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197-A Plan Seeks to Set Framework
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197-A Plan Seeks to Set Framework for Local Development

By Jimmy Vielkind Spectator Staff Writer November 10, 2004


After years of drafting and negotiations, an overarching urban design plan that will influence developments for years to come was unanimously approved by Community Board 9 last month.

The recommendations in the 197-A plan, as the framework is called, cover everything from where specific types of development can occur to issues of transportation, housing, jobs, and the environment.

Columbia administrators said they are willing to work with the community, but are not ready to commit to the limitations of the 197-A plan.

CB9's plan will cover Columbia's proposed expansion into Manhattanville as well as the rest of Community District 9, which runs from 110th to 155th Streets west of Morningside and St. Nicholas Parks, and is seen as a means to give the local community a say in the future development of the area.

"The 197-A plan is not a reaction to the Columbia expansion at all," CB9 Chairman Jordi Reyes-Montblanc said. "What the 197-A plan does is create a framework that Columbia's expansion will have to fit in which is why so many activists, groups and individuals support CB9M's 197-A plan."

As part of its expansion plans, Columbia has requested that the City rezone the area, which involves changing the laws that determine what can be built in a given space. They ask that the proposed campus area be changed from industrial to a designation that will allows for other uses, including classrooms, retail space, and housing.

The term 197-A plan comes from the section of the 1975 City Charter which grants Community Boards the opportunity to put forth a concrete community vision and provides the means for community-initiated local planning.

CB9's 197-A plan allows for rezoning, but only with strict limitations. First, any developer, including Columbia, would have to enter into a "community benefits agreement," which is a binding contract with local residents.

The agreement would exist to "assure that the environment is protected, that housing opportunities for low-, moderate-, and middle-income residents are protected and expanded, and that high-road jobs and locally-owned businesses will be created and existing businesses preserved," according to the plan.

The plan also calls on developers to take steps toward preserving housing in West Harlem through the process of inclusionary zoning. When areas are rezoned so that higher buildings can be built, developers would be required to set aside a certain part of any new construction as affordable housing.

Now that it has been approved by CB9, the plan will be reviewed by the Department of City Planning. This process will take some time, and it is likely that revisions will need to be made. Once approved by City Planning, the 197-A will be reviewed by the Borough president before being voted on by the City Council.

But while the plan provides strong recommendations for future developers, it does not have the power of a law.

"The 197-A plan is the only community-based plans that have any community review," said Mercedes Narciso, who led the team from Pratt Institute, which drafted the 197-A plan. "But they don't have any teeth because they don't become an ordinance. It's never in the charter, it's never explained. It's just a guideline for future development in the area."

Columbia officials, while pointing to ongoing efforts to reach out to the community, are not ready to commit to an agreement in such a concrete form.

But Reyes-Montblanc was optimistic. Since the 197-A represents the will of the people, he said it was "highly respected by the City agencies" when it comes to development.

"I don't think the University is opposed to formalizing how the development will benefit the community, but the specific form of how that agreement would be reached is something the University is currently thinking about," said Jeremiah Stoldt, director of the campus plan for facilities management.

He said he thought the plan was an important step for the community and hoped that Columbia can work within its framework.

"[Columbia's plan and the 197-A are] fundamentally two different documents, but in the majority of cases, there is a good deal of overlap," Stoldt said.

Tom Demott, a member of the Coalition to Preserve Community, said the agreement could potentially be effective. "I think that we had to compromise on some points, but overall, I think that the plan--if implemented--would accomplish the goal of keeping businesses and residents, and keeping the neighborhood more or less intact," he said.

DeMott said he had originally hoped that the plan would recommend against rezoning the Manhattanville expansion site, but worked with the planners from Pratt to find a compromise through the community benefits agreement and use of inclusionary zoning.

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