Berkeley City Council Regular Meeting Summary – July 30, 2025
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Berkeley City Council Regular Meeting – July 30, 2025
The Berkeley City Council met on July 30, 2025, in a hybrid format. The meeting covered consent calendar approvals, a public hearing on accessory dwelling unit (ADU) zoning amendments, and a street vacation ordinance. Key decisions included adopting revised ADU standards for the hillside overlay fire zone and approving the transfer of a portion of Carleton Street to Bayer Healthcare.
Consent Calendar
- Item 14 (Urban Ore contract) was pulled by the City Manager for further review of ongoing labor issues. All other consent items (Items 1–13, 15–27) were approved unanimously. Notable items include:
- Amending the General Fund Reserve Policy (Item 2)
- Staffing for Measure FF Safe Streets Initiative (Item 20)
- Formation of a Nightlife Council sub-committee (Item 24)
- Referral for a Green New Deal workforce feasibility study (Item 25)
- Resolution supporting California SB 627 (No Secret Police Act) (Item 26)
- Approval of Berkeley’s first Sun Day renewable energy festival on September 21, 2025, with voluntary contributions from multiple councilmembers (Item 27)
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non‑agenda public comment (start of meeting): Several speakers addressed the Urban Ore labor dispute, expressing solidarity with striking workers and urging the council to delay the contract. Others raised concerns about the city’s enforcement of source‑of‑income discrimination, tsunami warnings, and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
- Item 28 (ADU ordinance): Public speakers included a representative from the ADU Task Force who supported the proposed amendments but noted inconsistency with large single‑family home allowances. A millennial homeowner urged shorter tenant right‑of‑first‑refusal periods. Online commenters raised fire‑safety concerns about removing setbacks and questioned the fire chief’s focus only on the hillside overlay.
- Item 29 (Carleton Street vacation): Multiple unhoused residents and advocates spoke against the street vacation, arguing that the city had not provided alternative shelter. Representatives from Bayer and partner organizations (Biotech Partners, MESA Workshops) supported the vacation, noting Bayer’s community investments and the need for secure campus access.
Discussion Items
- Item 28 – ADU Amendments to Title 23 (Zoning): Councilmembers debated whether to adopt stricter standards in the hillside overlay fire zone. Councilmember Blackaby presented a supplemental proposal to limit ADU height and square footage in the hillside overlay to state‑minimum levels, citing the recent evacuation study showing a potential 102% increase in evacuation time with maximum ADU development. Mayor Ishii and others argued that large single‑family homes face no similar restrictions. After discussion, a substitute motion (by Councilmember Kesarwani) was adopted, which:
- Adopts staff’s recommended Title 23 changes (excluding references to Title 21)
- Incorporates Blackaby’s supplemental amendments as published, except that the height standard for detached ADUs is set to 20 feet in all three categories (existing single‑family, existing multi‑family, proposed multi‑family) within the hillside overlay
- Incorporates Kesarwani’s footnote clarifying that “new construction” ADUs may be attached or detached in any configuration
- Retains the rooftop deck prohibition in the hillside overlay (from Blackaby’s supplemental)
- Item 29 – Carleton Street Vacation (Second Reading): The council heard public testimony and then voted to adopt the ordinance vacating a 381‑foot portion of Carleton Street and authorize a quitclaim deed to Bayer Healthcare LLC. The City Manager confirmed the Homeless Response Team (HRT) has been engaging with encampment residents and will continue outreach, though shelter beds are limited.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar approved unanimously, with Item 14 (Urban Ore) removed for further review.
- Item 28 (ADU Title 23 amendments): The substitute motion passed by a vote of 6 yes, 1 no, 2 abstentions (exact tally not fully verifiable from transcript; motion carried). The ordinance updates will be brought back for second reading after incorporating the approved amendments.
- Item 29 (Carleton Street vacation): Second reading adopted unanimously (8‑0‑1 absent? Roll call showed all present voting yes). The City Manager is authorized to execute the quitclaim deed.
- Item 14 (Urban Ore contract): Pulled from consent; will be brought back to a future meeting after addressing labor concerns.
- The council will hold a future special meeting to hear the postponed presentation from the City Auditor and Homeless Response Team.
Meeting Transcript
I think I'm not on the same definitely. Okay. Should we start platform? Okay. Um, I'm gonna call it the order in the Berkeley City Council Mayon. It's Tuesday, July 29th, 224. Clerk, would you please take the role? Okay. Here's present. House number or the fact here. Here present very she. Here. Okay. Okay. All right. Um, we are moving on. Um, I don't think we have any ceremonial items this evening we adjourned in memory of Dan Siegel is going to go to be moved um to a future meeting. Um, so let's go to city manager comments. Thank you, very sheep. Um a couple things regarding this tonight's agenda. One uh I want to pull item 14 from the consent calendar, which is the urban or contract. Um you want to be able to work on that, and we can bring it back to a future meeting. Um, and then for item 28 on your action calendar. What I'm recommending is that you take up uh the matters concerning Title 23, uh, but not Title 21 tonight, and that staff has more time to analyze and bring back more information for you relative to the title 21 aspect of the ADU item 28 to a meeting uh in September or October. So those are two uh announcements and requests. Thank you, yes. I think that makes sense, and that's how I'll move forward this evening. Um City Auditor, uh I know that you're here somewhere. Would you like to make any comments okay? Okay, so just wanted to um share that the budget office and the finance department's progress on the recommendations associated with the financial condition audit. Recommendation the uh the financial condition audits. This was discussed at the agenda rules committee meeting, and I said I would provide a brief um presentation. Um I just wanted to acknowledge that the budget office and the finance department um is uh greatly impacted by the difficult financial situation that the city is facing. Um our audit um these are just I just have one slide to share with you. We have recommended that the city assure sufficient funding in the section 15 trust in order to maximize the benefits of pre-funding pension obligations in previous updates. The city had developed fiscal policies to fund the trust, and the city's actually had recommended maintaining a party contribution goal of 5.5 million in fiscal year 25. The city was not able to meet this goal given its financial challenges as a result. Our office is going to leave this recommendation open and we'll reassess progress next year. Although none of the recommendation statuses have changed since the last update to council, some progress has been made. Our audit recommended the city complete the risk assessment required by the city's reserve policy, and proposed that the city council device a plan to replenish the general fund reserves. The city has since contracted with JFOA to complete a risk assessment of the general fund reserve policy, and tonight, as you'll see, city council will be considering an update to the reserve policy based on the recommendation to develop a plan to replenish the reserves and revise the funding goal to align with the city's financial legality and protected risk level. Additionally, our audit recommended the city implement a funding plan aimed at reducing the city's unfunded capital and deferred maintenance needs. And the ballot measure also includes language for our office to audit this every three years. So I'm gonna give you that update. Thank you. And are you coming? Yes. Okay, thank you so much. I appreciate the presentation. And we are going to now involve some public comments on non-agenda matters.
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