragraph
34 (a) of subdivision six of section ninety-four-e of the executive law,
35 amounts appropriated thereto, and any grants, gifts or other moneys
36 received by the state for the purposes of the fund.
37 3. Moneys of the fund shall be made available to the division of hous-
38 ing and community renewal for payments to NEST communities for support
39 of infrastructure improvements and creation of housing pursuant to para-
40 graph (b) of subdivision six of section ninety-four-e of the executive
41 law.
42 4. Moneys of the fund shall be kept separate and shall not be commin-
43 gled with any other moneys in the custody of the state comptroller and
44 the commissioner of taxation and finance.
45 § 4. Residential code study. 1. The department of state shall conduct
46 a study concerning the modification and establishment of minimum pres-
47 criptive requirements necessary to include three-family, four-family,
48 five-family and six-family dwellings within the scope of the residential
49 code of New York state.
50 2. The study shall address, at a minimum:
51 (a) whether automatic fire sprinkler systems are necessary in three-
52 family, four-family, five-family and six-family dwellings where wall,
53 floor and ceiling separation assemblies provide a fire-resistance rating
54 of not less than two hours; and
55 (b) the circumstances under which an automatic sprinkler system
56 designed in accordance with NFPA 13D may provide sufficient protection,
S. 10736 5
1 together with fire-resistance, detection, alarm, egress or other meas-
2 ures, in lieu of a system designed in accordance with NFPA 13R.
3 3. No later than one year after the effective date of this section,
4 the department of state shall submit a report of its findings and recom-
5 mendations to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, and
6 the speaker of the assembly.
7 § 5. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
8 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
9 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
10 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
11 effective date.
