On July 21, 2025, the New York City Charter Revision Commission (CRC) voted to include five proposed amendments to the City Charter on this year’s New York City general election ballot, including measures that would expedite public review for certain land use applications, by exempting them from the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), and support citywide needs for housing by creating new oversight of certain City Council land use decisions.
If approved by a majority of New York City voters, the City Charter would be amended to fast track review and approval of modest housing and infrastructure projects and certain land use applications that would deliver affordable housing.
Of significance is a proposed amendment that could create the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP), which would cut public review times for eligible projects in half compared to the seven-month ULURP process, in most instances by eliminating City Council review. ELURP would apply to modest zoning changes that either increase permitted residential capacity by no more than 30% in medium and high density districts or produce buildings no taller than 45 feet in low density districts. ELURP would also affect dispositions, acquisitions, and certain City Map changes for affordable housing as well as acquisitions and site selections for infrastructure and resiliency projects that do not require an environmental impact statement.
Another proposed amendment could also cut public review times in half (as compared to ULURP) for applications that would deliver affordable housing in the 12 community districts that permitted the least number of affordable housing units in the preceding five-year period, beginning in 2027. This Fast Track would create a mechanism to implement the City Council’s Fair Housing Framework, which establishes housing production goals for each community district. This proposed amendment could also create a zoning action at the Board of Standards and Appeals to allow smaller affordable housing developers to obtain zoning relief for publicly financed affordable housing projects in less time than it currently takes to obtain relief through ULURP.
A third ballot proposal could establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board, consisting of the affected Borough President, the Speaker of the City Council, and the Mayor, empowered to reverse City Council actions that disapprove or modify land use applications that would create affordable housing. The Affordable Housing Appeals Board would replace the Mayor’s ULURP veto power for such applications.
Although the ballot measures were approved almost unanimously by the CRC members, several members of the New York City Council, including Speaker Adrienne Adams, criticized these proposed ballot measures in a joint statement, stating in part that the “commission’s misguided proposals would undermine the ability to deliver more affordable housing, homeownership opportunities, good-paying union jobs, and neighborhood investments” that the Council Members stated would not be possible without the Council’s role in the land use process.
Ultimately, New York City voters will decide whether to approve these amendments, as well as amendments that propose to consolidate and digitize the map establishing the City’s legal street system and to move the City’s primary and general elections to even-numbered years, when state and federal elections are held.
The ballot measures are detailed in the CRC’s Adopted Final Report and will appear as questions on the ballot for the November 4, 2025 general election.
