This week Mayor de Blasio’s rezoning initiatives — Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) and Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) — will be debated among the City Council. The two proposals are integral parts of the mayor’s larger plan that hopes to maintain 200,000 affordable housing units throughout all five New York City boroughs for the next decade. Below is a recap of both plans.
The Mandatory Inclusionary Housing plan aims to allocate a set number of affordable units within new developments. These units would remain permanently affordable regardless of zoning changes. Additionally, both the City Council and the City Planning Commission would require that 25 percent of the residential floor be affordable to families averaging 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), while 30 percent must be affordable to families averaging over 80 percent of the AMI. There must also be an enforced limited workforce option with a separate set of guidelines.
The Zoning for Quality and Affordability calls for zoning that allowed taller buildings in certain neighborhoods and not others and also calls for increased affordability among senior housing. Within medium to high densely zoned districts, residential buildings could get taller by one or two stories. While lower density zoned districts would be able to create more affordable senior housing and care facilities and also adjust the pre-existing zoning regulations for walk-ups.
Currently both plans are in their final review stages pending this week’s City Council deliberation after which case, voting will commence next month.