NYC Council to Create Expert Panel to Usher in New Housing on Small Lots

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced plans Friday to create a working group that could boost housing development across the city’s small lots.

The new Council Advisory Group on Housing Affordability is aimed at implementing changes to the city’s construction codes and encouraging the development of 35,000 housing units across about 3,000 small lots, Menin said in the Friday announcement.

If approved, Menin’s proposed reforms would allow for different designs on small lots between 15 and 27 feet wide to maximize the number of homes that can be built without developers having to go through the cumbersome process of seeking zoning changes.

“Across the five boroughs, there are thousands of small, underutilized lots that have the potential to deliver tens of thousands of new homes, but outdated rules and unnecessary red tape are standing in the way,” Menin said in a statement. “At a moment when vacancy is at historic lows and rents are at record highs, we have an obligation to act boldly and deliver real results for New Yorkers.”

In any changes to the construction codes, Menin said the City Council will balance maintaining safety regulations with eliminating barriers to new housing.

The advisory group would be composed of architects, engineers, urban planners, finance professionals and housing activists who would suggest potential solutions to lawmakers for lingering problems that may still exist after sweeping reforms of 2025.

If successful, the advisory group could also help fill in any blind spots left after former Mayor Eric Adams’s City of Yes passed in late 2024. The group could also work on any effects from the former mayor’s suite of neighborhood plans approved in his final year in office and the Charter Revision Commission reforms that created avenues to bypass the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.