WHITE PLAINS – Westchester County government has reached the 540 unit mark for fair and affordable housing in the pipeline, over 70 percent of the way toward the federal goal of developing 750 units of such housing in eligible or mostly white communities over a seven year period.

In the fourth quarter report filed by County Executive Robert Astorino with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the county had 206 housing units approved by the federal monitor at the end of 2011 – 182 with all financing in place and `08 with building permits in place. Under the terms of the settlement inked under the previous county administration, the county was required to have 100 units with financing and 50 with building permits by the end of 2011.

The settlement calls for 200 units with financing and 125 with building permits by the end of 2012. Astorino said with the strong housing pipeline in place, the county expects to meet those benchmarks by spring.

All of the 31 eligible communities have sites under review and more than 200 site reviews have taken place.

Astorino said $7 million in federal funding has been blocked because HUD has failed to approve the county’s Analysis of Impediments five times. He said that has led to layoffs in the county planning department, a reduction in support for non-profit housing agencies and a loss of community investment in the county’s poorest communities.