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TESTIMONY
Testimony by Barika Williams from ANHD on the proposed housing reforms
1:59:23
·
4 min
Barika Williams, Executive Director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), provides detailed testimony on the housing proposals.
She expresses support for fast-tracking affordable housing but suggests adding AMI limits to ensure deep affordability.
She voices concerns about the land use appeals board, particularly its ability to line-item veto community benefits that were negotiated in good faith.
- Williams supports the proposal to fast-track affordable housing but recommends adding specific affordability requirements.
- ANHD has concerns about the proposal for modest zoning increases, especially in lower-density districts where no affordability is required.
- A key concern with the appeals board is that it could override community benefit agreements, undermining local negotiations.
- She emphasizes that the current land use process is deeply inequitable, with outcomes often based on race, wealth, and power.
Barika Williams
1:59:23
My name is Barika Williams.
1:59:24
I'm the executive director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, and thank you for having me here again to testify, before now for the third time before you all on the recommended ballot proposals.
1:59:36
ANAHD's mission is to build community power to win affordable housing and thriving, equitable neighborhoods for all New Yorkers.
1:59:42
I wanna say upfront, thank you for the thoughtful research and deep examination that went into getting us to this point and this far.
1:59:49
Also, I'm gonna try to zoom through because I've got a lot, but I wanna uplift that some of what we've heard before has been around echoing concerns around community voices, and that our members share many of those concerns as a priority, and that we also have to understand those considerations, with the reality of our current land use and planning process, which is deeply inequitable.
2:00:18
And many of the outcomes of these decisions are rooted around your race, your wealth, and your power of your either elected official or your neighborhood.
2:00:26
So we're not starting from an even place.
2:00:29
To just go through them, we support proposal one to create a fast track for affordable housing, pleased to see it tied to the fair housing plan and including enforcement and moving us towards comprehensive and equity based planning, something we fought for for many years, would recommend and suggest adding AMI limits or weighted AMI averages to ensure that we're getting the deeply affordable housing that community neighborhoods would need.
2:00:53
And we also have recommended suggestions to the metrics for, designating those low MIH, those low fast track neighborhoods differently than what is currently proposed.
2:01:05
We have concerns about proposal two, but generally in support of the overarching proposal to tie to affordable housing development with some questions around the modest increases for lower density districts and the mid to high density districts, especially some questions around who would determine MIH levels and the fact that the lower density changes do not require any affordability.
2:01:36
So we're getting new supply, but not necessarily new affordable housing as a part of those.
2:01:42
Lastly, we have concerns and questions around proposal three, the land use appeals board, understanding that this is hard and difficult, but echoing some of the questions and concerns have come up around, how to keep, folks account accountable, especially given that it's a three person appeals board.
2:02:05
I think how we're trying to interrogate this for us, ANHD, is that we want a process where a board can review and say yes to projects that are being, opposed and denied going forward given our current council process, where we really where they're benefiting and adding to our overall city goals, right, be it also keeping in mind this is housing, economic development, transit, a combination of things.
2:02:34
And we want to be mindful that it could specifically impact the way community boards and local stakeholders are engaging.
2:02:45
And our key concern here is around the fact that this board could line item veto things.
2:02:50
So the idea that a community could no negotiate a community benefits agreement to come con to consensus around something, to really thinking about things like Industry City and Innovation Queens and other projects and and these rezonings that we've gone through to recognize that there are times that communities are able to say, this is a deal breaker for me.
2:03:12
This is a must have for me, and that the community council member could then say, Okay, I'm making sure these happen, and that this veto this appeals board could potentially come in back and take that out with a line item veto raises a huge concern for us overall.
2:03:27
I'll stop there, and welcome any questions.
2:03:30
Thank you.