According to a recent press release from New York-based law firm Herrick, the City has announced that the Uniform Land Use Review Process, or ULURP, will restart in August. The release states that “ULURP has been ‘on pause’ since March, resulting in a delay for many rezoning and Special Permit applications, including the eagerly-awaited Gowanus Canal Rezoning. ULURP requires multiple public hearings, beginning with the affected local Community Board and including the Borough Presidents, City Planning Commission, and finally the City Council. To address the COVID-19 crisis, the Mayor had ordered that all such hearings be postponed.”

While the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) pivoted to remote public hearings during the ‘pause’ - hearings which, according to Herrick were well-attended, and enjoyed ‘a robust level of public participation’ - restarting the ULURP will permit projects already in the public hearing queue to move forward, and will permit new projects to be certified and begin the roughly 8-month public review process. The Planning Commission has collaborated with other City agencies to offer training sessions for Community Boards across all five Boroughs with a view to making sure that remote ULURP hearings are as accessible and encouraging of public engagement as LPC and BSA proceedings have been.