PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dena Tasse-Winter from Village Preservation on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
8:51:32
·
117 sec
Dena Tasse-Winter, representing Village Preservation, strongly opposes multiple provisions in the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan. She specifically criticizes the proposed changes to voluntary inclusionary zones, arguing that they would eliminate existing incentives for including affordable housing in new developments.
- Tasse-Winter explains that the current system incentivizes affordable housing by allowing developers to build 120% of allowable FAR if they include 20% affordable housing.
- The new plan would allow developers to build 100% of allowable FAR without any affordable housing requirement.
- She argues this change is a "gift to developers with nothing in return for the public" and urges the council to remove these provisions or vote down the plan.
Dena Tasse-Winter
8:51:32
Good evening.
8:51:34
I'm testifying on behalf of Village preservation, a community organization working in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.
8:51:41
We strongly oppose multiple provisions in city of yes for housing opportunity and urge the council to remove these provisions or vote it down.
8:51:49
One particularly pernicious aspect of this plan is the proposed changes in voluntary inclusionary zones, where city of guests would actually eliminate existing incentives for including affordable housing in new development.
8:52:00
Currently, in these zones, developers can only build 90% of the allowable residential FAR if they do not include any affordable housing.
8:52:09
To incentivize developments including affordable housing, developers can build the full 100% of residential FAR only if they also add an additional 20% of affordable housing on top of it, resulting in a building with a 120% of the allowable residential floor area.
8:52:25
City of Yext would throw this away and allow developers to build full 100% of allowable FAR without having to include any affordable housing whatsoever.
8:52:35
Why?
8:52:35
When we have an affordable housing crisis, would we eliminate a strong incentive to include new affordable housing and new developments?
8:52:43
And simply give away floor area to developers to build more luxury condos.
8:52:48
In attempting to justify this, the city has said that in these zones, the new, quote, universal affordability preference would apply in which developers could choose to add 20% or more additional affordable housing on top of the market rate development.
8:53:03
But under this plan, there is absolutely no requirement that they do so.
8:53:07
And the existing incentive for including affordable housing holding back 10% of the allowable market rate FAR would disappear.
8:53:14
This is simply a gift to developers with nothing in return for the public.
8:53:18
This provision must be rethought.
8:53:21
We adamantly oppose raising the allowable FAR for purely market rate developments in voluntary inclusionary zones, and so should you.
8:53:28
Thank you very much.
