The full
report is available in PDF Format; you will
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Adobe Acrobat Reader. Note:
certain information in the 1997 print report of
the 197-a Plan Technical Guide has been updated
for this on-line edition of the guide.
Introduction
The
City Charter, in Section 197-a, authorizes community
boards and borough boards, along with the Mayor,
the City Planning Commission (the "Commission"),
the Department of City Planning ("DCP"),
and any Borough President, to sponsor plans for
the development, growth, and improvement of the
city, its boroughs and communities. Once approved
by the Commission and adopted by the City Council,
197-a plans guide future actions of city agencies
in the areas addressed in the plans.
When
the Charter was last revised in 1989, it called
upon the City Planning Commission to adopt rules
establishing minimum standards for the form and
content of proposed 197-a plans. The Commission
did so in July 1991 with the adoption of Rules
for the Processing of Plans Pursuant to Charter
Section 197-a. In addition to establishing procedures
and a timetable for the 197-a process, the rules
include standards for form, content and sound
planning policy ("threshold standards").
As
shown in Chapter 2, review of 197-a plans occurs
in two stages. The first, the threshold review,
is conducted by the Department of City Planning
and the City Planning Commission to ensure that
a plan is complete, coherent and properly documented
before it is reviewed on its merits. The second
stage, substantive review, allows for community
board, borough president, City Planning Commission
and City Council consideration of the plan's objectives,
policies and proposals. The process may culminate
in approval of the plan as submitted, approval
as modified by the City Planning Commission and/or
the City Council, or disapproval.
Since
adoption of the rules, 11 community boards
and a Borough President have submitted 197-a
plans. The borough plan and seven of the community
plans
have been adopted, two are under review, one
was disapproved and one was withdrawn. Several
other boards have initiated
but have not yet completed 197-a plans. Partly
because of the novelty of the process, some
confusion
has arisen over the meaning of a 197-a plan in
general and, more specifically, the threshold
standards for form and content and sound planning
policy. The purpose of this technical guide
is
to help dispel that confusion.
Although
the Charter allows for citywide and boroughwide
197-a plans sponsored by various entities, the
197-a process has generated the most interest
at the community or neighborhood level. The guide
therefore focuses on local area plans sponsored
by community boards. Neighborhood or civic groups
within the larger community may draft 197-a plans,
but they must be approved, sponsored, and submitted
by a community board, borough board, or borough
president.
The
guide is "technical" in that it concentrates
chiefly on the threshold standards for form and
content and sound planning policy. It supplements
but does not supplant the Rules for the Processing
of Plans Pursuant to Charter Section 197-a which
all potential sponsors should carefully review
before undertaking a plan. The guide clarifies
the threshold standards contained in Article 4
of the rules, and provides data sources andsuggested
formats for presenting the information needed
to satisfy the standards. It also offers guidance
on how to make the best case for a plan's recommendations,
including discussion of the kinds of analysis
most relevant to typical planning issues.
The
guide may also help community boards determine
whether a 197-a plan is the most appropriate vehicle
for addressing their issues. Chapter 3 outlines
some of the benefits and drawbacks of the 197-a
process, and suggests alternatives for achieving
community objectives. A 197-a plan generally takes
three or four years from inception to adoption,
and requires the continuing commitment of its
sponsors even after adoption to ensure successful
implementation. With that commitment, an appropriate
set of objectives and a realistic outlook, a community
board may find the 197-a process well worth the
effort.
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