New York, New York, Question 3, Expedited Land Use Review Procedure Charter Amendment (November 2025)

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New York Question 3

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Election date

November 4, 2025

Topic
Local charter amendments and Local housing policy
Status

ApprovedApproved

Type
Referral


New York Question 3 was on the ballot as a referral in New York on November 4, 2025. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported creating an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure for certain land use changes and projects related to affordable housing.

A "no" vote opposed creating an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure for certain land use changes and projects related to affordable housing.


A simple majority was required to approve the measure.

Election results

New York Question 3

Result Votes Percentage

Approved Yes

1,064,325 56.94%
No 804,832 43.06%
Results are officially certified.
Source


Overview

What did this charter amendment do with the land use procedure for affordable housing?

A land use procedure is the formal process a city uses to review, approve, or deny proposed changes to how land can be used or developed for housing. The amendment created an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) in the New York City Charter for modest housing, affordable housing, and infrastructure projects.[1]

Under the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), all projects follow the same multi-month timeline regardless of size. The amendment established the ELURP, which created a shorter review while maintaining requirements for environmental review, historic district protections, and public participation.[1]

Projects eligible for ELURP include smaller housing rezonings, land acquisitions or dispositions for affordable housing, and infrastructure and resiliency projects such as flood protection, open space creation, and solar energy installations on city property. Community Boards and Borough Presidents continue to provide advisory input, but their reviews take place at the same time. The City Planning Commission then make the final decision, unless state law requires City Council action.[1]

Measure design

Click on the following sections for summaries of the different provisions of the ballot measure.[1]


Expand All
Create Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP)
Eligible projects for ELURP


Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Question 3 was as follows:

“

Proposed Charter Amendment: Simplify Review of Modest Housing and Infrastructure Projects

Simplify review of modest amounts of additional housing and minor infrastructure projects, significantly reducing review time. Maintain Community Board review, with final decision by the City Planning Commission.

“Yes” simplifies review for limited land-use changes, including modest housing and minor infrastructure projects. “No” leaves these changes subject to longer review, with final decision by City Council.

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.


Support

Supporters

Officials

Candidates

Organizations

  • Abundance New York
  • Citizens Budget Commission
  • Citizens Housing and Planning Council
  • Climate Changemakers Brooklyn
  • Dattner Architects
  • League of Women Voters of New York City
  • Open New York
  • Regional Plan Association
  • The Health & Housing Consortium

Arguments

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul (D): "Affordability is my number one priority, and that starts with housing. The cost of living is too damn high – especially when it comes to the sky-high rents and mortgages families pay every month. The only solution to New York’s housing crisis is to build more housing, and we must use every tool in the toolbox to get it done. Props 2-5 will help ensure New Yorkers can live, thrive, and raise their families in the city they call home. It’s time to say yes to more homes, lower costs, and a stronger future for New York families."
  • New York City Charter Revision Commission: "This new simplified review procedure is known as the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure, or ELURP. ELURP would begin with advisory review by the Community Board and Borough President. The Community Board would have the same opportunity for public review that it has today—60 days. Following this 60-day period, the City Planning Commission would have a 30-day review period to hold a public hearing and vote to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove—a decision that would be final, with no further review by the City Council required. Sometimes, for projects that require City Council review under state law, the City Council’s review would replace the City Planning Commission’s. From start to finish, ELURP would cut the amount of time that covered applications spend in public review in half."
  • Citizens Budget Commission: "CBC’s research has found that the time, cost, and uncertainty of the land use process mean that only developers of large projects are willing and able to take on the risk of ULURP. The ELURP process would be an attractive review avenue for the modest projects that almost never seek zoning changes through ULURP today. ELURP would significantly reduce both cost and uncertainty associated with the rezoning process by cutting the review time in half and removing the risk associated with member deference, while still ensuring local concerns are still heard through Borough President and Community Board reviews. ELURP also would build on the previous Green Fast Track environmental review streamlining. Together, ELURP and Green Fast Track would reduce the cost of development by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars per project."
  • League of Women Voters of New York City: "Creating an expedited land use review process for modest housing changes would reduce costs, make a simpler and more predictable process which would allow builders to maximize resources. It would create greater equity empowering smaller builders (family and minority owned) who may not have the capital, time and understanding as wealthy developers to navigate the complex land use review system. And it would create more affordable housing in lower density neighborhoods that want to make modest housing additions. The expedited process would still allow for adequate review from the Community Board, Borough President and the public."

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

Unions

  • 32BJ SEIU
  • District Council of Carpenters
  • Hotel and Gaming Trades Council

Arguments

  • New York City Councilmembers Adrienne Adams, Diana Ayala, Amanda Farías, Joann Ariola: "Questions 2, 3 and 4 fail to inform voters that, if enacted, they would put a wide range of land use decisions in the hands of mayoral appointees. This would eliminate the City Council’s voting power, and would remove the ability of communities to negotiate investments and public benefits into their neighborhoods through the Council’s power."
  • New York City Cm. Robert Holden (D): "Modest can become a loophole."


Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for New York ballot measures
The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through October 20, 2025. The deadline for the next scheduled reports was December 1, 2025.


Yes on Affordable Housing was the campaign registered in support of the charter amendment.[2]

Ballotpedia did not identify a ballot measure committee registered to oppose the ballot measure.[2]

Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Support $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33
Oppose $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Total $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committees in support of the measure.[2]

Committees in support of Question 3
Committee Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions Cash Expenditures Total Expenditures
Yes on Affordable Housing $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33
Total $1,389,675.00 $0.00 $1,389,675.00 $202,362.33 $202,362.33

Donors

The following were the top donors to the committee.[2]

Donor Cash Contributions In-Kind Contributions Total Contributions
Open New York $400,000.00 $0.00 $400,000.00
Action Now, Inc. $250,000.00 $0.00 $250,000.00
Lisa Primus $250,000.00 $0.00 $250,000.00
Jamie Rubin $120,000.00 $0.00 $120,000.00
Chloe Phitouissi $100,000.00 $0.00 $100,000.00

Media editorials

See also: 2025 ballot measure media endorsements

Support

The following media editorial boards published an editorial supporting the ballot measure:

  • New York Daily News Editorial Board: "The lack of affordable housing in the five boroughs is an emergency, like a raging fire, and decisive action is needed immediately. The Council has specialized in stalling and killing development and they must lose that power. The public, not the pols, will have the final say with the trio of ballot proposals. Proposal 2 would move affordable housing plans faster through the approval process instead of the seven months now required. Proposal 3 creates a faster review system for smaller land use projects and Proposal 4 has a new appeals structure, where the Council retains a role, but not sole discretion, to sign off on a rezoning. The Council has been wielding that power irresponsibly, which they politely call “member deference,” but we correctly label it as “local veto” over entire developments with hundreds or even thousands of units. That obstinance has to end and it will when the three amendments are made to the City Charter. As for the Council’s improper electioneering, the mailers are sent, setting a terrible precedent, but the voters should set a better one by passing Proposals 2, 3 and 4."


Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate media editorial boards in opposition to the ballot measure.

Background

Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)

New York City's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) is the formal review process for major land use changes. It was established in the City Charter in 1975 to standardize and democratize how rezonings, site selections, and other significant land-use actions are decided. ULURP governed changes such as large rezonings, dispositions of city-owned land, certain affordable housing developments, and certain infrastructure projects.[1]

Once an application is approved by the Department of City Planning, it goes through a seven-month period of review. First, the Community Board has 60 days to hold a hearing and issue an advisory recommendation. Next, the Borough President has 30 days to advise the decision. The City Planning Commission then has 60 days to vote on whether to approve, modify, or deny the application. If it passes, the City Council has up to 50 days to consider it. The Mayor can veto a Council approval, although the Council may override that veto with a two-thirds vote.[1]

Housing production in New York City

According to the Charter Revision Commission report published in July 2025, 25,000 homes were built in New York City each year, but that this was half of what the city needed. The Commission estimated that "over the next ten years, the city is about 500,000 homes short of a healthy housing market, where costs are stable, families and individuals have options, and the city and its economy have room to grow and change over time." The Commission also noted that the building of housing is uneven, with 12 community districts adding as much housing as 47 combined.[1]

Path to the ballot

This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the New York City Charter Revision Commission.

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in New York

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in New York.

How to vote in New York


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 NYC Charter, "CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION Adopted Final Report," July 21, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 New York City Campaign Finance Board, "Homepage," accessed June 17, 2025
  3. ↑ The New York State Senate, "N.Y. Election Law § 8-100," accessed December 12, 2025
  4. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Know Your Rights," accessed December 12, 2025
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 New York State Board of Elections, “Voter Registration Process,” accessed December 12, 2025
  6. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, “Registration and Voting Deadlines,” accessed December 12, 2025
  7. ↑ New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, “Register to Vote Online - Electronic Voter Registration Application,” accessed December 12, 2025
  8. ↑ Albany Times-Union, "New York's automatic voter registration launch will be more than 2 years late," December 29, 2024
  9. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Same-Day Voter Registration," accessed December 12, 2025
  10. ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "New York State Voter Registration Form," accessed December 12, 2025
  11. ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
  12. ↑ Florida's law takes effect on January 1, 2027
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Board of Elections in the City of New York, "Voter ID," accessed December 12, 2025
  14. ↑ Congress, "H.R.3295 - Help America Vote Act of 2002," accessed September 30, 2025
  15. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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