Board plans October town hall with DOB to explain demolitions and new construction

Committee members raised concern about a recent influx of demolition notices and new construction in the neighborhood and said they will plan a town‑hall style meeting in October where city agencies can explain review processes and how residents can track projects.

“We want to for October is have a town hall ish kind of event where we can talk about all the demolitions and all the new constructions and what the AMIs are and what the rents are, etcetera,” Rich Reynoso, co‑chair of the committee, said.

Members said the Department of Buildings (DOB) has resisted presenting after normal business hours, which has impeded scheduling. “DOB doesn’t wanna only wants to present to us during their work hours, not after,” a committee member said during the discussion.

The committee discussed options including a webinar or a Q&A session and said it would pursue inviting DOB, City Planning and other agencies to explain which projects require community‑board review, how to interpret demolition notices, and when changes to affordability commitments (AMI levels) must come back before the board. The board also intends to ask DOB which demolition or construction activities require community‑board approval and which are permitted as‑of‑right.

No agency representatives from DOB were present at the Sept. 18 meeting; the committee instructed staff to work on scheduling the October session and to continue seeking an arrangement with DOB that meets both the agency’s constraints and the board’s need for public access to information.