Judge Rules Vision Zero Law Unconstitutional as NYPD Increases Its Use

By Aidan Gardiner : dnainfo – excerpt

QUEENS — A key part of the mayor’s landmark pedestrian and bicycle safety initiative that penalizes drivers for hitting people is unconstitutional, a judge ruled Friday.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Gia Morris ruled that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero charge, failure to exercise due care, violates defendants’ right to due process as protected by the United States Constitution — saying the law puts the burden of proof on drivers to show they weren’t driving negligently, which violates their presumption of innocence under the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments… (more)

If you make pedestrians more aware and more careful by letting them know they need to watch out for themselves, you might save more lives and do a better job or protecting them than telling them they have the right of way.

Supes to radically change notice requirements on development

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

The Board of Supes will vote Tuesday/19 on a piece of legislation that would change the way planners give the public notice of upcoming projects. Nobody’s paid much attention to this, but neighborhood advocates say it’s a very big deal…

This matter was continued till June 26, to give the public more time to comment on the various suggestions for speeding up the public review process. Please stay tuned for updates on this legislation, and that “it also eviscerates some of the public notice requirements for commercial projects, including eliminating the requirement that notices be published in a newspaper.”

The legislation, Hestor says, “assumes everyone has computer” – when in fact about 100,000 San Francisco residents lack Internet access. “The legislation assumes that everyone has a printer that can print 11×17 plans. Many, many architects do plans with important details in color, which is expensive to print out.”…

Sup. Aaron Peskin asked for a delay in the Planning Commission’s consideration, saying that most of the public had no idea what this would really do. The commission passed it anyway. So did the supes Land Use and Transportation Committee.

I asked Peskin about Hestor’s concerns that this is a bad piece of legislation, and he said: “I absolutely agree.”

These are significant changes in the Planning Code that have slid by with little public input. The Yimby folks are big supporters. Worth watching, among other things, what Mayor-elect London Breed does on this.

If she supported a continuance, this could get delayed until after Farrell is out of office, she is the mayor, the new D8 supe, Rafael Mandelman, is in office, and her replacement in D5 has been sworn in.

Or she could let it go through as is, to the delight of her Yimby supporters…(more)