TESTIMONY
Vanessa Gibson, Bronx Borough President, on supporting the City of Yes Zoning Text Amendments
3:42:35
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4 min
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson supports the City of YES zoning text amendment with several recommendations and conditions.
- Proposes measures to ensure residential and commercial activities can coexist in Proposal 5
- Recommends balancing nightlife and dancing regulations with respect for public space in Proposal 9
- Supports home-based businesses in Proposal 11 but suggests limiting number of employees and notifying landlords
- Encourages including food access programs in Proposal 15 to address food deserts
- Emphasizes maintaining good manufacturing jobs while spurring new job growth in Proposal 18
Vanessa Gibson
3:42:35
Okay.
3:42:35
Great.
3:42:36
Thank you.
3:42:36
Sorry.
3:42:37
I wasn't sure if BT Mark would be was going first, but good afternoon, everyone.
3:42:42
Thank you, Chair, Kevin Riley, and the members of the committee.
3:42:45
Thank you to all the council members for the opportunity.
3:42:48
I am Bronx Borrow President Vanessa Gibson, and I'm here today to provide testimony on behalf of my administration and I to the sub committee on zoning and franchises at the city council So I wanna start by recognizing our DCP chair, Dan Goratnik, and the city planning commission, and the entire city of YES team at city planning for looking to remove hurdles, obstacles, and our zoning tech that will really cut unnecessary red tape, allow for commercial retail and manufacturing businesses to grow and adapt to based on their needs.
3:43:22
My testimony will be provided to your chair, but I do have several recommendations.
3:43:27
I proudly am able to support this proposal with a series of conditions and recommendations because I do believe the zoning for economic opportunity will help to reduce the cost of doing business in our city expanding location options as well as for our local community, larger business opportunities that will stand to benefit and foster our cities growth based on their needs rather than stringent zoning regulations.
3:43:55
So proposal number 5 We raised concerns on understanding how residential and commercial activities can coexist and co locate and ensuring that the public understands the requirements for where residential and nonresidential uses may locate.
3:44:12
Proposal number 9, supporting nightlife with common sense dancing and live entertaining.
3:44:16
Yes, we all love to dance, but we do wanna make sure that this is balanced in a way that respects people and public space, so we have recommendations on that.
3:44:27
Proposal number 11, enabling entrepreneur first shift for home occupations.
3:44:33
We support this, but we wanna recognize unintended consequences.
3:44:36
We know that most businesses will be good actors in their homes.
3:44:40
But we do pay attention to those that may abuse this right.
3:44:44
So we do believe there should be a limit to the number of people that can be in any home business.
3:44:49
We also wanna make sure that management and landlord are notified of the existence of these businesses in their homes And we wanna make sure that this can facilitate and foster growth, but also not at the expense of displacing or disrupting the lives of the residents and families that live in these particular buildings, calling attention to proposal number 15, facilitating local commercial space on residential campuses, We absolutely think that this is a good approach, but we do wanna make sure that we look at opportunities like the fresh program, making sure that on campuses with housing, we also have food access as we know many of us live and work in food deserts.
3:45:31
And also supporting the residents that are living in public housing.
3:45:34
Proposal number 18 creates new kinds of zoning districts for the future.
3:45:39
This would create new zoning districts that do not exist today and would address the disconnect with current bulk regulations in manufacturing districts.
3:45:49
We have no objection, but we do recommend that we pay attention to maintaining good manufacturing jobs here in our city as well as spurring the growth for new jobs.
3:46:01
And so in conclusion, I want to recommend and ask the city council to look deeper into the city of yes, Obviously, a lot of the recommendations coming from the Barr president.
3:46:12
We're getting from our local community boards as well, all twelve of our community boards.
3:46:16
We wanna find ways to streamline the current zoning regulations while maintaining our zoning's poor intent, which is to protect the public health the public safety, and the general welfare of all New Yorkers.
3:46:31
Urgingly addressing outdated zoning ordinances is crucial to supporting our local businesses that are truly vital to our city and the growth of our neighborhood.
3:46:40
And so with that, I thank you chair, Kevin Riley, and all the members of the city council.
3:46:44
And I look forward to working with all of you on making sure that this proposal can be the very best with these modifications and with revisions to make sure that it benefits the residents, the families, and the businesses of our beloved borough of the Bronx.
3:46:58
Thank you so much, Mister Chair.
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Lucie Levine, Representative of the Historic Districts Council, on Concerns Over Zoning Text Amendments and Their Impact on Housing, Small Businesses, and Special Purpose Districts
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Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President on updating NYC's 1961 zoning code to support modern businesses