Berkeley City Council Special Meeting on Middle Housing Zoning - July 23, 2024
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Berkeley City Council Special Meeting on Middle Housing Zoning - July 23, 2024
This special meeting of the Berkeley City Council, held on July 23, 2024, at 3:30 PM in the School District Board Room, focused solely on proposed zoning ordinance and general plan amendments to encourage “middle housing” (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, etc.) in low-density residential districts. The council did not adopt a final ordinance but instead provided staff with direction to prepare a revised ordinance, after a procedural error was discovered. The meeting featured extensive public testimony, with over 100 speakers in person and via Zoom, and more than 600 written communications. Key themes included support for increased housing density, concerns about fire safety in the hillside overlay, affordability, community process, and equity.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Support for Middle Housing: Many speakers urged adoption, citing the need to reverse exclusionary zoning, provide housing for young families, teachers, and low-income residents, and lower rents. Representative comments: “We need more housing… Berkeley created single-family zoning as an explicitly racist segregationist policy” (Jacob Dadman); “Berkeley’s Kamala Harris grew up in a duplex… we need to do better for the next generation” (Councilmember Kesarwani referencing public sentiment).
- Fire Safety Concerns: Numerous residents, including members of the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission and the Berkeley Fire Safe Council, opposed applying the new zoning in the hillside overlay (very high fire hazard severity zones) until an evacuation study is completed. They cited the 1991 Tunnel Fire, loss of insurance, narrow streets, and Fire Chief Sprague’s memo warning that increased density “may nullify wildfire safety work.” Speakers urged that “the most fundamental goal of government is to promote safety” (Vice Mayor Wengraf) and that adding people and vehicles to the hills is “madness.”
- Process and Equity Concerns: Several speakers criticized the lack of public notice, the 3:30 PM meeting time, and the complexity of the proposal. Some argued that upzoning alone would not create affordable housing and could lead to speculation and displacement, especially in historically redlined areas. “We need to make sure everyone understands what we’re talking about before we take action” (Councilmember Hahn).
Discussion Items
- Staff Presentation: Planning Director Jordan Klein and Land Use Planning Manager Ann Hirsch presented the background, nine proposed standards, and differences between the Planning Commission’s recommendation (which included the hillside overlay and no maximum density) and staff’s alternative (which excluded the hillside and included density caps). Staff acknowledged a procedural error in the general plan amendment process and requested direction rather than a vote.
- Council Deliberation: Councilmembers debated the extent of the upzoning, fire risk, density caps, and community outreach. Mayor Arreguin and Councilmember Kesarwani introduced a motion to exempt the hillside overlay until the evacuation study, adopt maximum density standards (40 units/acre in R1, 50 in R1A/R2, 60 in R2A/MUR), regulate primary unit size, simplify height rules, and fund a historic context statement. Councilmember Lunaparra offered a substitute motion supporting the Planning Commission’s version (no density caps, include hillside overlay except R1H), but it failed 3-2-4.
- Friendly Amendments: Accepted amendments included: holding community workshops citywide (Vice Mayor Wengraf), analyzing general plan consistency (Councilmember Hahn), reporting on mini-dorm/growth living accommodation concerns (Hahn), confirming demolition ordinance compliance (Councilmember Tregub), and noting land value recapture (Councilmember Tregub).
Key Outcomes
- Council Direction (Main Motion): The council voted 9-0 to direct staff to prepare a middle housing ordinance that:
- Exempts the Hillside Overlay Zone and ESR district until the fire department’s evacuation study is received and reviewed.
- Establishes maximum density standards: 40 units/acre in R1, 50 in R1A/R2, 60 in R2A/MUR (resulting in approximately 4-6 units on a typical 5,000 sq ft lot).
- Limits primary unit size to no more than half the lot area or 2,500 sq ft, whichever is greater.
- Sets a maximum height of 35 feet or 3 stories (with a 22-ft limit within 15 ft of the rear property line).
- Requires front and rear setbacks to total 20 ft, with a minimum of 5 ft each.
- Mandates neighbor notice similar to the ADU ordinance.
- Allocates $200,000 for a citywide historic context statement.
- Holds community workshops before the ordinance returns for first reading.
- Staff Estimates: Staff projected up to 1,700 units over 8 years under the proposal, but noted only 25 middle housing projects (75 units) were permitted citywide in the past 6 years, indicating a likely modest increase.
- Next Steps: The public hearing remains open. Staff will return with a revised ordinance following additional analysis, community workshops, and the completion of the evacuation study. The council also requested reports on mini-dorm risks, demolition ordinance integration, and land value recapture principles.
Meeting Transcript
The first order of businesses roll call if the city clerk can please call the roll. Councilmember Kessarwani. Here. Present. Bartlett. It is absent. Trigum. Present. On present. When graph. Present. Luna para here. Humbert. Present. And Mayor Aragine. Present. Accord of the city council's present. Thank you very much. This is a special meeting of the city council to take up one item on our action calendar. Item one, zoning ordinance and general plan amendments related to middle housing. As this is a special meeting, we will not be taking public comment on non-agenda matters, but you're welcome to join us for a 6 p.m. regular meeting to offer any public comment on non-agenda matters at that time. And so before I go to staff or the staff presentation, I just want to uh make an introductory announcement. I want to welcome everyone to this meeting of the Berkeley City Council to allow for full participation by all members of the community and to ensure that important city business is able to be completed. We ask that all attendees conduct themselves in an orderly manner and respect the rights of others participating in the meeting. Please be aware that the city council's rules of decorum prohibit the disruption of the orderly conduct of the council meeting. A summary of these rules is available in the one-page handout on the table at the rear of the boardroom. Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to shouting, making disruptive noises, creating or participating in a physical disturbance, speaking out of turn or in violation of applicable rules, preventing or attempting to prevent others who have the floor from speaking, preventing others from observing the meeting, entering into or remaining in an area of the meeting room that is not open to the public, or approaching the council dais without consent. We ask that you observe these rules so all members of the public may observe and participate in our meeting. And we thank you for joining us this afternoon. So with that, we'll proceed now to item one zoning ordinance and general plan amendments relating to middle housing. And we'll start first with a uh staff presentation. I want to now turn the floor over to Jordan Klein, Director of Planning and Development. Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good afternoon, council members. I'm joined at the staff table by Ann Hirsch, land use planning manager, and cement the up to grade of the zoning officer. We're very pleased to have the opportunity to present to you an advanced middle housing zoning ordinance amendments today for your consideration. This hearing is the culmination of years worth of work in response to several city council referrals dating back to at least 2017. I want to acknowledge and appreciate all of the staff and consultants and commissioners that have worked on this project as well as the thousands of residents who have engaged with us on this policy issue since we began working on it in earnest in 2022, including the many residents who uh have commented over the past week on the policy proposals under consideration at this hearing. We all we all know that the residents of Berkeley care deeply about equitable housing, the environment, public safety, and other policy matters that are play here. So it's no surprising that we've seen a lot of engagement on middle housing. Council is being asked to consider new objective standards that would facilitate the production of denser multi-unit development projects and low density uh residential districts where those types of projects aren't currently allowed. Uh this is a program of the housing element, and it's an important component of the city's commitment to affirmatively further fair housing. So we're pleased to have the opportunity to get your feedback today on the proposed zoning amendments. Before I turn it over to Ann for the presentation, I want to call your attention to the revised materials that staff submitted yesterday and were published yesterday. Last week we became aware that unfortunately we made a procedural error related to the proposed general plan amendments that to accompany the zoning ordinance amendments. So we've modified the staff recommendation and are now requesting that council provide staff direction on the proposed amendments rather than adopt the first reading of an ordinance today. This will allow staff time to correct the procedural error prior to bringing back the general plan amendments and the proposed zoning amendments for first reading on a future date.
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