NYC Charter Revision Commission Proposes Land-Use Rule Changes
The 13-member group of the New York City Charter Revision Commission recently released a 104-page report laying out several proposals being considered of reforms to the city’s governing document. A “legally independent” group from city hall that is Chaired by Richard Buery, CFO of the charity Robin Hood and a former deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio, commission members include former City Planning directors Anita Laremont and Carl Weisbrod; Partnership for New York City President and CEO Kathryn Wylde; Tech:NYC CEO Julie Samuels; and YMCA of Greater New York President Sharon Greenberger. Preliminary proposals related to housing took aim at the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a seven-month-long process that governs land-use changes. The commission’s proposal considers a “fast-track” review for modest projects that would exempt small or affordable developments from ULURP.” The idea of consolidating the current back-to-back two-month reviews by community boards and borough presidents into a single month, or by giving a final say to borough presidents, rather than the city council, on certain projects” is also being considered, as well as the setting of housing growth targets for each neighborhood, thereby creating a mechanism for enforcing housing goals, and charter changes could fast-track projects for those districts failing to meet the set goals. Allowing developers to appeal a no-vote by the city council on a proposed project to “some new body that would include the mayor and local borough president — or letting the City Planning Commission override council actions by a supermajority vote are other proposals being considered by the commission. Touching upon the city’s elections, some ideas being considered include nonpartisan, “open” primaries, similar to systems already in place in California, Washington and many cities. It would allow voters to cast ballots for any candidate in the primary, then allow some subset of finishers to advance to the general elections. Another consideration intended to boost voter turnout in local elections is to shift elections to even years by aligning them with presidential or statewide contests — a move that would likely require a new state law in addition to the charter change. The commission’s report also included proposals being considered in the areas of climate policy, payments to the city’s nonprofit vendors, and changes that could ease the placement of electric vehicle chargers on streets and sidewalks. A final set of proposals will be narrowed down by the commission’s staff after another set of hearings this summer, and if approved by the commission’s members will appear on the November general election ballot.