OneLIC Plan Heads into ULURP: What to Expect and How to Get Involved

CB2 is gearing up for public review and community input

Yesterday, the NYC Department of City Planning (DCP) and Council Member Julie Won's office hosted a presentation on the OneLIC neighborhood plan and the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process that it will soon go through. Although there was no new information, it was a good overview of how the next few months will go. In this post, I’ll summarize the information they shared.

As background, the OneLIC plan is the result of a 17-month community engagement process that began in November 2023. This process involved 21 engagement sessions, surveys, and various outreach methods, resulting in over 5,750 comments from more than 1,600 participants. The presentation outlined five primary goals:

1. Protecting existing housing while creating new housing opportunities at various income levels

2. Developing a connected, resilient, and accessible waterfront

3. Addressing infrastructure and community needs while mitigating climate impacts

4. Supporting LIC's unique and thriving economy

5. Improving access to neighborhood resources and amenities.

To achieve these goals, the plan proposes several key components. Zoning changes are a central element, aimed at allowing for more housing development, including the implementation of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing to ensure a percentage of new units are permanently affordable. The plan includes an updated Waterfront Access Plan to improve connectivity and resilience along the East River waterfront. The plan also outlines strategies for city-owned sites, proposing the development of affordable housing and community facilities to meet local needs.

ULURP

The presentation detailed the next steps in the planning process, focusing on ULURP, a seven-month public review process that allows for community input and official oversight. This process will include reviews by community boards, the borough president, the City Planning Commission (CPC), and the City Council, each with opportunities for public hearings and input. Alongside ULURP, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be conducted to study the potential impacts of the proposed changes on various aspects of the urban environment, from transportation to air quality.

Let’s go into more detail about ULURP here. ULURP is NYC’s standardized public review process for land use and zoning changes. The process begins with the filing of a land use application, which includes detailed documents explaining the project, its scope, the area being studied, the reasons for the proposed changes, and the specific actions being requested. The first formal step of ULURP is certification by the CPC. This certification doesn't approve the project but confirms that the application is complete and ready for public review. Once certified, the application moves through several key stages:

1. Community Board Review (60 days): The application is sent to the affected community boards (in this case, Queens Community Boards 1 and 2). These boards will hold public meetings and hearings to gather community input. They then make a recommendation to approve or disapprove the proposal, probably with suggested conditions or modifications. (I’ll go into more detail about the plan for Queens Community Board 2 in a bit, as I’ll be leading this effort.)

2. Borough President Review (30 days): The Queens Borough President reviews the proposal next. He can also hold public hearings and may convene a Borough Board meeting to discuss the proposal. The Borough President then makes his own recommendation.

3. City Planning Commission Review (60 days): The CPC holds a public hearing where community members can testify directly. The commission considers all previous feedback along with the proposal itself before voting on whether to approve, modify, or disapprove the application.

4. City Council Review (50 days): If approved by the CPC, the proposal moves to the City Council. The Council also holds public hearings and can request changes based on community feedback. They then vote on whether to approve the proposal.

5. Mayoral Review: If approved by the City Council, the mayor has five days to review and either approve the changes or veto them. The City Council can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

In addition to explaining the ULURP process, the presentation highlighted its connection to the environmental review process. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) will be released concurrently with the start of ULURP. This document, prepared under the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) process, will analyze potential impacts of the proposed changes on 18 different environmental categories, including transportation, open space, air quality, and noise. The DEIS will compare two scenarios: the future without the proposed changes (No Action scenario) and the future with the proposed changes (With Action scenario). The difference between these scenarios, called the increment, is what's studied to understand potential impacts. The public will have the opportunity to review and comment on the DEIS during the ULURP process.

The presenters emphasized that the ULURP process is not just a formality but a crucial period for refining and potentially modifying the plan based on public input. They noted that the draft neighborhood plan, which will be released at the start of ULURP, is still subject to change based on the feedback received during this process. To help the community navigate ULURP, the presenters mentioned that several resources will be made available, including the draft neighborhood plan book, the full land use application, the DEIS, and a certification presentation explaining the proposal in visual form. All these materials will be accessible through the project website.

CB2 Plan

Queens Community Board 2 is actively planning and preparing to review the OneLIC ULURP application. Certification is anticipated in just a few weeks, tentatively by the end of April. As Vice Chair of Land Use and Housing for CB2, I’m leading our OneLIC working group. We’ll likely formally kick off the process at our May 1 CB2 board meeting with an overview of the process and timeline. Beginning May 6, our working group will hold twice-weekly meetings to dive deep into all the application materials and analyze the ULURP proposal in depth. Most meetings will be open both to the public and DCP representatives. We will also hold a public hearing (time and location to be determined) to gather feedback directly from community members. Based on the discussions and public input, the working group will develop a draft recommendation, tentatively by the end of May. This recommendation will be presented for a vote at the June 5 CB2 meeting. If more time is needed to discuss and deliberate, an additional board meeting may be held in late June for a final decision.

Ultimately, ULURP is important as a democratic process for urban planning, providing multiple checkpoints for public input and official review before any zoning or land use changes can be implemented. The upcoming ULURP process represents a critical phase where the community can further shape the final plan. CB2 (and I) will aim to respond to the OneLIC plan in a way that balances development with community needs, environmental concerns, and economic opportunities.