New York City announced yesterday that it will become the first city in the country to put diagrams of proposed new buildings or major enlargements online so the public can view the size and scale and such proposals and have a 30-day "public challenge period...to give the public a greater voice in the development process and provide clarity for developers about when and how a project can move forward."

The new regulation was announced by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler and Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert D. LeMandri.

The new regulations fufill a commitment the Mayor made last month in his State of the City Address and they will go into effect Monday, March 9, 2009.

"The reforms we are detailing today will inject a much-needed dose of transparency and accountability into a critical area of construction and development - zoning compliance," said Mayor Bloomberg.

"The reforms center on the public's right to challenge any approved development if they think it violates local zoning regulations. For too long, this process has been too onerous for most New Yorkers. The reforms will make sure people have a stronger voice in the development that's taking place in their neighborhoods, while also giving developers more certainty about their projects," he continued.

Commissioner LiMandri stated that "Until now, knowledge of development approvals has been limited to a small group of insiders with expert knowledge. This puts the public at a disadvantage and creates uncertainty for developers, who could be subject to a challenge long after a building is out of the ground."

The new regulations will not affect that city's Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) under which the City Planning Commission certifies applications for special permits and variances for new building projects and those applications are then reviewed within eight months by the local community board, the borough president, the commission and the City Council. The recommendations of the community boards and the borough presidents are advisory only.

Presumably, the new regulations will apply to all new construction and enlargement projects, not just those that require special public approval under ULURP.

Architects and engineers filing applications for new buildings and major enlargements will be required to submit diagrams, which will be available at www.nyc.gov. The diagrams will detail critical information that can be used by the public to determine whether a project is in compliance with required zoning regulations. The diagrams will include the size of the project, drawn to scale, and where a building will sit in relation to the street.

The 30-day public-challenge process establishes a defined and organized means for the public to challenge zoning decisions by DOB that they believe are incorrect, according to a press release from the Department of Buildings that also said that "The current process, which has no formal timeframe, produces confusion and unnecessary and unintended costs for development in New York City."

After the initial public challenge period ends, the Borough Commissioner of the Buildings Department will address every challenge by conducting a full review of the construction plans and rendering decisions that will be posted online. If a challenge is determined to be valid, appropriate enforcement action will be taken, including issuing Stop Work Orders, revoking of permits, and requiring redesigns of the proposed construction, according to the press release.

If the Borough Commissioner determines that a challenge is invalid, it continued, the public will be given an additional 15 calendar days to appeal to the First Deputy Commissioner whose decision may be appealed to the city's Board of Standards and Appeals for a final determination.