By Michael V. Cusenza
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. on Monday announced his recommendation to approve with conditions the NYC Department of City Planning’s “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” zoning text amendment.
“Queens and New York City as a whole are facing housing and affordability crises the likes of which haven’t been seen in generations … It is abundantly clear that the only realistic solution to these crises is to build more affordable housing as rapidly and strategically as possible,” Richards wrote in his recommendation.
If enacted, this zoning text amendment would expand opportunities for housing across the city by allowing more housing and a wider variety of housing types in every neighborhood. The goal of the proposal is to address the housing shortage and high cost of housing in New York City.
The recommendation to approve City of Yes for Housing Opportunity with conditions comes less than three weeks after Borough President Richards held an Aug. 8 public hearing to hear from and question the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP), as well as dozens of residents from across Queens who offered testimony.
“Our residents believe the proposals are far too broad and do not adequately address the uniqueness of all of the many communities in our city and particularly in our borough,” long-time Community Board 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton testified at that Aug. 8 hearing.
Specific conditions laid out in Richards’ recommendation include:
DCP should continue working with other city agencies such as HPD, FDNY, DOB, and DEP to evaluate increased residential density and its impacts on borough infrastructure — such as school enrollment and classroom capacity, hospital bed availability, municipal service delivery and more — and publish their findings quarterly on their website; • Parking creation tied to developments in major transit hubs such as downtown Jamaica, Flushing, Long Island City and other similar locations should remain optional, in order to increase housing opportunities there. However, parking mandates should still be required in Outer Transit-Oriented Development Areas (OTODAs) as described in the “Parking Mandates” proposal. The Long Island Railroad (LIRR) serves OTODAs like eastern and southeastern Queens, but service is infrequent and many commuters must drive to LIRR stations; • DCP and HPD must collaborate to strengthen affordability options within the Town Center Zoning proposal. Creating new two- to four-story residential buildings in mixed-use lower-density areas is appropriate to increase housing stock, but there is a concern most new units would be market-rate. HPD should work with the City to establish and allocate funds to support subsidies and homeownership with these new development types; • The Mayoral Administration should establish a minimum $1-billion fund for the Basement Apartment Pilot Program through state, city, and federal sources, and the City Council should enact legislation such as a transparency bill to monitor the creation of new basement units and prevent unfair enforcement and targeting; • The Mayoral Administration should establish an Amnesty Program for homeowners to legally convert or renovate their properties for basement apartments within a reasonable amount of time; • DCP should exclude garage apartments or conversions from the ADU section in locations with existing infrastructure challenges, such as areas susceptible to inland flooding, or where garage conversions would exacerbate concerns around the capacity of the location’s aging sewer and electrical infrastructure; and • DCP should highlight all overlapping goals within their “City of Yes” text amendments such as sustainability, economic development and housing by showcasing examples on their website and within educational materials.
