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Land Use, Housing & Zoning
Letter to the City Planning Commission on Green Fast Track for Housing
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, February 08, 2024, the following resolution passed with a vote of 35 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
Manhattan Community Board Five is at the core of Midtown and the Central Business District. The vast majority of developments in our district are developed as-of-right and this proposal would not change the ability for developers to develop a site with conforming use and compliant zoning envelope.
The small portion of developments require a special permit because they do not fall within the permitted use or bulk and developers are seeking a waiver to build a taller, bulkier project or a project with a non-conforming use and therefore must undergo a zoning permit review process by DCP, BSA or HPD. Under the proposed fast track, some non-compliant or non-conforming projects would no longer require review, provided that their energy systems are electric.
Buildings up to 250 dwelling units would fall under the new program. The suggested modification may encourage more extreme proposals, allowing them to advance unchecked. We note that a 250-dwelling unit residential building is not modest even by Manhattan standards and therefore this proposal will concern medium to large scale projects. This could result in an unmitigated cumulative impact of projects, while also stripping the community board of its ability to comment on initiatives already labeled as having a detrimental effect.
We believe the Green Fast Track if implemented as proposed would hinder our work as a community board in evaluating and advocating for improvements of development projects in our district.
Alternatively, we support CEQR reform in order for any EAS to be performed more quickly and more economically. EAS should be performed for all the non-as-of-right development projects because the data produced by an EAS is useful for the Department of City Planning, the neighbors and the Community Board to evaluate a development project going through environmental review and to mitigate potential impacts.
We further note that green buildings will be mandated by 2029 and therefore we would be giving up a tremendous ability to be partners in our own future for a meager benefit that we will acquire anyways in 5 years.
However, by eliminating the entire EAS process for this class of buildings, there isn’t data for which neighbors and Community Boards can point to bolster their rationales for positions on mitigating and improving developments. Therefore, for all the reasons stated, Manhattan Community Board Five urges the City Planning Commission to vote against the proposed “Green Fast Track”.
Green Fast Track materials:
- a EAS will not be conducted under CEQR if the development project meets the proposed criteria of Type II (the fast track) for
City Planning Commission/Department of City Planning,
the Board of Standards and Appeals,
the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and
the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination
- creation of a Type II/fast track within CEQR is already authorized under SEQRA
- the criteria for projects to be eligible for Type II (not conducting a EAS) are:
- development sites in R5-R10 Residential, all Commercial, and all Manufacturing zoning districts that are projects of 250 housing units or less and
a maximum of 25,000 square feet of community facility space,
a maximum of 25,000 square feet of commercial space,
and the combined “non-residential” space cannot exceed 35,000 square feet
- development sites in R1-R4 Residential zoning districts that are projects of 175 housing units or less and
a maximum of 10,000 square feet of commercial space and
a maximum of 10,000 square feet of community facility space
- The completed projects cannot use fossil fuels for the operation of the building and the HVAC and hot water systems must be all electric
- Development project cannot exceed 250 feet in height and
cannot exceed 50 feet in height if the development project is directly adjacent to an open space or park
- The development project must have Landmarks Preservation Commission sign off of no impact on any designated or calendared landmark and
for development sites within 90 feet of a designated landmark or historic district, a Construction Protection Plan must be created under Department of Buildings guidelines
- Project developers must test and report noise levels are below 70 decibels at all locations within the development site and be in compliance with the E designation of Zoning Resolution 11-15
- Project developers must test for air quality and air pollutants, be in compliance with the E designation of Zoning Resolution 11-15 for development sites located within 1000 feet of a NYS permitted air emissions sources or within 400 feet of a NYC permitted, formerly permitted, or unpermitted air emissions source, and
be in compliance with Title 62, Chapter 5, Appendix B of the NYC Rules for Industrial Air Quality Checklist
- Construction of the development does not exceed 2 years
- No development site can be adjacent to the roadways listed in the Zoning Resolution Appendix H or adjacent to a road tunnel vent