Mayor’s plans meet real needs

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It’s important to set the record straight about two proposals currently in public review, the Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) zoning text amendment and the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program. ZQA and MIH are key elements of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ambitious Housing New York plan, a comprehensive strategy to address the housing crisis facing New Yorkers from the lowest income to the middle class. 

The changes proposed as part of ZQA would permit more efficient, better designed buildings and cut the red tape to meet the very real needs of growing senior populations and help them stay in their communities. ZQA changes would not serve as an independent driver of affordable housing development.

ZQA is not a rezoning. ZQA would not add significant density to any neighborhood or promote teardowns of small homes. ZQA would increase the underlying height limits in mid-density multi-family districts by up to five feet to permit greater floor to ceiling heights and improve privacy on the ground floors, among other benefits. ZQA would adjust other regulations to allow more plantings and courtyards at the street, which would better match the character of Riverdale. In one- and two-family districts, there would be no changes to as-of-right housing regulations. 

ZQA will also help us make smarter use of public dollars. Parking is expensive to build and requirements for income-restricted housing are already low. In transit-served areas, low-income households own half as many cars as other households, and senior income-restricted households own even fewer (less than 5 percent). To help make prudent use of public subsidies to create more affordable housing, ZQA would make parking optional for low-income housing in areas that are within walking distance of subway access. This will enable developers to provide an amount of parking that matches the residents’ needs.

rezoning, Zoning for Quality and Affordability, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, Bill de Blasio, Carol Samol
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