STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — It was an eventful Election Day with New Yorkers electing a new mayor and new members of the City Council, but less discussed have been the various passed ballot proposals that will make significant changes to the City Charter.

Residents voted on five citywide ballot proposals, four of which passed despite overwhelming opposition from local elected officials here on Staten Island.

The first three passed proposals focus on enabling New York City to build more affordable housing more quickly, complementing the controversial City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning text amendment, but were rebuked by local members of the City Council and the borough president who claimed they will strip away power from the community.

The only ballot proposal that failed to pass was one that would have moved the city’s primary and general election dates so that city elections were held in the same year as federal presidential elections.

Here’s a look at the four citywide ballot proposals that passed and how they could impact Staten Island in the years to come.

Fast Track Affordable Housing to Build More Affordable Housing Across the City

This ballot proposal will add two new fast-track mechanisms for affordable housing projects across the five boroughs.

The first mechanism, the Fast Track Zoning Action, will allow publicly-financed affordable housing developments to seek zoning relief through the Board of Standards and Appeals as opposed to going through the traditional Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which can be a months-long process with input from the mayor, City Council, borough presidents and community boards.

In order to approve any zoning actions, the Board of Standards and Appeals will need to determine that the development will fit into the existing character of the neighborhood for which it’s proposed.

“It provides assurance that an approved project will not clash with a neighborhood’s existing built context. In a low-density neighborhood where buildings have a modest maximum height of 35 feet, for instance, a four-story, 45 foot affordable housing development is a far better candidate for this action than an out-of-place 14-story affordable housing development,” according to a Charter Revision Commission report.

The second mechanism, the Affordable Housing Fast Track, will create a shortened public review process for affordable housing developments in the city’s community districts that produce the least affordable housing.

Starting in October 2026, the city will release a report every five years on the rate of affordable housing permitted in each of New York City’s 59 community districts.

In the 12 districts found to have permitted the least affordable housing, rezoning applications that are required to deliver affordable housing under the City’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program will be able to opt for the abbreviated Affordable Housing Fast Track as opposed to the traditional ULURP process.

While it’s still unclear which community districts will fall within the bottom-12 in affordable housing production as the analysis will not take place for another year, a City Limits report found that two Staten Island districts, Mid-Island and the South Shore, would be included if the analysis were conducted today.

Given that there is currently a very slim margin for being included in the bottom-12 in terms of affordable housing production, it’s possible that districts that would be included if the analysis were conducted today could potentially build their way out by approving affordable housing projects over the next year.

The primary point of contention regarding these new fast tracks stemmed from the fact that both remove the City Council from the decision-making process.

Under ULURP, final say on zoning approvals rests with the City Council. With these new fast track mechanisms, that power will be transferred to the Board of Standards and Appeals for the Fast Track Zoning Action and the City Planning Commission for the Affordable Housing Fast Track.

A Charter Revision Commission spokesperson told the Advance/SILive.com that the Affordable Housing Fast Track will not change anything about what developers can apply for in terms of zoning changes, nor will it mean an automatic approval.

The only change will be which party has the final vote on approval.

For example, developers can already apply for zoning changes that would allow for large, multi-story apartment buildings in low-density areas like Mid-Island or the South Shore.

However, they’re unlikely to be approved, as the City Council often defers to the local councilmember who may oppose the project due to constituent concerns regarding its impact on the character of the neighborhood.

With the ballot proposal passed, the City Planning Commission will be able to approve the zoning change without input from the City Council; a change that local elected officials have said will strip away power from the community.

Simplify Review of Modest Housing and Infrastructure Projects

This ballot proposal will create a new Expedited Land Use Review Procedure as a complement to the existing Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

Traditionally, projects that need land use permissions, like zoning map changes or non-city public improvements, must go through ULURP, which can be a months-long process with input from the mayor, City Council, borough presidents and community boards.

With this proposal now passed, the city will create a new expedited system for certain proposals that currently need ULURP approvals, including smaller housing proposals, city map changes and resiliency projects.

Borough presidents’ and community boards’ review periods will now run concurrently under the expedited process instead of one after the other, as they do currently. The Charter Revision Commission estimates that the ELURP will cut the time it takes to complete the public review process in half.

Like the Affordable Housing Fast Track, final approvals for ELURP will now come from the City Planning Commission, as opposed to the City Council, prompting concerns from local elected officials about the loss of community input.

While ELURP will not allow any property to be upgraded from low-density to medium- or high-density zoning, it will allow for changes to higher levels of low-density zoning that would permit larger, multifamily developments in places they’re not currently permitted.

Specifically, the ELURP process would be used for the following land use changes and projects:

Modest housing proposals that increase residential capacity by no more than 30% or allow housing with a standard height no taller than 45 feet.Acquisition, disposition, and City Map changes related to affordable housing.Minor infrastructure and resiliency projects, like raising the grade of a street to protect a community from flooding and adding solar panels on public land.Establish an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with Council, Borough, and Citywide Representation

This ballot proposal will create a new Affordable Housing Appeals Board, which will consist of the mayor, the speaker of the City Council and the borough president for the borough where the affordable housing project is proposed.

The appeals board would have the power to reverse City Council decisions related to affordable housing developments if two of the three board members are in agreement.

Currently, the mayor has the power to veto such decisions made by the City Council, but the City Council is able to override that veto with a two-thirds vote.

“This change would elevate the role of the borough president in the land use review process, as a democratically accountable official who occupies a middle point between hyperlocal and citywide perspectives. It would empower the speaker as an official who can channel local interests as well as citywide needs, given that a speaker is both elected by one council district and selected by, and accountable to, the Council as a whole. And while removing the mayor’s veto power in ULURP for these applications, it would give the citywide perspective of the mayor a concrete — but qualified — role,” according to a Charter Revision Commission report.

The appeals board would only weigh in on applications that are disapproved or approved with modifications by the City Council, while applications that are approved by the City Council with no modifications will not be reviewed.

“By empowering officials with borough-wide and citywide perspectives, the Affordable Housing Appeals Board would make it more likely that consideration of proposals involving affordable housing includes appropriate attention to the citywide interest in addressing the housing crisis,” the report states.

Create a Digital City Map to Modernize City Operations

This ballot proposal will replace the current City Map, which consists of more than 8,000 individual paper maps scattered across the five boroughs, with a single digital City Map.

The new City Map, which will be administered by the Department of City Planning, is intended to speed up development while reducing costs for housing and infrastructure projects.

“Confirmation of jurisdiction for an infrastructure project in a waterfront area, where coastlines have changed over time and property records can be spotty, can require a physical trip to consult fragile canvas maps from over 100 years ago. A street demapping for an HPD-sponsored affordable housing project can add close to a year of additional time, even for projects that are already going through ULURP,” according to a Charter Revision Commission report.

The Department of City Planning has been given a Jan. 1, 2028 deadline to consolidate the thousands of paper maps into a single map, and a Jan. 1, 2029 deadline to enter the digital map into review for formal approval through a citywide ULURP city mapping action.

The changes have prompted concerns from some borough presidents, including Borough President Vito Fossella, about what it will mean for their topographic offices and staff, who are currently responsible for maintaining each borough’s respective maps.

In it’s final report, the Charter Revision Commission said it “strongly believes that any transition to a City Map maintained by the Department of City Planning will rely on the expertise of the borough presidents’ topographic staff, and that administration of a unified City Map will likewise rely on that expertise.” However, it adds that the now passed proposal will remove the Charter requirement that borough presidents maintain a bureau staffed by a professional engineer.

Fossella previously told the Advance/SILive.com that the centralization of all these maps and responsibilities could result in extended response times to simple inquiries, a lengthy backlog of requests and a staff who isn’t familiar with the historical context that borough-specific staff is able to provide.

“When a resident has a question, they will no longer be able to come here, will no longer be able to call this office. They’ll have to call the agency of City Planning in order to get it, and our concern – and I think it’s a huge concern – is that people are going to get shut out of the process,” the borough president said last month.

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