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City Charter Revision: Where Land Use Fits In

Issue Brief last updated March 10, 2010

Mayor Bloomberg has announced the appointment of a City Charter revision commission. While its review of term limits may initially grab the most attention, the commission will be looking at something else just as vital to the city’s future: land use and the process through which property owners, residents and the government decide what gets built in New York City.

The new Pratt Center issue brief "City Charter Revision: Where Land Use Fits In" outlines the major land use challenges the new commission must confront: 

  • The City Planning Commission has ceased to plan
  • The City Charter's aspiration to community-based planning has not been fulfilled 
  • Attempts to promote "fair share" of burdens have fallen short
  • Side agreements to land use decisions have proliferated without disclosure or enforcement

A renewed and independent role for the City Planning Commission, substantive support for community-based planning, an updating of fair-share to meet current realities, and disclosure and enforcement for side agreements are all essential measures for the new City Charter commission to implement.

PrattCenter_CharterBrief.pdf

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Pratt Center Calls for Inclusive City Charter Process

Testimony last updated April 6, 2010

On Tuesday, April 6, the Pratt Center submitted testimony to the New York City Charter Review Commission, highlighting the need for an inclusive, accessible and transparent process and the vital importance of land use -- how planning and zoning get done in New York City - among the areas the commission will need to address.

The Pratt Center called for: 

  • Comprehensive planning 
  • Meaningful community participation
  • Fair share
  • Committments to communities

See Janelle Farris testify at the April 6 City Charter Review Commission Hearing (starts at 57:00)

Click below to read the testimony. 

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City Charter Revision

Past Project last updated June 23, 2010

As the New York City Charter Revision Commission meets to rewrite the document that governs New York City, the Pratt Center has been the city's leading advocate for reform to the city's land use process.

NEW: Tell the City Charter Commission fair share must be fixed this year.

Read the Pratt Center's June 24 testimony to the City Charter Revision Commission.

Comprehensive, Inclusive City Planning: What NYC Needs Now

Since the 1930s, charter review commissions have recognized that New York City needs to map out the course of its future growth, through an impartial body and transparent process. Under the current charter, the City Planning Commission (CPC) must detail its zoning and planning policies and describe proposals for implementing them.

But while the City Planning Commission was created to guide comprehensive city planning in the public interest, it is not fulfilling this basic part of its job description. Instead, the mayorally controlled Department of City Planning (DCP) calls the shots on land use, and redraws the city’s map at will. While CPC sometimes modifies DCP’s zoning proposals, it invariably approves them. Under the current charter, the two bodies work hand in hand, in structual alignment.

The result is that unlike other major U.S. cities, New York lacks a road map for future development. The city is inadequately prepared for growth – and neighborhoods pay the price when development overloads their streets, schools and services. Too often, developers drive the land use process for their own benefit. In the absence of a forward-looking, publicly developed plan, government agencies do not know where their resources will be needed. And when communities attempt their own planning, under charter Sec, 197-a, they have no way to connect their efforts with the city’s own plans. Opposition to land use proposals frequently arises out of fear impacts won’t adequately be addressed.

The City Planning Commission should create and enforce a planning framework, to make sure that rezonings promoted by the Department of City Planning serve neighborhoods and the city as a whole.

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City Charter Revision Commission Land Use Expert Forum

Testimony last updated June 24, 2010

The City Charter’s land use provisions center on one fundamental principle: New York City needs to map out the course of its future growth, through an impartial and transparent process. However, under the current version of the charter such long-term planning for the city as a whole has not taken place. The charter puts the City Planning Commission in charge of long-term comprehensive planning, but that commission has come to narrow its focus to reviews of individual proposals for zoning map changes put forth by property holders and the Department of City Planning.

The absence of comprehensive planning leaves New York City without the foundation for sound future growth. Neighborhoods pay the price when development overloads their streets, schools and services. Government agencies do not know where their resources will be needed. When communities attempt their own planning, under charter Sec, 197-a, they have no way to connect their efforts with the city’s own plans. And developers themselves have little certainty that infrastructure and services will be adequate to support their projects.

Meanwhile other major cities in the U.S. and around the world engage in comprehensive planning, with strong public involvement. For example, civic, community, labor, business and other groups in partnership with government are currently revising the London plan, deciding the principles for Greater London’s growth.

New York City has taken an important preliminary step through the establishment of the Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, which through PlaNYC has set ambitious objectives for improving the city’s environment and reducing its carbon footprint. But PlaNYC is a vision, not a plan. Problematically, it has been developed without either meaningful public participation or a way to ensure city agencies follow through to achieve PlaNYC’s important goals.

The Pratt Center would like to ask the Charter Revision Commission to step up to this historic opportunity and bring inclusive, comprehensive planning to New York City.

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