The Daily Dirt: City proposes rules for housing fast track

"In November, voters approved the housing fast-track, a condensed version of the city's land use review process. The fast-track will be available to some projects proposed in the 12 community districts with the lowest rates of affordable housing development. To be eligible, a housing project must be (at least) subject to the affordability requirements under the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. Such projects will avoid City Council review during the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or Ulurp."

"The proposed methodology relies on two metrics. The first: The number of new affordable housing units added to a community district over a five-year period. New units are counted if a regulatory agreement or restrictive declaration has been signed and a permit has been issued by the Department of Buildings. Requiring both of those milestones ensures that new affordable units are sufficiently far along in the development process that they are reasonably certain to be delivered, the proposed rules state."

"The second: The total number of housing units in a district at the start of each five-year cycle, based on the latest Census (plus or minus any units built or demolished in the intervening years, based on DOB records). To establish the development rate in each district, the number of new units will be divided by the total number of housing units in the district."

Voters approved a housing fast-track that shortens land-use review and lets certain projects bypass City Council review. The fast-track applies to projects in 12 districts with the lowest five-year affordable housing development rates and requires projects to be subject to Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. Local community board and borough president will review projects concurrently for 60 days. City will measure new affordable housing every five years; first period: July 1, 2021–June 30, 2026. The Department of City Planning proposed counting new affordable units once regulatory agreements are signed and DOB permits issued, then dividing by the district's total housing units to calculate the development rate.

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