Proposed Charter Amendment: Speed Up Street Safety Projects, Disposition of Unused City Property, Office Leasing

Street Safety Projects

Currently, local law requires City agencies to follow certain procedures before implementing a “major transportation project.” Major transportation projects are defined as projects that realign a roadway, including by removing a traffic lane or parking lane, for over four consecutive blocks or 1,000 feet, and projects that add or remove a bike lane of any length. As part of this process, any agency implementing a major transportation project (most often the Department of Transportation, or DOT) must notify various officials and the local Community Board and give a presentation to the Community Board upon request. The agency must also consult with other agencies, including the Police Department, Fire Department, the Department of Small Business Services, and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. The Fire Department must also confer with affected firehouses near the major transportation project. The agency implementing the project must certify that all of these consultations took place. These certification and presentation requirements can cause delays in the implementation of street safety projects.

The proposed Charter amendment would eliminate any requirement that an agency that is consulted about a major transportation project must confer with anyone other than the head of such agency. Thus, the Fire Department would no longer be required to confer with affected firehouses when DOT proposes a major transportation project. In addition, this proposal would clarify that DOT may determine that there is substantial necessity for immediate implementation of a project to preserve public safety based on factors including crash data, so that an agency can start work on such a project prior to making a required notification to the affected City Council member, Senator, Assemblymember, and Community Board.

Finally, this proposal would provide that failure to consult with an agency would not affect the validity of a project. If this amendment were enacted, DOT would still be required to consult with other agencies before implementing a major transportation project, but technical errors or inadvertent failures to follow that process could not be a basis to stop or rescind the implementation of a street safety project.

Disposition of City Property

This proposal would: (1) enable disposition of City lots no more than 10,000 square feet and of development rights located on City-owned landmark sites to be subject to the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure, (2) make permanent a program that allows undevelopable lots to be sold to an adjacent owner without public auction, and (3) remove one of the public hearings presently required after the City has already received authorization to dispose of its property.

Currently, the Charter requires DCAS to follow various procedures in selling, leasing, or otherwise disposing of City-owned property. With limited exceptions, sales, leases, and other dispositions of City property must undergo review through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) – a seven-month review process that begins with advisory opinions from the affected Community Board and Borough President, followed by review and votes at the City Planning Commission and City Council. Once the City has received the authority to dispose of its property, that property may be leased or sold through public auction to the highest bidder.

One exception to these requirements allows DCAS to sell certain undevelopable lots to adjacent property owners without public auction by using the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) – a review process that provides a 60-day review period for a Community Board with a public hearing, and concurrent review by the Borough President, followed by a public hearing and final decision by the City Planning Commission, but with no subsequent review by the City Council. These undevelopable lots may then be sold to the adjacent owner without a public auction, but this exception to the public auction requirement expires in 2030.

In addition, if more than two years have elapsed between the final approval of a disposition pursuant to ULURP and the execution of an agreement actually disposing of such property, the City is required to hold an additional hearing with public notice published 45 days in advance of that hearing.

This proposal would amend the disposition process in several ways. First, it would allow DCAS to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of City-owned property that is under 10,000 square feet that is not an individual landmark or that consists only of development rights on a City-owned landmark site using the expedited procedure of ELURP. Only projects that are found to not have potential significant adverse environmental impacts would be eligible for the expedited procedure described in this ballot question. If a project by its size or nature requires an environmental impact statement under state and local law, it would remain subject to the more extensive ULURP review. This change would shorten the review process for modest-sized lots of less than 10,000 square feet and any development rights above a City-owned landmark site.

Second, this proposal would make permanent the authorization for DCAS to sell certain undevelopable lots to adjacent property owners without public auction.

Third, it would remove the public hearing that is currently required when more than two years have elapsed between the Council’s approval of a disposition and the execution of an agreement to dispose of the property.

Office Acquisitions

Currently, any proposed acquisition of office space for City workers, including leases of office space in existing buildings, must undergo a process that includes notifying the local Community Board and all Borough Presidents; a hearing and vote by the City Planning Commission; and an opportunity for the City Council to disapprove the lease by a two-thirds vote. In practice, DCAS undertakes lengthy negotiations with office building owners prior to bringing a proposed acquisition to the City Planning Commission and the City Council.

This proposed Charter amendment would remove the City Planning Commission hearing and approval requirement and the City Council’s power to disapprove office acquisitions. Instead, the DCAS Commissioner would be required to make a finding that the acquisition is in the best interests of the City, to provide a notice of intent to acquire office space to the local Community Board, City Council member, and Borough President, and to notify the City Council and Comptroller after completing the acquisition.

Implementation

These proposed Charter amendments would take effect immediately upon certification that this proposal was approved by the voters, except that the proposal to make permanent the authorization for DCAS to sell certain undevelopable lots to adjacent property owners without public auction would take effect on December 31, 2030.