Assembly Bill A1995

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1995
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 14, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. BARNWELL, DE LA ROSA, REYES, PICHARDO, TAYLOR,
   CRUZ, FRONTUS, DAVILA, SEAWRIGHT -- read  once  and  referred  to  the
   Committee on Cities
 
 AN  ACT  making  a  community boards decision regarding the denial of an
   application of uniform land use review procedures final and binding

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. (a) (i) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contra-
 ry,  within  cities having a population of 200,000 or greater as well as
 cities within all counties covered by the  Emergency  Tenant  Protection
 Act  of 1974 with a population of 50,000 or greater and that have or are
 governed by a land use process similar to the New York City Uniform Land
 Use Review Procedure or a process otherwise involving a local  community
 board  or  its  equivalent  included  in  land use decisions, such local
 community board's decision to deny any application to  rezone  or  alter
 the  use and/or size, of such property shall be final and binding on any
 applicant and shall constitute a final and binding denial of such appli-
 cation for a rezoning or alteration of property where  such  application
 seeks the rezoning or alteration of property use and/or size for a resi-
 dential  project  offering  for  sale  or rental any units to persons or
 families with incomes at or above 60% of the area median income for  the
 zip code in which the property is located. If the rezoning or alteration
 of  property  proposed,  proposes  to  result in the construction of any
 residential housing project offering for sale or  rental  any  units  to
 persons  or  families  with  incomes  at or above 60% of the area median
 income for the zip code in which the property is located, the  community
 board's  or  its equivalent's denial of such application shall be final,
 provided that the community board or its equivalent bases its denial  of
 the application on any of the following grounds:
   (A) Following a public hearing and the opportunity to submit testimony
 and other materials, the local community board determines that, based on
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD07012-01-1

 A. 1995                             2
 
 the  area  median  income  for  the  zip  code  to which the application
 pertains, any rezoning or property use  alteration  resulting  from  the
 granting  of  the  application  would  not result in the construction of
 housing,  on average, affordable to 50% or more of residents residing in
 the zip code at the time of the application; for  the  purpose  of  this
 subsection,  housing is "affordable" if it meets the federal standard of
 costing a tenant or homeowner no more than 30% of his or her income  for
 rent or mortgage payments, including the cost of utilities;
   (B) Following a public hearing and the opportunity to submit testimony
 and  other  materials,  the  local  community  board determines that any
 rezoning or property use alteration resulting from the granting  of  the
 application  would  perpetuate discriminatory housing patterns under the
 standards set forth in the federal affirmatively furthering fair housing
 regulation or the federal disparate impact rule;
   (C) Following a public hearing and the opportunity to submit testimony
 and other materials, the  local  community  board  determines  that  any
 rezoning  or  property use alteration resulting from the granting of the
 application would result in a net population increase of 5%  or  greater
 within  the  zip code to which the application pertains and that current
 public infrastructure within the zip code cannot support  such  a  popu-
 lation increase; or
   (D) Following a public hearing and the opportunity to submit testimony
 and  other  materials,  the  local  community  board determines that any
 rezoning or property use alteration would result in displacement of more
 than 500 residents or 100 employees working within the zip code to which
 the application pertains.
   (ii) For the avoidance of doubt, a local community board or its equiv-
 alent shall have the power of  denial  with  final  and  binding  effect
 created  under  this section only if it denies an application based upon
 any of the criteria set forth above.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, the area median income for a zip
 code shall be established by the United States department of housing and
 urban development or a successor agency.
   (c) In the event the property is located in multiple  zip  codes,  the
 zip  code  with  the  lesser  area  median  income shall be used for the
 purposes of this section.
   § 2.  This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to appli-
 cations received on or after such effective date.