A New York proposal to create more housing in an effort to build supply and bring down costs has reached another crucial milestone, as the city agreed to concessions that reduced its scope.
The City Council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises and Committee on Land Use both voted Thursday to approve Mayor Eric Adams' so-called City of Yes plan to update zoning rules that the city says will boost “a little more housing in every neighborhood.”
The modified proposal is to be reviewed by the City Planning Commission and sent to the full City Council for a vote next month, according to a council spokesperson. The approvals pave the way for what is considered to be likely passage by the City Council.
As part of a compromise to reach an agreement, the city and state will invest $5 billion combined toward funding for affordable rental housing and home ownership, and infrastructure improvements such as sewer upgrades.
Also, the target number of new housing units was reduced to 80,000 over the next 15 years, down from Adams’ original goal set last year of about 109,000.
The decline comes as the modified plan, according to media reports, is to include mandated parking for new developments in some areas that the original proposal sought to do without. In addition, accessory dwelling units in garages or backyard cottages are now said to not be allowed in some low-density districts, or areas that usually have single-family homes, in the outer boroughs.
The compromise comes as the city has reported a record-low rental vacancy rate of 1.4%.
“The city faces a generational housing crisis and new housing production needs all the help it can get,” David Rosenberg, counsel with Rosenberg & Estis and New York land use and zoning attorney, told CoStar News in an email. However, the City Council modifications to the City of Yes housing initiative risk “undermining its transformative potential,” he said.
The changes “evidence a preference for an incremental approach rather than the ‘everything, everywhere, all at once’ approach of the original proposal,” he said. “Building more housing is necessary but not sufficient. We need to build more housing in more neighborhoods. The City of Yes cannot be the City of Maybe Later.”
A number of big U.S. cities such as Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon, have changed their zoning rules in recent years to allow a wider variety of housing types in certain areas as officials seek to increase the supply of homes and help moderate surging prices.