Legislation To Boost Community-Based Planning
A new law is going to be introduced to the City Council that may radically alter how planning initiatives like rezonings are undertaken in New York City. The legislation, which is a byproduct of the Municipal Arts Society’s longstanding Campaign for Community-Based Planning, will seek to extend the influence of 197-a plans, which are produced…
A new law is going to be introduced to the City Council that may radically alter how planning initiatives like rezonings are undertaken in New York City. The legislation, which is a byproduct of the Municipal Arts Society’s longstanding Campaign for Community-Based Planning, will seek to extend the influence of 197-a plans, which are produced by communities in order to influence the shape of things to come in their neighborhoods. “Through extensive public outreach and community deliberation, 197-a plans establish a guide for city agencies to act by articulating a wide range of community priorities,” says Planning spokesperson Jennifer Torres. “Throughout the city…197-a plans have resulted in actions that reflect the community’s vision.” Be that as it may, in real life 197-a’s have zero legislative weight. “197-a has been flawed because it’s basically the city saying that neighborhoods can have a say in development but in fact it has no force of law,” says Queens Councilman Tony Avella, who will be one of the lawmakers introducing the bill. “A good example of this is that the Council recently voted to approve Columbia’s expansion, which contradicts the neighborhood’s 197-a.” (Brooklyn 197-a’s include those that have already been adopted for Red Hook, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, as well as one that’s in the works in Sunset Park.)
The legislation would “affect the whole constellation of city planning initiatives,” says Eve Baron, director of the Municipal Arts Society’s Planning Center. Baron says that “on paper, 197-a is great because it’s community-initiated and consensus driven” and “a way to say, “‘This is our vision for the future of the neighborhood, based on need and aspiration.'” The problem is not with 197-a’s intended purpose, she notes, but with its efficacy. “While it’s potentially a great tool, it’s ultimately only an advisory document,” she notes. Baron says the Campaign for Community-Based Planning also wants to right some of the perceived problems with 197-a, including the fact that there’s no central pool of funding available for neighborhoods to draw on when they want to develop them and that while 197-a’s tend to be driven by community boards, CBs may or may not represent all the interests in a given area. Avella says he’s ironing out the legalese in the bill now and hopes to introduce it to the Council by summer. “There’s going to be a fight over this since the real estate industry controls this town, and they’re not going to be happy about anything that might limit their ability to build and make money,” he says. “This’ll be a way to have planning happen from the bottom up, rather than from the top down.”
Campaign for Community-Based Planning [Municipal Arts Society]
197-a [NYC.gov]
“the reality is that CBs are usually made up of a bunch of loud-mouthed control freaks”
Exactly. The people who sign up to be involved on a community board are not the types to be open-minded and listen to everyone and have a balanced viewpoint that considers all needs of a community and the entire economy. People who join CB’s are control-freaks and are convinced they Know Better. The Know-Better people are a scourge of the planet. These are the people who do not listen to anybody or anything but their own emotions and subjective uneducated opinions. And who serve no needs but their own.
This makes me shudder. This would be like turning all our neighborhoods into giant coops. YUCK. We all know what coop boards are like.
I think it should be noted that one of the other pieces of this draft legislation is creation of a citywide planning framework, which would address the “fair share” issues that come into play here.
The needs of the community are only one aspect of a sound plan. You also need to take into account the needs for the city as a whole. If all planning were community based, then there would be no power plants, no waste transfer stations, no sewage treatment plans, no bus depots, etc. That’s why 197-a plans need to be advisory only. They are useful as an articulation of community desires and needs, but then those need to be balanced against city -wide initiatives and needs in order to craft a robust plan that will be good for the City as a whole.
“Frankly, community boards should meet somewhere like Hawaii. The price of sending everybody away would be made up in new development and amenities.”
What? You have me stumped on that final comment Zach.
Since when are CBs some how blocking new development (perhaps out of scale, but not NB) and certainly not new amenities (unless you count strip clubs and sex shops).
Mr. B posted this a while back, but Bklyn CB7’s recently completed 197-a seems like a perfect example of how thoughtful planning might work if DCP is listening. http://bklyncb7197a.blogspot.com/
I’ve been to my share of CB meetings (Brooklyn 1 and Manhattan 9). 197-a is a *disaster*. I’ve made this argument before, but the only purpose it serves is to provide a vent for the sort of outrage that gets guys like Tony Avella elected. Neighborhoods would vote themselves into stagnation and death if you let them. How long until every neighborhood in New York blocked every major development project? A week?
You want this much local control? Look at suburban North Jersey, or Orange County NY. Infrastructure improvements never happen, because they can’t be coordinated between the disparate towns and townships and villages and what-have-you, and *nobody* wants a treatment plant in their neighborhood. NIMBY to the tenth power. Frankly, community boards should meet somewhere like Hawaii. The price of sending everybody away would be made up in new development and amenities.
It’s anonymous. Sure, someone could subpoena your IP address but I doubt seriously this will come to that. Come on; “man up” (even if your a gal).
q man, I wouldn’t want to put my family at risk.
I agree with g_man, let’s hear which CB 10:43.
Any Bklyn CB7 meetings I have been to have had a general cross section of the various neighborhoods in the district, demographics, race and…age.
I’d rather see a bunch of so-called “busy bodies” that residents who sit on their hands, except when posting anon on blogs like this one.
Really charming generalization, 10:43. Since you mention one specific community board (“my community board”) and you are posting anonymously anyway, how ’bout you tell us who you are referring to?