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Q&A
HPD on streamlining mapping and its community engagement process
0:56:56
·
154 sec
Commissioner Leila Bozorg asks about the challenges with the various borough topographical offices and the proposal to streamline that process.
Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani responds that centralizing the process would create more consistency and save money, allowing resources to be put back into affordability.
Associate Commissioner Michael Sandler then explains HPD's extensive community engagement process, which occurs years before a project even enters ULURP.
- Tigani argues that streamlining the mapping and topographical review process saves time and money that can be reinvested into housing affordability.
- Sandler describes HPD's "community visioning process," which includes workshops, tabling events, and online surveys to solicit community input on public land projects.
- This engagement happens well in advance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) being issued and continues with presentations to the local community board throughout the development process.
Richard R. Buery Jr.
0:56:56
Go ahead.
Susan Lerner
0:56:56
Sorry.
Anita Laremont
0:56:57
Hi, Al.
0:56:57
It's nice to see you.
0:56:58
I have a question.
0:57:00
You know, a lot of the council representatives that speak here, talk about us cutting out communities from planning, and we know that that's not actually really where the effort with communities work.
0:57:14
So I would just like to hear a little bit about, you know, HPD's efforts in community planning because it is not our intention to not have any community voice.
0:57:23
It's just not having community veto that we're looking at here.
Ahmed Tigani
0:57:27
I'm actually gonna let Michael Sandler, who I I'm proud to say is a coworker and runs our office of neighborhood strategies, talk about that.
Michael Sandler
0:57:34
Yeah.
0:57:35
It's a great question.
0:57:36
So the the projects that HPD is taking through EULRP are on public land.
0:57:40
So these are projects that are typically preceded by a request for proposal to identify a development team to advance that project.
0:57:46
In advance of issuing that request for proposal, HPD does a community visioning process.
0:57:51
We host a series of workshops, tabling events, an online survey to solicit input from the community about what they wanna see on that lot, and that's informing the selection of the team and the project that we then take through So that's happening right now years in advance of taking a project through ULURP.
0:58:10
And then after we designate a team, we're coming to the local community board every single time to present that project.
0:58:16
And then right now, before ULURP, we're coming at least once in the lead up to certification and then usually multiple times during ULURP on a you know, we're we're we're right now engaged.
0:58:28
We're about to go into ULURP on a project that's actually a scattered site project across four community districts where we anticipate probably 15 community board meetings as part of ULURP, and that would continue as part of the proposals that we're discussing today.
Ahmed Tigani
0:58:42
The only thing I would add is that is a process running to individual public site that may maybe has not already gone through a neighborhood planning process.
0:58:50
So in the neighborhood planning process, HPD is involved in shaping the housing plan in which we talk through and discuss a plan for multiple housing sites.
0:58:58
Just because we've done that and we've mapped out that work, we will still do the neighborhood planning playbook process that Michael just described.
0:59:06
On top of that, when we release the RFP or community visioning document, we'll also refer to maybe supplemental documents put up by the community board, other visioning and neighborhood planning documents created by local organizations.
0:59:18
For us, having the full vision as part of a developer's response allows us to have better conversations and inclusive conversations down the line.
Anita Laremont
0:59:26
Thank you.
0:59:27
I just wanted to get that on the record.
0:59:29
Mhmm.