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Q&A
The role of community engagement in overcoming development opposition
0:22:29
·
5 min
Commissioner Leila Bozorg acknowledges Majority Leader Amanda Farias's effective use of ULURP for community benefits but asks how to address the imbalance created by other members using deference to block projects entirely, leading to uneven development.
Farias argues that deep, early community engagement and education are key.
She uses the Bronx Metro North project as an example, where involving residents in understanding trade-offs and visualizing options built support and empowerment, suggesting this approach can overcome opposition proactively before ULURP.
Leila Bozorg
0:22:29
you, Majority Leader.
0:22:31
And first, just want to say, you have personally been an amazing housing leader for the city.
0:22:36
The Speaker's been an amazing housing leader for the city.
0:22:38
But it takes amazing housing leaders and the council to get housing built because of our current system.
0:22:44
And I think one of the questions I have, acknowledging, too, that I think it's been something like sixteen years since we've gotten a project through ULURP without the local members' support.
0:22:53
You have been great at leveraging your you know, leveraging the ULURP process to get more resources, to make sure the project meets your community's needs.
0:23:04
But there have been a lot of other members who have just used that leverage to ensure no projects are happening.
0:23:08
And so I think the question I have because we're not looking at this as a binary of should there be a ULURP or not.
0:23:14
The question is, are there adjustments we can make to kind of correct for the fact that it does end up being a binary?
0:23:20
Some people use ULURP to make projects better and fight for their community, and some use that power to truly block it.
0:23:26
And so we have uneven development across the city.
0:23:29
So I think my question is, would you support changes that at least try to correct for that imbalance, knowing that you still want to preserve kind of community input and a member's ability to change the project in the ways that are best for the project and for the community, but have some mechanism to kind of correct for the citywide imbalance we have.
0:23:49
Because even the fair share framework, which I think the fair housing framework is amazing, but there's no teeth to it.
0:23:55
We know that.
0:23:55
We can analyze and say what would be fair for different districts to produce, but we have no mechanism for enforcing that.
0:24:02
It just becomes a nice report and a kind of thought process.
0:24:06
So curious to hear your thoughts on how to kind of correct for that imbalance when the question isn't, should we have Euler Bernard?
0:24:12
It's really, how do you balance community input with this kind of citywide reality of what we've been dealing with, with member deference?
Amanda Farias
0:24:19
Yeah, I appreciate this question.
0:24:21
I think the operational side of it I mean, Dan Sabina brought up a great point twelve years for Metro North to happen, and it ended up in my lap.
0:24:32
And that entire process, the state's involvement for the first five, six, seven years were more so telling people that it was coming, but not actually going into the community and talking about what's coming and how could they benefit, let alone the housing components that was that were attached to this application.
0:24:51
None of that dialogue happened until I really asked DCP and this council's land use division to help reengage the community in a real way.
0:25:02
And I'm super grateful for all the folks that worked with me on that.
0:25:05
I mean, we had development teams that had their architects actually build models and show people plan a, plan b, plan c of what the development could look like to help realize for people and contextualize the difference between 15 stories, 18 stories, 23 stories.
0:25:21
And that supported my efforts in encouraging the community and really empowering them to own this project as their own again, and to feel good about building buildings that were for the community, that were going to create units for their families and their extended families or their kids and moms not to still be in their place with them.
0:25:40
So I really think looking at DCP's process or the outreach part of this, creating more community engagement, where it's in person getting ideas.
0:25:51
I mean, we had activities from people that were basically forcing them to look at trade offs.
0:25:56
If you want a community center or you want a school, what does that mean in development of this housing?
0:26:03
And does that mean we have to go taller or wider?
0:26:06
Does that mean we get less three bedrooms and more one bedrooms?
0:26:10
Things like that that helped people in the moment become more educated on the process and what opportunities were in front of them or what options they had, but also allowing them to help be decision makers.
0:26:22
And I think that was the most empowering part of the process for people, that we reengage them in the decision making process.
0:26:29
And for me, I think when looking at and I fully understand.
0:26:34
Looking at every single project and having a fully engaged process can feel cumbersome and feel like our agencies don't have capacity to do that.
0:26:43
But it was the reason why I had not a single protest, and I had only cheers when we passed Metro North in my district, why I still have people excited for it to come.
0:26:56
And I have people excited for taller buildings that come with the school and come with the community center and come with open space and come with commercial space at the bottom.
0:27:06
That all happens because they were part of a super engaged process that actually contextualized the project for them.
0:27:15
So I think if we can look at the steps it takes to come to a project in the community before even it goes to a community board vote.
0:27:24
I think even beginning at how do we engage the land use committees and our community boards, or how do we engage the community board in that process.
0:27:31
More times than not, I feel like it does.
0:27:33
A piece of paper goes in front of people or an or a PDF gets, you know, swapped through on a meeting that is really supposed to be an hour but ends up being three hours because of it.
0:27:44
You're not as engaged in that process.
0:27:47
Looking at the outreach and education component, prior to that precertification phase, I think, is really, really important in having communities buy in or at least feel looped into the process of what's going to come in their community.