A recent New York City charter amendment will extend the review period for projects under the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). ULURP is a formal public review process for certain discretionary land use actions that must be approved by the City Planning Commission and often by the New York City Council – a process that typically already takes over two years from initial filing to final approval or disapproval.
The amendment requires that local community boards receive an additional 15 to 30 days, beyond their normal 60-day time period, for land use applications forwarded for review over the summer – i.e., those applications certified as complete by the Commission between June 1 and July 15. In addition, the Department of City Planning will be required to give the relevant community board and borough president early notice and information about applications that will be forwarded for their review and comment. This requires delivery of an application summary at least 30 days before the application is certified, and posting of that summary on the Department's website.
We will continue to keep you up to date as the amendment goes into effect, and we can assist in analyzing potential impacts on project schedules. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Sue Golden at SGolden@Venable.com.