Requires compliance with the uniform land use review procedure for the disposition of school property in New York city

BILL NUMBER:S3838

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring compliance with the uniform land use review procedure for the disposition of school property in New York city

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill would explicitly require the sale of NYC public school buildings to comply with the uniform land use review procedure (ULURP) as well as the community education councils' public hearing requirements related to any significant change in school utilization.

Summary of specific provisions

The bill would amend several provisions of Article 10 of the Education Law (the NYC Educational Construction Fund Act), which was enacted in 1966 to create that fund as a public benefit corporation in which title to NYC public school sites and facilities would be vested. Now, almost 50 years later, it is important to clarify that certain later-enacted provisions of the Education Law apply to sales or other dispositions of NYC public schools, and also to provide that the ULURP process will apply to such sales.

Section one of the bill amends sections 11 and 20 of section 454 of the Education Law to require full compliance with the uniform land use review procedure (ULURP). Section 2 of the bill amends section 471 of the Education Law to do two things: 1) to require full compliance with the uniform land use review procedure (ULURP), consistent with the amendments made in section one of the bill, and 2) to explicitly state that Article 10 does not supersede any of the later enacted requirements regarding parental involvement and the duties of the community district education councils with respect to proposed significant changes in school utilization. Section 3 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date, The A-print deletes proposed new text that had previously appeared in section 2 of the bill, from the last comma at the end of line 34 on page 2 through the end of the new text on line 37.

Justification

Recent proposals to sell New York City school buildings to developers have taken parents and communities by surprise, and appear not to have considered the impact on students, families and the surrounding communities. Certainly there has not yet been any opportunity for students, their families, and community members to have input in the process. While it is to be hoped that the parental involvement provisions of Education Law Article 52-A will be complied with, the intent of this legislation is two-fold: first, to require ULURP compliance with any, sale, lease or disposition of NYC public school buildings and sites, and second, to explicitly provide that Article 10 of the education Law, enacted in 1966, does not in any way supersede the provisions of Education Law section 2590-e, enacted many years later. See, McKinney's Statutes § 393, text accompanying note 56 (later act to prevail in case of inconsistency).

Prior legislative history

2014: Referred to Education/A6058-A Passed Assembly

Fiscal implications

None to the state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.