The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a letter to Westchester saying its recently submitted housing settlement plan needs to provide more concrete details.

The letter was issued yesterday to Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett.

Housing and Urban Development Department spokesman, Brian Sullivan said, "While the County did a pretty good job of expressing the problem, they were silent on overcoming obstacles to fair housing." He added, "We have concluded at this point that the report is substantially incomplete and unacceptable.

With Westchester County looking for for ways to implement plans to build affordable housing units in predominantly white neighborhoods in order to comply with a housing desegregation agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, two Westchester County Legislators are proposing a law that would convert accessory apartments into affordable housing.

The proposed law is being sponsored by Legislators William Burton of Ossining and Peter Harckham of Katonah.

Westchester County today submitted a revised implementation plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and to the federal monitor overseeing the county’s compliance with last year’s settlement of the fair and affordable housing lawsuit.

The revisions were produced after a series of discussions with James E. Johnson, the federal monitor overseeing the settlement, and representatives of HUD. Johnson asked for the revisions in February, saying the county’s initial submission lacked enough specific details in certain areas.