Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
TESTIMONY
Testimony by Tara Duvivier from the Pratt Center for Community Development advocating for comprehensive planning and participation
3:21:19
·
3 min
Tara Duvivier from the Pratt Center for Community Development testifies in favor of prioritizing democracy, participatory planning, and equity in charter revisions.
Pratt Center urges mandating an enforceable, equity-based comprehensive plan with robust community engagement, supporting the Thriving Communities Coalition.
She argues against streamlining ULURP by reducing community/council roles, noting communities are already under-resourced and timelines tight, and cautions against fast-tracking housing that may not be truly affordable.
Tara Duvivier
3:21:19
Good evening.
3:21:20
Thank you, commissioners, for the opportunity to submit testimony to this revision Charter Revision Commission.
3:21:25
My name is Tara Duivier.
3:21:27
I'm senior planner at Pratt Center for Community Development.
3:21:30
Pratt Center for Community Development works for a more just, equitable, and sustainable New York City.
3:21:35
Our land use and housing justice work ranges from facilitating community plans for neighborhoods across the city to policy reports on strategies to ensure that value created by city rezonings is captured for public good.
3:21:48
We call on this commission to prioritize democracy, participatory planning, and racial and economic justice as it considers revisions to our city's charter to improve government transparency and responsiveness to address our city's housing crisis.
3:22:02
Specifically, we urge this commission to consider revisions to the city charter that mandate the city develop and maintain a comprehensive plan that centers racial, economic, health, and climate equity and ensures intentional, robust, and representative community engagement.
3:22:18
Pratt Center is a member of the Thriving Communities Coalition, a citywide movement of more than 15 grassroots organizing advocacy policy and technical assistance groups advocating for a more equitable, participatory, and comprehensive approach to city planning.
3:22:33
We echo the testimony of our TCC partners, including A and HD, in recommendations to mandate an enforceable equity based comprehensive plan and enforce the city's fair housing plan.
3:22:45
New York City has never adopted a comprehensive plan to guide land use and resource allocation decisions for present and future needs.
3:22:53
The city instead takes an ad hoc approach to planning through neighborhood and developer initiated rezoning subject to ULURP, which limits consideration of broader community context and needs.
3:23:04
Communities and inducted officials must respond to these proposals without any coherent guiding framework with inadequate resources and under a highly contentious process.
3:23:14
Our communities, including community boards and grassroots groups, are under resourced in evaluating these proposals.
3:23:20
They rely on each other, and in some cases, outside consultants, to assist in understanding and evaluating these applications.
3:23:27
The role of the public in land use processes, while advisory, does have an impact, particularly with their city council reps who are elected by and serve these communities.
3:23:35
Community input has helped deepen projects' affordability levels and secures funding for schools, parks, public housing, and tenant protections.
3:23:44
Communities should not have to rely on piecemeal negotiations to secure public resources, but absent comprehensive and equitable planning, ULIP is a tool for communities to inform and advocate for their future.
3:23:55
Several of the proposals before this commission focus on streamlining streamlining ULIP to reduce the role of community boards or city council or to fast track projects on city owned land or with income restricted housing.
3:24:07
Given the lack of resources and other community issues that community board members must attend to, communities are already working on a tight timeline with the public review process.
3:24:17
For example, with City of Yes for economic opportunity and housing opportunity rezoning proposals, less than half of the community board submitted recommendations before the City Planning Commission hearings for these proposals.
3:24:29
I've submitted a full testimony already, but we just really would like to encourage you all to consider our lengthy our outline proposal for comprehensive planning, and again, to carefully consider what you would do moving forward with regard to housing affordability.
3:24:47
Especially we know that affordable housing isn't exactly affordable, so please, this idea of fast tracking, we don't think is the best idea.
3:24:56
We do think that we really need to encourage and support more community involvement and engagement in these processes and not reducing their role.
3:25:03
Thank you.