Image Credit: City Planning Commission

NYC Engage announced with ULURP restart. On July 15, 2020, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the City Planning Commission will start holding remote hearings, beginning with an August 3, 2020 Review Session and a public meeting on August 5, 2020. The Mayor also announced the launch of “NYC Engage,” a new online portal intended to facilitate public engagement during the remote public hearings. The last time that the City Planning Commissioned convened was during a March 2, 2020 review session.

Earlier this week, CityLand published a piece questioning the sustained pause on ULURP and the challenges posed by remote ULURP hearings. Commentary from public officials, community members and real estate industry leaders discuss the importance of re-starting ULURP and the readiness of their respective staffs’ to adapt to the new remote operations. To read that piece, click here.

During the August 3 review session, the City Planning Commission will discuss applications set to commence public review and applications set to be voted on in the following meeting. Aside from publicly convening, City Planning Commission meetings will follow the same rules as they did pre-pandemic regarding the format, need for a quorum, scheduling, and for public testimony.

Commentary

Mayor de Blasio stated, “This pandemic brought so much to a halt as we worked to save lives. Now, we are taking a safe approach to re-starting this important land use review process.” Deputy Mayor Vicki Been added, “with our city beginning to reopen and work underway to help the economy recover, resuming New York City’s public land use review process is vital to creating the affordable homes and job opportunities New Yorkers need in their neighborhoods.”

City Planning Commission Chari Marisa Lago stated, “As the CPC returns to tis regularly scheduled meetings, the health and safety of the public, the commissioners and the staff of the Department of City Planning remain a top priority. Restarting public review remotely will help us stay safe and advance our goals of making New York a more affordable, equitable, resilient and healthy city for all.”

Council Member Adrienne Adams, Chair of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings and Dispositions said, “I am thrilled that the land use review process will resume ensuring public input and expeditious evaluation for the benefit of all New York City communities.”

Council Member Francisco Moya, Chair of the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises said, “I’m heartened to see the land use process resume and an appropriate focus on ensuring that all community members can provide public review and feedback. Public oversight is the backbone for our land us review procedure and its’ key to guaranteeing communities have a say in shaping their future. I believe boards have done well to prepare for remote participation and I look forward to seeing this democratic process pick up where we left off.”

For New York City-specific COVID-19 updates, the City established an information site with updates from all major administrative agencies. Agencies include the Department of Buildings, City Planning, Citywide Administrative Services, the Department of Finance and the Department of Transportation among others. You can find that page here.

By: Jason Rogovich (Jason Rogovich is the CityLaw Fellow and New York Law School Graduate, Class of 2019)