Planning Extends AIA Zoning Public Review

The Dept. of City Planning has extended the public-review period for the zoning text changes proposed by the American Institute of Architects. Although Planning intended to have a public hearing on AIA’s proposal on February 13th, the hearing has now been postponed. The institute’s amendments to the city’s Zoning Resolution are going through a process called non-ULURP that involves most of the same things as ULURP—such as a land-use review application and a public-review period—but aren’t subject to the same time frame as ULURP (which, for example, requires that community boards hold public hearings on a certified application within 60 days). Because the AIA changes are coming from a private entity and not the city, in other words, the burden of convincing the public, community boards, the city, etc. of its merits rests with AIA. Planning’s extension of the review period (the department hasn’t yet scheduled a new date for the hearing) means that the public has more time to learn about the proposal, and the Historic Districts Council is going to have an informational session about it this Wednesday.
AIA’s Zoning Tweaks Draw Heat [Brownstoner]
Proposed Zoning [AIA]