Unequal Exceptions: Zoning Relief in New York City, 1998–2017

Abstract

Zoning relief, the process of exempting individual properties from land-use regulations, is a widespread yet underexplored planning practice. A mixed-methods analysis of applications to the Board of Standards and Appeals in New York City between 1998 and 2017 examines three clusters of zoning relief. The results suggest a strong relationship between relief and neighborhood socio-political capital and underscore relief as a powerful form of ad hoc planning. Zoning relief practices in New York City deepen inequalities but also facilitate planning goals such as disaster recovery and allowing families to grow in place. Zoning relief has long-lasting consequences on urban development and deserves increased attention from planning scholars.

A Multiorganizational Cooperation Framework for Neighborhood Disaster Resilience

“…Other research documents the extensive role of neighborhood-level organizations in local matters, for example, land use and the physical state of the neighborhood (such as blight, development, and infrastructure; Craw 2017; Crenshaw and St. John 1989; Pendall 1999; Scally 2012). It is highly likely, then, that these neighborhood-level organizations play a significant role in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery (Fischer, Stahl, and Baird-Zars 2018). An investigation of the effect neighborhood-level organizations contributes to understanding the agency that communities have in their own recovery.…”

“…Existing literature on the role of neighborhood organizations and social ties in managing neighborhood crime and disorder suggest that institutional capital typically reduces the transaction costs to crime prevention, for instance, by making it easier for third parties to intervene when witnessing disorderly conduct (Roos et al 2014). In addition, neighborhood organizations and well-developed social networks provide ways to more quickly mobilize response and to more efficiently integrate external resources given their credibility and proximity to their member constituents (Fischer, Stahl, and Baird-Zars 2018). Those neighborhoods with less developed institutions might be expected to need additional assistance and resources to recover, and perhaps, strategies that rely less on neighborhood efforts.…”

“…Moreover, these associations do so in differing ways: neighborhood associations tend to reinforce racial effects, while homeowner associations reduce them. Neighborhood organizations are in a position to advocate for resources for their communities, which may boost recovery in those communities that are organized but reinforce differences that exist between organized and unorganized neighborhoods (Fischer, Stahl, and Baird-Zars 2018). Neighborhood organizations are also significant participants in land use decisions that may affect the nature of postdisaster redevelopment and who such development benefits.…”

A Granny Flat of One’s Own? The Households that Build Accessory-Dwelling Units in Seattle’s King County

“…It is guided by a hypothesis that spatial and class-based inequality exists in policy capital 1 and is manifest in housing policy-making. Recourse to ADU permitting would therefore entail the use of a certain network of knowledge (Fischer et al 2018), or policy capital, from local households. We consider that the capacity to activate, take advantage, and benefit from ADU permitting works along socio-economic and racial lines.…”