By Michael V. Cusenza
The City Council Common Sense Caucus joined citywide civic groups and concerned residents this week in filing a lawsuit to halt the City Charter Revision Commission’s ballot proposals that the suit claims would “radically change the city’s land use process, including taking away local input on housing and other development.”
According to the lawsuit, the CRC violated the State Environmental Quality Review Act and the City Environmental Quality Review in approving the ballot proposals without conducting a mandated environmental review, which would have provided voters with information before they head to the polls.
In July, the CRC released its interim final report, including five proposals that the panel may choose to put to Big Apple voters: four on housing and land use, and one on elections.
In its first question, the report proposes new fast track public processes for affordable housing. First, it would create a new action at the Board of Standards and Appeals that could grant relief from zoning for publicly financed affordable housing projects. It would also establish a new, streamlined public review procedure for applications that deliver affordable housing in the community districts that permit the least affordable housing, according to the CRC.
In its second question, the report proposed to create a new Expedited Land Use Review Procedure for certain land use changes.
In its third question, the report proposed replacing the mayor’s veto at the end of ULURP with a new Appeals Board, made up of the relevant borough president, the speaker of the City Council, and the mayor.
In its fourth question, the CRC proposed centralizing and digitizing the City Map.
In its fifth question, the report proposes moving the City’s primary and general election dates to even-numbered years, when presidential elections are held, to improve voter turnout, make local democracy more inclusive, and save taxpayer money.
“In its zeal to push through these protocols, the Commission wholly ignored a critically significant and legally required step. Despite the wide scale land use impact that implementation of these proposed policies will have, the Commission conducted no environmental review of its proposals whatsoever. Yet, such review was essential here, because without the benefit of knowing what environmental impacts of these far-reaching land use changes will be, the voters will be deprived of vital statutorily mandated information needed for them to cast an informed, intelligent, transparent and democratically trustworthy vote,” the lawsuit alleges.
City Council leadership ripped the CRC proposals last month.
“Trying to deceive voters into giving away their power in a democracy through misleading ballot proposals that hide their true impact is fundamentally undemocratic,” said Council spokesperson Julia Agos. “Mayor Adams’ Commission could have offered honestly worded ballot proposals to give voters the choice to make informed decisions, but it chose not to and instead is attempting to trick voters with buzzwords and slogans. We as New Yorkers shouldn’t be surprised that this effort to give the public’s power to developers comes from Mayor Adams, someone who has been selling our city out to Trump and aiding in his authoritarianism at nearly every turn. We will take action to protect democracy from Mayor Adams’ dishonest ballot proposals, which would strip Black, Latino and Asian neighborhoods of their power to secure more affordable housing and community investments.”
