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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Berkeley City Council Regular Meeting – May 6, 2025

City Council — Tuesday, May 6, 2025

BodyBerkeley, California

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, May 6, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:56:13

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

All right, hello everyone.

0:00

Good evening.

0:01

Thank you so much for joining us.

0:03

Um, tonight is Tuesday, May 6, 2025, and I am calling this meeting into session of the Berkeley City Council meeting.

0:12

So we would like to start off with a role, please, Clerk.

0:16

Okay.

0:16

Uh Councilmember Kessarwani.

0:19

Oh, here.

0:23

Oh.

0:23

President Bartlett.

0:28

Bartlett.

0:29

Yes, here.

0:30

Trago.

0:31

Present.

0:31

O'Keefe.

0:32

Here.

0:32

Lackaby.

0:33

Here, Luna Parra.

0:34

Here.

0:35

Humber President and Mary She.

0:38

Here.

0:38

Thank you so much, Clerk.

0:40

And tonight is the first city council meeting of this month.

0:44

And so that means we'll be reading our land acknowledgement statement.

0:47

And I'm going to, we've been taking turns.

0:49

And so tonight is Councilmember Blackby's night, and he's in District 6.

0:53

So thank you so much, Councilmember.

0:55

Thank you, Mayor.

0:56

I'd like to read the land acknowledgement tonight.

0:58

The City of Berkeley recognizes that the community we live in was built on the territory of Huchiun people, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Olone people, the ancestors and descendants of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County.

1:13

This land was and continues to be of great importance to all of the Ohlone tribes and descendants of the Verona Band.

1:21

As we begin our meeting tonight, we acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of Berkeley, the documented 5,000-year history of a vibrant community at the West Berkeley Shell Mound, and the Olone people who continue to reside in the East Bay.

1:37

We recognize that Berkeley's residents have and continue to benefit from the use and occupation of this unceded stolen land since the City of Berkeley's incorporation in 1878.

1:48

As stewards of the laws regulating the city of Berkeley, it is not only vital that we recognize the history of this land, but also recognize that the Olone people are present members of Berkeley and other East Bay communities today.

2:01

The City of Berkeley will continue to build relationships with the Lijan tribe and to create meaningful actions that uphold the intention of this land acknowledgement.

2:11

Thank you very much.

2:13

Now this evening on for ceremonial for our ceremonial items, we are actually going to push back the adjournment in memory for John Bolar.

2:25

Bolaria, thank you very much for the pronunciation.

2:28

His family won't be able to come until a later meeting.

2:30

And although we did adjourn in the memory of David Chicken Nesmith, his uh widow was not able to attend until this evening.

2:39

And so I believe that she is on Zoom to join us.

2:42

And I'm gonna ask the clerk to help us find her to give some commentary.

2:46

Thank you so much for for joining us this evening.

2:49

I appreciate it.

2:52

Oh, here she is.

2:58

Can you hear me now?

3:00

Yes, we can hear you now.

3:02

Oh good.

3:03

I just wanted to thank Igor and all the council members for honoring my beloved spouse, Chicken David Nesmus, last week, and I'm really grateful to accept your invitation to follow up tonight with a few words, further words about my hero.

3:21

He was known as a super effective political strategist for the environment, and I'm gonna share with you tonight his secret potion for success.

3:31

Respect and love your opponent.

3:35

He'd take his opponents out for tea, he'd learn all their children's names, and he never forgot them, and he'd invite them to get in a boat with him, where they would inevitably fall in love with the river or the part of the bay he was battling for.

3:51

He fought the East Bay Mud to protect the McCalamy River as wilderness.

3:56

That's the water, that's the water we drink every day.

3:59

That's the river that gives us our clean water, some of the cleanest in the world.

4:05

He sued the pants off of them.

4:07

He was a pain in their ass, and he took them on river trips to fall in love with the river.

4:14

And when the McCalamy came up for a vote, it was right after his big stroke.

4:20

And he came to the board meeting in his wheelchair to speak, haltingly, in his few simple words as he had practiced over and over.

4:29

And he said, this is before they voted, mind you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Zoning And Land Use████████████████████████████████████36%

Public Comment█████████████████████21%

Public Works██████████10%

Fire Safety██████6%

Public Safety█████5%

Procedural████4%

Engineering And Infrastructure████4%

Technology and Innovation███3%

Cultural Recognition██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Berkeley City Council Regular Meeting – May 6, 2025

The Berkeley City Council met on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, starting at 6:00 PM in the School District Board Room. The meeting covered a consent calendar of routine approvals, a public hearing on a Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) appeal for a residential project at 1048 Keith Avenue, and extensive public comment on non-agenda matters. Key fire-related items were postponed to June 17 for further community outreach.

Consent Calendar

Items 1–8b were approved unanimously in one motion, including: adoption of CALFIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zones (Item 1, postponed to June 17 but moved to consent for part of process; actually the item was postponed, but it remained on consent? The agenda shows Item 1 was on consent but the city manager announced it would be moved to June 17. The transcript confirms both Items 1 and 9 were moved to June 17, but the consent calendar vote occurred after that announcement. The consent calendar items that remained were Items 2–8b. The council voted to approve the consent calendar including Item 8b (take no action on SB 1343 enforcement recommendation). Councilmember Tregub explained his support for the intent but cited budget constraints. Item 7 (red curb painting for daylighting) and Item 3 (Diablo Fire Safe Council fiscal sponsorship) received positive council comments.

Public Comments & Testimony

Non-Agenda Public Comment: Speakers addressed: a resident concerned about a homeless encampment in a park and the need for coordinated city response; a speaker urging a more balanced dialogue on the proposed Ember wildfire prevention rules, citing conflicting research on vegetation removal near homes; a resident opposed to the proposed zone-zero rule, arguing power lines are a greater wildfire cause and that removing vegetation harms shade and mental health; a commenter criticizing homeless sweeps and calling for public housing; the Bridge Association of Realtors raising concerns that the city's fire hardening transfer tax rebate is not publicly advertised or known to staff; a representative of the Alliance for Practical Fire Solutions supporting postponement and asking for collaborative workshops; and a comment opposing SB 607 for eliminating CEQA environmental review.
Employee Union Comment: Amori Langmo, president of Berkeley Firefighters Local 1227, cautioned against a hiring freeze for public safety positions, noting that 10–15 retirements are expected and that mandatory overtime leads to increased sick leave and workers' compensation costs.
Public Comment on Consent/Information Items: Carol (former commission chair) urged council to work with businesses to educate them about SB 1343 requirements. A Realtors representative asked for transparency in the BESO software contract regarding escrow deposit data.

Discussion Items

ZAB Appeal – 1048 Keith Avenue (Use Permit ZP2024-0014): Staff presented the project: demolition of a 2,760 sq ft single-family home and construction of a 3,600 sq ft two-story home (25 ft tall) with a reduced rear setback (20 ft to 15 ft), parking in front setback, and a trellis/fence. The ZAB approved it in January 2025. The appeal was filed by the uphill neighbor at 1050 Keith, claiming encroachment, inaccurate surveys, and that the project would set a precedent for property line disputes in a landslide-prone area. Staff found the survey accurate to within an inch, no encroachment, and no city policy on sliding land. The appellant’s representative argued that the land has shifted over decades and that the city should require a comprehensive survey. The applicant, Lindsay Newman, a civil engineer, presented her design, emphasized fire-resistant features, and stated the survey confirmed the project is entirely within her lot. She noted a pending lawsuit over the property lines. Public comment was split: several neighbors supported the appeal, fearing a domino effect of land grabs; others supported the project as an improvement and responsibly engineered. Council questions focused on the non-detriment finding and whether the city could consider broader community detriment. Councilmember Blackaby expressed concern about precedent and asked for more data. Councilmember Humbert and others noted the quasi-judicial limits. The motion to affirm the ZAB decision and deny the appeal passed 7–1 (Blackaby dissenting; O’Keefe recused).

Key Outcomes

Fire-Related Items Postponed: Items 1 (CALFIRE map) and 9 (Fire Code amendments) were moved to the June 17 meeting to allow more community engagement. Councilmember Blackaby announced two Ember workshops: a Zoom webinar on May 15, 2025 (RSVP: bit.ly/May15Ember) and an in-person workshop on May 27, 2025 at Northbrae Community Church.
Consent Calendar Approved: All consent items (2–8b) passed, including re-establishment of the Berkeley Tourism Business Improvement District for 10 years, contracts for home hardening donations, HR data services, South Cove repaving rejection/re-bid, BESO software updates, red curb painting (918 intersections), and taking no action on the SB 1343 enforcement recommendation (Item 8b).
ZAB Appeal Denied: The council upheld the ZAB’s approval of the 1048 Keith Avenue project. The project may proceed subject to existing conditions; property line disputes remain a private civil matter.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned after a brief history lesson on former Mayor Lewis Bartlett and a call to prioritize EMS funding.

Meeting Transcript

All right, hello everyone. Good evening. Thank you so much for joining us. Um, tonight is Tuesday, May 6, 2025, and I am calling this meeting into session of the Berkeley City Council meeting. So we would like to start off with a role, please, Clerk. Okay. Uh Councilmember Kessarwani. Oh, here. Oh. President Bartlett. Bartlett. Yes, here. Trago. Present. O'Keefe. Here. Lackaby. Here, Luna Parra. Here. Humber President and Mary She. Here. Thank you so much, Clerk. And tonight is the first city council meeting of this month. And so that means we'll be reading our land acknowledgement statement. And I'm going to, we've been taking turns. And so tonight is Councilmember Blackby's night, and he's in District 6. So thank you so much, Councilmember. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to read the land acknowledgement tonight. The City of Berkeley recognizes that the community we live in was built on the territory of Huchiun people, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Olone people, the ancestors and descendants of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. This land was and continues to be of great importance to all of the Ohlone tribes and descendants of the Verona Band. As we begin our meeting tonight, we acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of Berkeley, the documented 5,000-year history of a vibrant community at the West Berkeley Shell Mound, and the Olone people who continue to reside in the East Bay. We recognize that Berkeley's residents have and continue to benefit from the use and occupation of this unceded stolen land since the City of Berkeley's incorporation in 1878. As stewards of the laws regulating the city of Berkeley, it is not only vital that we recognize the history of this land, but also recognize that the Olone people are present members of Berkeley and other East Bay communities today. The City of Berkeley will continue to build relationships with the Lijan tribe and to create meaningful actions that uphold the intention of this land acknowledgement. Thank you very much. Now this evening on for ceremonial for our ceremonial items, we are actually going to push back the adjournment in memory for John Bolar. Bolaria, thank you very much for the pronunciation. His family won't be able to come until a later meeting. And although we did adjourn in the memory of David Chicken Nesmith, his uh widow was not able to attend until this evening. And so I believe that she is on Zoom to join us. And I'm gonna ask the clerk to help us find her to give some commentary. Thank you so much for for joining us this evening. I appreciate it. Oh, here she is. Can you hear me now? Yes, we can hear you now. Oh good. I just wanted to thank Igor and all the council members for honoring my beloved spouse, Chicken David Nesmus, last week, and I'm really grateful to accept your invitation to follow up tonight with a few words, further words about my hero. He was known as a super effective political strategist for the environment, and I'm gonna share with you tonight his secret potion for success.

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