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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Daniel Golliher, Founder of Maximum New York, proposing a Council supermajority requirement to block housing
2:54:47
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132 sec
Daniel Golliher, founder of Maximum New York, proposes amending charter section 197d to require a three-quarters City Council supermajority vote to disapprove any new housing supply proposal while a housing emergency is declared. He argues this holds the Council accountable to its own emergency declaration and shifts the default assumption from 'no' to 'yes' for needed housing.
- Golliher recommends specific changes to section 197d during a declared housing emergency:
- Disapproval of new housing supply requires a 3/4 supermajority vote.
- Approval happens by default without such a vote.
- Modifications reducing unit count still need majority approval.
- This aims to incentivize solving the supply shortage and correctly places the burden of argument on those opposing housing.
Daniel Golliher
2:54:47
My name is Daniel Gollier.
2:54:48
I'm the founder of the Civic School Maximum New York, and my students include city and state employees as well as a wide cross section of New York City.
2:54:56
I've submitted my full testimony electronically, which includes five broad recommendations, but I want to highlight one recommendation for the commission today, which is actually something that Cormac already mentioned.
2:55:05
Section one ninety seven d of the charter cover covers city council review of land use decisions rendered by the city planning commission.
2:55:12
I recommend amending this section to reflect the reality of the housing shortage, which means, among other things, while the council has declared a legal housing emergency, it shall have limited authority to disapprove of new housing supply only.
2:55:26
If the city really is in a housing emergency, as the council has dutifully declared in our administrative code for at least fifty years, I believe the charter should hold them by mandated procedure to their word.
2:55:38
City and state law acknowledge that the emergency is created by a severe shortage of housing supply, particularly private residential construction, and the charter should facilitate rapid supply of this nature.
2:55:49
To that end, during a council declared housing emergency, I think section one ninety seven d could say the following with regard to any decision that proposes new housing supply.
2:55:59
One, the council shall only disapprove a decision with a three quarters vote of all council members.
2:56:04
Otherwise, the decision will be considered approved by default.
2:56:08
Two, the council may approve a decision with modification with majority vote of all council members if those modifications do not decrease estimated housing unit production.
2:56:17
While the city council will likely not be pleased by these amendments, to put it mildly, they are appropriate given two things.
2:56:23
One, the council's own declaration of an emergency for the past five decades, and two, the lack of major action to solve the same emergency.
2:56:32
These changes would also provide the council with an incentive to get us out of the supply induced emergency so that they could reclaim broader land use approval authority.
2:56:40
These changes would structurally alter discretionary housing proposals from the current default no that must be argued to a yes, which privileges member deference already discussed, to a default yes that must be argued to a no.
2:56:53
This places the argumentative burden correctly given our housing crisis.
2:56:57
Thank you for your consideration.