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Q&A
Addressing council member opposition beyond comprehensive planning
0:51:50
·
3 min
Commissioner Diane Savino asks Council Member Alexa Aviles how to resolve the conflict with council members who vehemently oppose any development, even if a comprehensive plan existed.
Aviles equates the problem to the failures of fair share policies for shelters and facilities, where enforcement is lacking and powerful interests are often protected.
She argues that removing council authority entirely is too blunt an instrument and that tackling the issue of resistant members requires multiple interventions, not sacrificing the benefits council involvement brings elsewhere.
Diane Savino
0:51:50
I'm just gonna follow-up on that.
0:51:52
So first of all, thank you for coming tonight, councilwoman.
0:51:55
Assuming we had a comprehensive plan, I'm not sure exactly how we would define that because state zoning law requires us to have a comprehensive plan for zoning purposes.
0:52:03
But let's assume we created a plan that said we have 51 council districts in the City Of New York.
0:52:09
I don't know how many neighborhoods there are.
0:52:10
I'm sure Gail Brewer knows the answer to that question.
0:52:12
But this that plan that New York City would create, alongside the council and city planning is to have x number of new housing units across all five boroughs, all 51 council districts, every community to meet the need.
0:52:27
We still come up against the fact that there are certain districts and certain certain council members, and I know a few of them who live to live pretty close to me, who are vehemently opposed to any development.
0:52:38
So how do we square that circle?
0:52:41
How do we solve that problem?
0:52:42
So even if we had this comprehensive plan which identified, you know, how we build and where we build and how many stories, we still have, because of the local, you know, represent representation.
0:52:53
And I I agree council member is the closest person to the community.
0:52:57
I I absolutely agree with you on that.
0:52:59
Voters sent you there to make decisions, but we do run up against this.
0:53:03
There are people who for whom the idea of building any units of housing in their district, they are vehemently opposed to.
Alexa Aviles
0:53:10
Yeah.
0:53:10
Yeah.
0:53:10
I mean, we've run up against it almost in every facet.
0:53:13
We've run up against it with polluting facilities Mhmm.
0:53:17
Of which my community has a disproportionate amount.
0:53:20
We run up against it with shelters, of which my community has a disproportionate amount.
0:53:25
So this is not a unique problem to the housing space.
0:53:31
It is certainly a unique problem to very diverse city that has a lot of competing needs and and often protects powerful interests.
0:53:41
Yes.
0:53:42
So I think I think there are there are many interventions here.
0:53:47
I don't think one intervention will solve this problem.
0:53:52
I think we, as a city, need to like, we have a fair share housing policy.
0:53:58
There is a fair share shelter citing policy.
0:54:02
No one follows it.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:54:03
Mhmm.
Alexa Aviles
0:54:04
There's no enforcement.
0:54:06
And what does the agency do?
0:54:07
It says, we believe in this fair share policy.
0:54:10
However, here's your number 18 shelter facility while your two neighbors have zero shelter facilities.
0:54:17
How do we solve that problem?
0:54:19
We need an administration who's committed to proper citing.
0:54:24
We need to have some enforcement mechanisms there.
0:54:27
We probably need to change the citing process to say, no.
0:54:30
Actually, you cannot.
0:54:32
You cannot build over a certain threshold in a community.
0:54:36
Mhmm.
0:54:37
So I think there are many mechanisms here.
0:54:40
I I think I think what we want to be while there are a few members who maybe stop the development of housing in their in their districts, I don't think the answer is removing the power of the council members still to be able to advance projects in their communities that bring benefit.
0:55:06
It feels too blunt of a response.
0:55:09
I think we're trying to tackle what is thankfully not a giant problem.
0:55:15
It is a problem without question.
0:55:17
But I think we've seen more benefit.
0:55:22
We have to tackle it, I think, in a number of different ways.
Diane Savino
0:55:25
Mhmm.
0:55:26
Thank you.
0:55:27
Yeah.