You, too, can understand ULURP
It sounds like something your mother told you to never do in public, but the little-understood Uniform Land Use Review Procedure is a powerful force in the world of New York real estate.
Every inch of New York City, both public and private land, is granted a municipal identity through city rules that dictate what can be done where.
If you want the rules on a section of land waived or modified you have to ask permission - from just about everyone. The procedure is outlined in the city charter, and the details are fleshed out in the City Planning Commission's own set of rules.
The city charter lists situations that require a ULURP. The process is invoked when the city sells or leases property and before any changes to the city map. If you own a building that is zoned as a factory, you have to submit a ULURP application and have that zoning changed before you can use the building as a house. But Queens Borough President Spokesperson Dan Andrews offers a succinct summary. "Usually it has to do with building something," he said.
Small-d democracy in the big-c city
Land use applications are submitted to the Department of City Planning, which checks that an application is complete and then launches its ULURP adventure. The application is delivered to those of the city's five borough presidents and 59 community boards whose neighborhoods could be affected, but the community boards act first.
Bronx board 4 got the application to build the Yankees' second stadium. The rezoning of 125th Street was submitted to Manhattan boards 11, 10 and 9, and a Department of Transportation application to add stores in the terminals of the Staten Island Ferry was reviewed by community boards 1 in Manhattan and Staten Island.
After receiving a land use application, a community board is required to hold a public hearing in the neighborhood affected by the proposal. Members then vote on the board's support for the plan.
Manhattan board 10's Stanley Gleaton said that members shouldn't underestimate the long-term consequences of their votes. A negative response from a community board, however, is not enough to stop a proposal. Gleaton's advice is based on experience that includes recent changes in 125th Street's zoning rules, which are still a source of controversy.
"Look into the future and have some vision," he said, speaking after a heated public forum in the new, multi-story state building on the corner of 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. "If you don't want a high-rise, you wouldn't ULURP a zoning with a high-rise."
A bigger 'd'
After the community boards have voted, the office of the Borough President makes its recommendation. Unlike the volunteers on the community boards, Borough presidents are career politicians with a professional staff.
Andrews said that Queens BP Helen Marshal doesn't always support the recommendation of the community board, but he couldn't recall a time when she had made a recommendation opposing the local groups.
"The community board is the government in the neighborhood, and they know the issues better than anyone," Andrews said.
Richard Bearak, Deputy Land Use Secretary in the Brooklyn Borough President's office, said that BP Marty Markowitz considers community input as well as his own policies on issues like affordable housing when considering a proposal.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office said they actively seek out the perspective of community groups. Stringer is also working with the department of city planning to submit his own rezoning plans, intended to protect existing neighborhoods in West Harlem and the Lower East Side.
Like the community board's recommendation, the Borough President's judgment is non-binding. However, if both a local board and a borough president oppose a proposal, the City Council is required to intervene before it reaches the City Planning Commission.
Otherwise, it goes to the commission next. The Director of City Planning heads the commission, which also includes representatives of the mayor and each of the borough presidents.
The City Council and Mayor's office may review an application after the City Planning Commission's hearing, but for all but the most extensive and controversial proposals the planning commission hearing is where an application's fate is sealed.
I've got the money, but you've got all the time
Steve Ross, CEO of the development corporation Related Companies, recently commented that doing construction in New York is more expensive and time consuming than anywhere else in the country. Ross did not mention the land use review process by name, but Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber, appearing together with Ross on a public panel, talked about the importance of speeding up the approval process while also retaining community input.
The levels of government that weigh in on a ULURP application are each given a maximum time limit in which to form their opinion. The community boards have 60 days to evaluate a proposal before they vote. The borough president must then submit its recommendation within 30 days. The City Planning Commission may wait up to 60 days after receiving an application from a borough president before holding its own vote. If the City Council gets involved, it then has 50 days to act.
Bearak said the lengthy, multilayered public review process compensates for the size of a city like New York. A resident who doesn't hear about a community board hearing, for example, might still write a letter to the planning council months later.
"A lot of times people only hear about it when it goes before the city council," he said. "At least they get involved at the end of the process."
tagged with: borough presidents, city government, community boards, Craft 2, democracy, explainer, land use, New York City, ULURP
<< Earth Fest '09 Tamil Diaspora Protest Violence in Sri Lanka >>