Hey, hello everyone.

Good evening.

Folks, thank you so much.

Oh, I got a wave too.

Hello, nice to see you all.

Thank you so much for being here.

I'm going to call this meeting to order.

We are calling to order the special meeting of the Berkeley City Council today is Thursday, November 6th, 2025.

And I'm going to start us off with a roll.

Okay.

Councilmember Kessarwani, currently absent.

Councilmember Taplan present.

Councilman Bartlett.

President Traga, present.

O'Keefe.

Here.

Blackaby here.

Lunapara.

Here.

Humbert here.

And Mayor Ishi.

Here.

Okay.

Quorum is present.

All right.

So we are going to start us off with the corridor zoning update presentation.

I'm going to ask folks to please keep their conversations outside if you're going to have them.

We want to make sure we can hear the presentation and everyone's comments.

And I just first want to, of course, express my appreciation for all the folks that are here, the business leaders, local residents, and community for coming out this evening.

Staff has been working really hard to get to this point, and we're all looking forward to hearing to the presentation this night.

I just want to make sure that it's clear to everyone before we begin that this is not an action item.

So we're not going to be taking any vote this evening.

This is a presentation similar to the one that's been had already at the three commercial areas over the past few months.

After the staff presentation, council members will have an opportunity to ask Steph questions, then we're gonna have public comment, and then after that, uh we'll move on to council comments and discussion.

So I just want to share make sure folks know what to expect this evening.

And I am gonna pass it off to our team over here.

Thanks so much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, Council members.

I'm Jordan Klein, I'm director of planning and development.

I'm joined at the staff table by uh Uttara Ramakrishnan, Justin Horner, both from our policy team, and uh Chris Sensenig from Ramian Associates, which uh is assisting the city on this project.

So we're really pleased to be here this evening to present to you on two projects, starting with the corridor zoning update, uh, that as the mayor noted, we've been working on for a while.

Um both of these projects implement programs of our housing element, and they're part of the city's strategy for for facilitating sustainable and equitable housing development and expanding housing choices and opportunities for people at all income levels in Berkeley.

I'm gonna make a few points and then turn it over to Uttara for the presentation.

First, I also wanted to make it clear that uh we're not yet advancing any plans or zoning amendments for adoption this evening, uh, but for for each of these projects, we're at a point where it would be very helpful to get input from council and the community about the work we've completed so far.

For corridors, the alternatives that we're presenting to this evening, as again the mayor noted, are the same as what was presented to community members at our most recent workshops.

So if any community members who were at those workshops, they see this and they're thinking, hey, nothing has changed since we saw this two months ago.

Please know that that's by design and a product of our work schedule.

We're intentionally moving this forward gradually and deliberately rather than rushing change.

Oh, really?

Folks, please keep your comments to yourself.

For both projects we're presenting this evening, we're seeking your feedback on objective design standards.

So for corridors, we have a few specific um simple design standards that we'll ask you about.

And what we'll also be asking you whether you'd like to see even more detailed objective design standards incorporated into the regulations that we ultimately advance for adoption.

And then for San Pablo, we have those detailed ODS already in the public draft of the plan that was published last week.

And we'd love to get your feedback on specific standards, or broadly, whether you think it's too much, not enough, or just right.

I want to acknowledge that uh throughout our community engagement on this project, and especially over the past few weeks as this work session has approached.

We've heard from many community members who are concerned about the health and well-being of the many small businesses that define the character of these corridors.

We know from research, experience, and direct observation that zoning changes corridors gradually over the course of decades, not overnight.

And Berkeley has policies and programs in place already that offer support and protection to small businesses to help ensure that they're able to continue to operate even when development happens.

But these fears are understandable, and I'm not discounting them by any means.

We've tasked our consultant team with conducting a survey of other potential policies and programs to support small businesses and mitigate potential displacement act impacts.

Policies that other cities have in place already that Berkeley can consider adopting.

We'll present the results of that research to policymakers in early 2026, well in advance of sending any zoning amendments forward for adoption.

And I want a small business community to know that we're committed to engaging with them as this project advances.

Finally, although it's true that there's been a great deal of community outreach already about this project, I want to emphasize that there will still be more opportunities to gauge before anything is advanced to City Council for adoption.

For each of the two projects we're discussing tonight, there will be at least one more community workshop, info sessions, and public hearings at planning commission.

And if there are any community members or groups that want to connect with us for focused engagement, we are more than happy to accommodate that.

I know both Utara and Robert Rivera, who's the project manager for the San Pablo Specific plan.

Their business cards, and we encourage community members to connect with us.

So with that introduction, I'm now gonna turn it over to Uttara for the presentation.

Oh, you're not sharing anymore.

Yeah.

While you're pulling that up, I noticed there are a lot of folks standing in the back.

If anyone needs a seat, there's reserve seating for folks that are disabled in the front.

So I just want to make sure.

And then there are also some seats, I think over here.

Um, if you have a seat next to you, if you could move in so that folks can access it from the aisles, I just want to make sure that folks are safe.

Thank you.

All right.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mayor Ishi and Council members.

My name is Utira Ramakrishnan.

I'm an associate planner with the land use planning division and the project manager for the corridor zoning update.

So here's today's agenda.

We'll begin with a presentation summarizing the project, alternatives, and feedback received so far.

This will be followed by discussion questions.

Council will then deliberate and provide direction on the overall approach for each corridor.

All right.

So this slide shows the overall project schedule, but the star marking where we are today.

Now, over the past few months, we completed the existing conditions report and held workshop one, which served as the official project kickoff.

Most recently, we completed workshop two in late summer with three in-person workshops to present zoning alternatives to the community and to gather feedback.

Planning commission also reviewed the draft alternatives.

From here, City Council will provide feedback on preferred approach.

And our goal is to bring the updated zoning forward for adoption by summer 2026.

So, in terms of community outreach, they've completed two rounds of community workshops, a citywide virtual workshop in May, and three in-person corridor-specific workshops in August, followed by a planning commission study session in September.

Additional engagement has included meetings with community organizations, two technical advisory committee sessions, meetings with property owners, and an online survey that closed on October 10th.

And we know how much community members care about the health, well-being, and future of these three corridors, and we wanted to take the time to meet them in person.

Staff reached out to over 30 community organizations and business organizations, offering to attend their meetings to share an overview of the project and gather feedback.

So the organizations that you see listed here invited city staff to present at their regularly scheduled meetings and provided inputs.

Jumping into project overview.

So the corridor zoning update focuses on rezoning portions of Solano, North Shaddock, and College Avenue.

The need for rezoning was identified in the 2023 housing element, specifically under Program 27, which commits the city to expand housing opportunities in its highest resource and highest income neighborhoods.

The key goals are to expand housing capacity by encouraging new housing development through rezoning, to foster equity and inclusion by creating opportunities for new housing development in high resource areas, support local businesses by adding more customers, and promote sustainability by encouraging housing in amenity and transit-rich areas.

Now, this slide here shows the zoning districts within the three corridors.

On Solano Avenue, we're focusing on parcels within the CSO district.

Along North Shaddock, we're studying the CNS district while keeping the CC district as is.

For College Avenue, the plan area includes parcels south of Dwight, south of Dwightway, but our analysis mainly focuses on the CE Elmwood District, since much of the corridor falls within the R2A, which was addressed through the Middle Housing Rezoning Project.

Okay.

Now, Berkeley has seen the greatest concentration of new multifamily housing in downtown Southside along San Pablo University, Telegraph Avenues, while Solano, North Shaddock, and College have seen very little high density development.

Two exceptions are on North Shaddock, an eight-story project at Shaddock and Virginia, and a seven-story project at Shaddock and Francisco, now under construction.

On College Avenue, there's one completed project in the R3 zone and another under review at 2942 College Avenue, a two-story commercial building with two stories of home behind it.

Now, this slide shows how existing zoning on Solano College on North Shadow compare to other mixed-use corridors in the city.

These three corridors currently have the lowest minimum height standards, and the goal of program 27 is to bring these high resource corridors in line with others, providing more opportunities for new housing.

So here you can see how these corridors could move up the zoning ladder, better aligning with other mixed-use corridors citywide while maintaining a neighborhood scale.

Okay.

So we'll now walk through three key elements of the alternatives report: maximum height, building form, and ground floor land use.

All right.

So we developed two alternatives for each corridor.

So alternative one, or the medium density option increases the base height by two stories on Solano and North Shaddock, where the streets are wider and by one story on College Avenue.

Alternative two, the higher density option increases base height by one additional story beyond alternative one.

Now, this slide here shows how the state density bonus affects overall total height.

So based on Berkeley's inclusionary housing ordinance and state density bonus laws, most projects are expected to seek a 50% bonus, which we have used in our analysis over here.

Now developers have flexibility in how they apply the bonus.

So actual project heights will vary depending on site conditions and design.

Now, with a 50% bonus on Solano, buildings could reach five to six stories under alternative one and seven to eight stories under alternative two.

On North Shaddock, buildings could reach seven to eight stories under alt one and eight to nine stories under alt two.

On College Avenue, where the street width is narrower, buildings could reach four to five stories under alternative one and up to six stories under alternative two.

Projects that provide deeper affordability could have could qualify for a hundred percent bonus, allowing for greater heights.

Okay.

So as you can see, keep it down, let her finish her presentation.

There's a comment period, you can speak then.

Go ahead.

This is their opportunity to speak, please.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

So this slide compares the existing street sections of San Pablo Avenue with the three corridors in the study.

Updates about San Pablo will be presented to Council right after this presentation.

Now, San Pablo has a widest right of way at 105 feet, followed by North Shaddock at 94 feet, which offers relatively more flexibility for accommodating taller buildings.

The other two corridors are narrower, with Solano Avenue at 85 feet and College Avenue at approximately 60 feet in total right of way.

Now, in addition to overall heights, the report looks at building form and facade design.

So alternative one allows the building facade to extend to its full height, and it's the most efficient and cost effective option.

Alternative two requires an upper floor step back on facades facing the side streets, and alternative three requires upper floor stepbacks on all street-facing facades, creating a more sculpted form and visual transition to adjacent neighborhoods.

So the examples shown here are from San Pablo specific pan, which takes a prescriptive approach, and these images here are intended to spark a discussion.

We'd like your feedback on whether and how objective design standards should be included in the new zoning and how detailed they should be.

So in addition to height and massing, we're studying where to require ground floor retail and whether to allow ground floor residential in certain locations.

So on Solano Avenue, the first alternative would require retail or retail ready space along the entire corridor.

The second alternative would focus retail near Ensenada Avenue while allowing ground floor residential west of that point.

So similarly, on college and North Shaddock, we're exploring options to target retail to active nodes while allowing greater flexibility elsewhere to improve project feasibility.

Now, another concept under consideration is allowing residential only buildings in select locations.

So the first alternative would require retail on all street frontages, while the second shown in yellow would permit residential only ground floors in certain areas where continuous retail may not be viable.

And here you can see another alternative concept we're exploring.

This is more prominent on the other corridors than here on than here in Elmwood, but we're looking at potentially allowing residential-only buildings in certain locations.

So on the top is an alternative that would require retail on all street frontages, and below an alternative that would allow residential only on ground floors where you see yellow.

Now, this section will summarize feedback received so far through our outreach efforts.

Sharing key takeaways from the planning commission work session in September, and these include ground floor vitality.

So commissioners emphasize that street level experience matters most.

Storefronts should be active, transparent, welcoming to pedestrians.

They also stressed maintaining affordable, flexible spaces for small and legacy businesses to preserve neighborhood character and economic diversity.

Commissioners were less concerned about prescriptive objective design standards about the ground floor, favoring flexibility to allow creative, context-sensitive design.

And there was an overall openness to taller buildings if they demonstrate high quality design, appropriate neighborhood transitions, and contribute to vibrant walkable environment.

Now, as I previously mentioned, we published a survey at the end of August.

The survey opened for a little over a month, and we received a total of 1,644 responses.

Survey participants could answer questions about all three corridors or choose one corridor.

Now, we have about 1200 people that responded to the demographic questions in the survey.

Here we see there's a shift in the respondents' demographics to the survey versus the in-person meetings.

For the survey, around 53% of the respondents are over the age of 55, compared to with 65 for the in-person meetings.

Now, okay.

So for Solano Avenue, but here we're comparing the workshop, the results that we received in the workshop from what we heard in the survey.

So as you can see, we had about 120 participants in the Solano Avenue workshop and about 819 respondents who responded to the survey.

Now for North Shaddock, we again see a similar pattern as we saw in Solano, a stronger support for updating the zoning in the survey compared to the in-person workshop.

On college avenue, feedback was evenly divided in both the survey and the in-person workshops, while some participants supported rezoning to allow additional housing and equally large groups expressed a desire to keep the zoning as it is.

Now, across both the workshops and the community survey, we heard many consistent themes about the future of these three corridors.

Community members emphasize the importance of maintaining corridor vibrancy, keeping these areas active, walkable, and economically healthy, while continuing to support small and legacy businesses that define their character.

There's also strong recognition of the need to add housing at a range of affordability levels, especially in these high resource locations.

Participants also highlighted the value of high-quality context-sensitive design, including stepbacks and transitions that fit surrounding neighborhoods, and the importance of improving walkability, greenery, and public space to make the corridors more welcoming.

At the same time, we also heard concerns about potential businesses, displacement, building height and scale, and parking and traffic impacts, particularly in the Elmwood and along Solano.

Some participants also express skepticism about whether zoning changes will deliver meaningful affordability outcomes.

So overall, the feedback reflects some interest in allowing change paired with the strong desire to ensure it is carefully managed through thoughtful design and balanced outcomes that reflect each corridor's character and needs.

Now, this is all a very high-level overview of the all the feedback that we received.

We had a number of great discussions with many community members.

We heard lots of concerns about how change will impact their communities.

Parking was a key issue that was continually brought up, along with the overall impact of new development.

And we only have time to share a little today, but there's a larger report summarizing the feedback from the in-person meetings and survey on the project web page.

Now, this slide highlights the difference between overall survey responses and responses from residents of each corridor regarding whether to update or retain the existing zoning.

So overall, a slight majority of participants supported zoning updates along Solano Avenue and North Shadow, as you can see in the top row, while College Avenue responses were more evenly split.

However, comparing these pie charts show that slightly larger proportion of residents living on or near the corridors express stronger support for keeping the existing zoning.

We now come to the last section of the presentation.

So before we jump into questions, I wanted to highlight next steps.

We heard from many community members about the importance of supporting retail and existing small businesses along the three corridors.

So following this series of second workshop that we held in August, staff asked the consultant team to develop strategies to mitigate potential impacts on small businesses.

These findings will be presented to Planning Commission and City Council in the coming months.

Community members will also have another opportunity to share feedback at the third round of workshops early next year.

And to reiterate, all the ideas presented today are draft concepts, and we're looking for council's input on the overall approach for each corridor.

So with that, yeah, we're jumping into the questions per corridor.

So starting with which base height option best adds housing while fitting corridor character.

Second question, upper floor stepbacks.

Should we require none?

Only on side streets or stepbacks on both streets.

Ground floor users.

Should retail be required corridor-wide or targeted to nodes with flexibility elsewhere.

And lastly, should the project include more detailed objective design standards.

So that's the end of the presentation.

Thank you all.

Council can now ask questions and open for public comments.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Yeah.

Yes.

Um, okay.

So I will start with uh questions from council, please, starting with council member Tacklin.

Uh thank you very much, Madam Aaron, and thank you all for the presentation and your work today on this project.

And thanks for everyone to be here for being here.

Um, could we look at the slide again that shows where housing is concentrated throughout the city?

Thank you.

Yeah, so we're seeing housing concentrated downtown Southside Adeline and San Pablo Avenue.

And I note that in the staff report, it states that Solano Avenue has the highest rate of homeownership in the city and has produced the least amount of housing.

And I'm wondering from your um expertise why that is.

Is it a problem?

Yes, it is.

Thank you.

Yeah, I think that you know we've noted that Solano Avenue is currently only zoned for two stories.

And it's just it's difficult for projects for new housing projects to pencil.

Um with at those heights, you know, projects that you know the most of the construction that we've seen of the last 15 years in Berkeley ranges from four to eight stories, and it's really it's it's it's difficult or impossible to hit those numbers with the existing zoning.

Thank you very much.

Um can we revisit revisit the slide with the demographic breakdown of the survey responses and the workshop recession?

He wanted a demographic.

I think that it is.

Um participants who identify as ethnically white versus Asian or Asian American, Hispanic or Latino Latinx.

Anybody?

Yeah, that's a great question.

Um I think that I think it's fair to say that um homeowners uh uh tend to be more engaged in planning and zoning issues than renters.

I think it's is something that is not atypical.

Um I think that also uh relates to race and ethnicity as well.

We see more white people um engaged.

Um the the age breakdown here, 18 to 54 is a pretty large block there, um I'm realizing now, but if we saw that one broken down further, I suspect that we would see also the the survey respondents are not representative of the Berkeley community by age as well, right?

So I think what what you're you're identifying is that the respondents to this survey, the the response sample is skewed, it's not representative of the owner versus renter makeup of the Berkeley community, which I think is closer to a 50-50 split, right?

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

And um, I just have like three more questions.

Uh can we see the slide that compares um the survey response response rate across the corridors?

Um regarding North Shadow.

Um at the time of the survey was UC Berkeley in session, it was.

Uh can you describe efforts to engage the campus community, including students who are living along that corridor?

I understand that they're renters, and that's why I'm asking.

Thank you.

So we did reach out to student organizations.

Um there was emailed last, which were sent to multiple organizations in the city.

They were part of it as well.

We did not hear from them.

They, this organization, however, we also did share the survey e-blast as well with them.

So we do see a lot of younger folks engaged through our Instagram for the project.

And I will note if you allow me to interject here.

Uthra made a heroic effort to stand up an Instagram account for this project.

It's the first time we've done that for a planning project to use that's the first time we've used that channel.

So like there was an attempt.

I we you know, we don't have as many followers as we'd like.

That's bad, you know.

With the new account, there's a there's a ramp up, but um, you know, I'm I will be frank, it's a it's a hard it's historically we haven't had um as much success as I would like reaching the student population to the effect that their voices would be accurately represented in our surveys at our meetings, etc.

Uh thank you very much.

Um I think this underscores the unrepresentative nature of the survey responses and workshop participants.

Um, although it it the slide before us does seem to show that among those who did respond to the survey and participate, a majority do support one or several of the alternatives.

Yes.

Yes.

So my final question is regarding uh commercial retail.

Is there a working definition that defines a distinction between uh retail and retail ready space?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Um it can mean multiple things, and we would get into the details in the next phase.

The general um purpose of having something retail ready is that it can it has the proper plumbing, um, if we want to emphasize food and beverage, it has the proper ventilation or easily adaptable to provide the proper ventilation, and the purpose for that would be to get spaces that even though there may not be retail tenants ready to move in, that at any time that space can be easily converted without a very expensive um renovation.

Thank you.

As a follow-up, if someone were to, if we were to adopt um uh a version of this would allow for the conversion of retail to residential, how how feasible and possible would it be for someone to acquire what was once a commercial ground floor space and convert it for residential use?

Um, I don't know if I I have a good answer to that.

We haven't really contemplated um so much existing buildings being repurposed for ground floor residential.

We've been more thinking about like are there places along the corridor that if a project would redevelop, would it make sense for a hundred percent residential building as opposed to a conversion?

So I think I would need to uh think about that more if if that's part of allowing a ground floor residential use that we may see conversions.

Thank you very much.

Those are all my questions.

Okay, thank you, council member.

Oops.

Um moving on to council member O'Keefe.

Thanks.

First question have you guys considered making like a TikTok account with some cool videos?

So I think that would be really great.

I can see it.

See it.

That's my first question.

Um, seriously, uh, this is a very important uh project to me as the council member representing two of the three districts.

We together, we we got North Static together, but I uh this is uh near and dear to my heart, so I wanted to acknowledge that.

So thanks for letting me go early.

Um my staff and I we've gotten a lot of emails.

Uh we have read all of them.

Thank you very much to the community for being so engaged on this.

What we've done is uh looked through the emails carefully and tried to pull out themes for things that people are concerned about or have questions about.

And so one main goal I have right now is to give voice to the concerns that have been expressed uh to my office.

And so I have I ended up with quite a few questions.

I I'm going to ask four of them right now.

Um I think other council members might be asking other ones that I want to ask.

Um so I'm just gonna stick with four and then Mayor, I have three more after, and I I'll I'll let everyone else go.

And then maybe if you feel like it, I could ask the other ones.

Um, but I'm gonna ask four right now.

Two are about the process and two are about the zoning itself.

Okay, so here we go.

Um, your um great presentation, by the way, thank you.

Really informative.

Um, and it it did already address this, but um is about community engagement.

And I'm wondering if you could speak a little more to the way that you engaged with small businesses.

Um, you know, you mentioned you reached out to a few groups, but I know there's a little more detail there.

If you could provide a little more detail on how who you talk to and and what methods you use to reach out.

Yeah, thank you, council member.

Um historically, from my experience, the the most effective way to connect with small businesses is to is to partner with the organizations that that their member organizations, merchants' associations, and business improvement districts in Berkeley.

And we have a lot of them, and they're well-run, effective organizations, right?

And so the way we start by reaching out to those organizations, and so emailed the contacts for um the merchants associations and business districts in in these districts, as as as she mentioned, along with neighborhood associations, other organizations, and invited them to and asked them to invite us to their meetings so that we can meet with them where they're at, right?

Um, and we we have that opportunity with two out of the three organizations.

Um North Shadows Association didn't initially respond, but now we are in touch with them and we're scheduling a meeting for the first work first week of December.

And I want to acknowledge make maybe when they first got the email, maybe they they didn't know what it was, and I get it.

I miss emails too.

Um so there was that level of engagement.

Um, we also walked the corridors and to talk to business owners and to hand out flyers and to invite them to attend our workshops.

And many did.

I personally spoke with many business owners at the three workshops, um, and I saw a bunch of others there that I know that I didn't get to talk to, but I saw them talking to Justin or Utra or Chris, that are members of our project team.

And so we we definitely engaged.

Um I'm also hearing and seeing quotes that there was no effort to engage, and so that's a little disheartening to be honest with you, because there was an effort, but I like I said in my opening comments, we are happy to engage more and make more of an effort, and and I expect that will happen in the coming months.

Yeah, thank you for making that clear, because I think that's the right answer.

If someone didn't get the message yet to know that you're still absolutely willing to engage, I think that's important.

And of course, Snight is also a way to engage.

So thank you.

Um next question.

Um people feel that this is process has been rushed, and I know you you had the timeline up there, but if you wanted to add any more detail about like actually how long this has been, like what is the timeline and how and what's typical for this kind of process.

Yeah, um, so I wanted uh note that the germ of this project really came from the housing element, which itself was the subject to an over two-year public process, right?

Um that included many meetings, many referrals from the city council, a lot of input from council about what council wanted to see in the housing element.

And one of the number one priorities that the council expressed was to focus housing growth on the corridors that are well served by amenities and transit that enables more walkable communities.

And so when we were talking about different strategies to affirmatively further fair housing, creating opportunities for housing in neighborhoods that are have high rates of home home ownership and that are higher income and that have not historically produced housing, was a priority identified in the housing element.

And so that's that was that idea in itself was subject to multiple years of community process.

So we launched this project in the middle of 2024.

Is that right?

Yeah.

And we did our, you know, we there was work that went into leading up to the public outreach that really began in earnest at the beginning of this calendar year.

And as we sort of noted, we did there were there have been two phases so far.

There's at least one phase still to come.

And so I mean, I don't that doesn't feel rushed to me.

Um as I've noted, I think that we've tried to approach this thoughtfully, gradually and deliberately.

There, there are no plans or zoning amendments in front of you tonight for adoption.

So it doesn't feel rushed to me, but I I understand that some people feel differently.

Thank you.

And you actually partially answered or maybe fully answered my next question, which was um I was gonna ask you to speak to the greater context of meeting our housing goals, but I think you you explained that pretty well with the housing element and why we're doing this.

So thank you for answering that.

Um my last question is if you could speak to um what you expect in terms of uh the production of low-income housing.

You know, you mentioned the density bonus, which comes with that, but if you could speak in a little more detail to how you expect that to play out.

Sure.

Um, so the city of Berkeley has a 20% inclusionary policy.

Um that that's not changing, that's not impacted by this by this action.

Um, so 20% of of new units, that 10% so half of that for low-income households, the other half for very low-income households.

What we've historically seen for most projects in Berkeley, most projects take advantage of the density bonus uh at 50%.

So they uh they include between 10 and 15 percent of the units on site, usually all for very low-income households.

Sorry, could you clarify that there's also a fee option?

Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna get to that.

Yeah, um, so uh they most projects take advantage of the density bonus, so they include 10 to 15 percent of the units on site, and uh as and then they make up the remainder by paying the in LU fee.

Um that's what we mostly see mixed compliance.

In theory, a project could fee out altogether and only pay the fee and not provide any on-site units.

The good thing about getting the fees is that the city uh our housing community services division has done a fantastic job at leveraging our affordable housing trust fund to attract outside funds from other sources and our our nonprofit development partners.

So we use those funds to fund a hundred percent affordable projects all around the city.

Um but so that's when we get the fees, but when the benefit of the density bonus program and when people do the on-site option is that we get units right away.

So I expect that any projects that would result from this policy change would comply with our inclusionary housing requirements, so um, in one of those ways.

And have you run um, I know you have some projected number of units that might be created under this.

Do you have a similarly projected number of affordable units that might be created?

Assuming people, yeah, apparently 15%.

15% of so if it's a thousand, 15% of that.

Yeah, and so and then that's on site.

Yeah, and then plus additional fees to our affordable housing trust fund.

And it's it's hard to then translate how many how many other additional units.

So when we say 15% that doesn't include the other units that would result from the fees.

Yeah I appreciate that.

And although I do want to just you know it's not really editorializing time but um it's especially important to me at least to have the affordable units be built on site because of the equity issues at play.

So I I'm glad it's a I glad you're expecting 15%.

Okay those are by you have more time if you you have one minute 45 seconds if you want to ask um no I think I want to because I picked the four that I like the best and then other people are gonna ask other ones and then if we have time I'll I'll come back.

So thank you very much I'll I'll reserve the rest of my time sounds good.

Thank you so much.

Thank you and I know someone there's some folks who are putting up signs if you could just keep them down so everyone can see that would be great.

You can put them on the side if you want that's fine but just um just try not to block people's view.

Thank you.

Alright so we're gonna go to council member Trackup.

Thank you so much Madam Mayor uh thank you to staff for the presentation and the community engagement to date and thank you to the community for coming out.

As is my general policy and practice it is my intent to listen to the community and keep an open mind on this proposal and it is with that intent that I would like to ask the following questions I will do them in rapid fire just to try to help us save a little bit of time.

Question one what mechanisms exist or are being contemplated to protect community serving uses such as our small businesses and how does that interplay with what protections can uh be legally allowed by the state constitution uh for example unlike residential we're not able to have commercial rent control but can you talk about um the report mentioned um a fund to support businesses in um with relocation expenses um what protections if any could be deemed possible um around them coming back at a comparable rent and so forth that's question number one um uh question number two are what safeguards are being proposed to prevent styled projects vacant lots and long term cold shelled buildings and how will the community be protected if market conditions shift?

I'm sorry can you I didn't catch that one can you say that what safeguards are being proposed to prevent stalled projects vacant lots and long term cold shelled buildings and how will the community be protected if market conditions shift hopefully that will not count towards my time.

Is um you you talked about the 50% uh density bonus can you talk about the interplay between um uh what can you talk about um for the 75% or the 100% density bonus scenario uh what would be required of the developer um and um how does that impact uh or could that impact the affordability mix um my next question is uh have uh the extent to which live work and flexible mixed use models been fully been evaluated as tools to add housing while also strengthening local business activity and street life uh and my last question um and i really appreciate the survey um i was curious um what the um, if you could talk about the the thinking that went into um i noticed that there was a 36-year uh age gap um in the fourth category, believe the 18 to 54, and then the next one was um I think nine years, um, and I just wanted to um understand the thinking behind it, but also um if there are going to be further surveys done, um, would consideration be given or could it to other um delineations um, you know, around age and/or other factors.

Thank you.

Yes, all right.

Thank you, Councilmember Trego.

Um, I think we'll we'll team up on this, but um, first question what mechanisms exist or are being contemplated to protect small businesses?

How does that interplay with what protections could be legally allowed by the state constitution?

And you mentioned a couple things.

Um, I want to talk about the existing protections first.

And so, um currently when projects happen, um, there are conditions placed on development projects to require them to minimize impacts on the surrounding community from noise, dust, vibration, they're also required to institute uh uh they're also required to submit a traffic control plan to ensure that the surrounding areas will still be accessible to people on all modes of transportation.

So I think that that will be especially important.

Uh our transportation division works regularly to make sure those TCPs are adequate and that they're being important enforced, and so I think that'll be especially important uh when we see development happen on these corridors.

Um I also want to note that um well let me let I I want to I wanna talk about small business displacement.

Um generally when development happens, it happens on vacant lots, lots that are that are underutilized.

Um that's that's what's typical, right?

With when a property has an active business tenant, it is producing revenue for their owner, and it's less likely to be developed.

Um so I just want to note that.

Now I'm not saying that small business displacement doesn't happen, because it does, but it's rare.

It doesn't happen a lot.

Folks, please.

Hey, excuse me.

Please be respectful.

I'm just folks, he's shocking.

I'm just speaking the facts for my experience.

Thank you.

As your staff member, right?

Hey, please, you're really being what it happened.

I'll let him finish.

So it does happen, right?

When it happens, thankfully, we have a talented office of economic development, small but mighty, as they're they've also often been noted, right?

And they work directly with small businesses to support them, whether that means connecting them with spaces with commercial brokers, helping them come up with a plan.

We have financing resources.

We have our the city.

Not all cities Berkeley size have a it's a have their own revolving loan fund, but we do, and that helps small businesses cover capital costs related to new startups, including costs related to moving.

It's an eligible expenditure for our RLF, right?

So we we have some some support programs in place.

Um as has been noted several times.

What more could like we we want to know what more could we be doing?

And like what other policy options could we be imposing, please, that aren't preempted by state law, right?

And I don't have the answer to that yet.

Thankfully, we have one of the most talented economic development planning firms in California that is working on this.

Strategic economics, a Berkeley-based firm, actually, um, is doing a survey.

They're looking at existing provisions of state law, they're surveying other cities in California.

They're conducting case studies and looking into best practices.

They'm hoping we will publish in January.

Certainly well in advance of advancing any zoning amendments for adoption.

So I will have a better answer for you in a few months.

So 3% from the age of 18 to 24, 9.5% from 24 to 34, and then 19% from 35 to 44.

So that's that's where that breakdown is.

We did ask that question and just simplified it for the presentation.

Speaking to the density bonus question, one, I would like to point out the the density bonus is a moving target.

It is uh subject to uh the whims of Sacramento and the state, and it changes over time.

For a long period of time, the maximum bonus was about 35% over the last um five, 10 years.

I think even more so in the last two to three years, the density bonus keeps on moving up.

So now there's the first stage that allows you to get to that 50% bonus.

There's a number of ways, it's a big calculation, but very simply, one of the easiest ways to get to the 50% bonus, as this slide shows, is by providing 15% of units at very low income.

And then there's a second round of bonus that again is a sliding scale.

But if you provide 30% total on site, that 15% very low income, and then an additional 15% at moderate income, you would hit that 100% density bonus.

And then to your, I believe your your other question, uh, yes, um, we will be looking in more detail at ground floor standards, and uh we will be looking at you know the potentially of live work, um, you know, how like if if we require like retail ready across the whole quarters, like is there a way for them to be residential at times, commercial at times?

Those are things that we'll look at in more detail in the next round.

Were there other questions that I'm not sure if I fully answered your second question?

I talked about it a little bit, what safeguards to prevent stalled projects, um, and how would we the community be protected if market conditions shift?

You know, I want to note that um I acknowledge we have a couple of very visible stall projects in downtown Berkeley, and it's frustrating.

It's frustrating for me too, right?

Um I think that um there are particular market conditions of the last few years, very high interest rates, a um increasing labor and construction costs, rents that have flattened in part because of the new housing production in Berkeley that have led to a couple to particularly the high-rise projects that are generally a higher cost per square foot of construction, those high-rise projects that uh that were entitled and uh and even one of them uh even one that started construction being stalled.

Um it so that we have these visible examples, but if you go further back, I don't it hadn't there aren't many more examples of that, and so it hasn't previously been identified as a priority by the city council for us to work on, right?

We have I have started talking to staff about it, and um it's something I'm interested in working on, and would welcome a referral about it.

Soon thank you.

Okay, I'm gonna move us on to Councilmember Humbert.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I saw I was number three, so I figured I had a couple more.

All right, I'm moving, so you all are connected.

Your questions that makes sense.

These the ones compiled by Councilmember O'Keefe's staff were kind of summaries of of areas of concern that we heard from many people uh who sent any emails.

Um concern.

The concern is that we built enough units.

Um the question that flows from that is some Berkeley residents are under the impression that we have built enough units, and indeed over the last 10 years we've added thousands.

Can you speak to the idea that we have built enough?

Uh thank you, council member.

Um we certainly um should be proud, I think, of the uh housing production numbers we have here in town.

Um and whether we are the main thing for the corridors, I should say for the corridors um project within the housing element, is that the corridors project is actually identified as part of the package of projects and policies that we have to affirmatively further fair housing.

So part the main uh intent behind the corridor project is to address the history of exclusionary zoning in our town and to advance the city count uh the city's strategic priority of uh racial income equity in our city, and so although the although the upzoning will hopefully result in the construction of additional housing units, the project is not specifically targeted to meet our targets.

As you know, we've done upzoning in the south side, we've done outzoning in uh the middle housing zoning project, we've uh approved zoning for the BART stations, we're doing zoning in the San Pablo Avenue, so there are many, many areas of the city that have been upzoned, and um this is not the first place that we've looked at to up zone, but it is one of the ones that's identified in the housing element to do so.

So it will contribute to the housing supply, um, but it's not just a housing production policy approach.

It has equity component as well.

Thank you, Mr.

Horner.

And and I guess a little follow-up question I would have is that um there's a general impression that you know that there are a lot of vacant apartments out there, um, but in fact, um Berkeley side recently published an article and they did an analysis of that, and and um correct me if I'm wrong, um, they determined that in fact there's a very relatively low vacancy rate, is that correct?

Yeah, that's correct.

Yes, yes, so the data they were drawing on data uh related to the new vacancy tax that's in place, so looking for long-term vacancies, and we found that there are very few long-term vacancies in Berkeley.

Um I think that there's there's this perception, because when people see, particularly on the new buildings that are big buildings, um, they see there's there's always that for rent sign up, um, right?

Um, but that I think in part reflects housing mobility.

So if there's if there are um 87 units in a project, there are gonna be at least one or two that are vacant at any given time.

Um, but just because there's uh that vacant for rent sign always stays up, doesn't mean that there's a high number of vacancies.

No, I appreciate that, and it's also important, is it not that there is some level of vacancy to allow for mobility from people to move up from a cheaper apartment to a more expensive apartment, or um, and we're only talking about rental, obviously.

That that's that's correct.

I mean, some some economists, housing economists consider uh a four to six percent vacancy rate to be healthy.

Okay, yeah.

Thank you.

Let me ask a couple more questions.

Um I guess one question that that came up repeatedly is how do you address the concern over the loss of parking in some of these new developments?

And can you speak to the state law that now prohibits cities from establishing minimum parking requirements?

I forecast.

So the city of Berkeley um has already adopted um policies that uh remove the minimum off-street parking requirement for residential projects, and in some areas is instituted parking maximums for certain uh residential projects.

State law has also um preempted the city from establishing uh parking minimums along most uh commercial corridors in Berkeley because we're fortunate enough to have um frequent transit service, and so in areas with free frequent transit service, the state um preempts our ability to require off-street parking minimums.

Yeah, thank you.

I appreciate that.

And then now some of my questions.

Um, and these are just some things that I that I want to all of us to keep in mind, um, because this is a process, but it's a process over which we have we don't have perfect control.

Um development standards that we might put in place um with um the inclusion of of affordable housing and density bonuses, they can be waived, right?

Often, uh is that correct?

That's correct.

The projects that qualify for the state density bonus can use waivers and concessions to concessions.

And can you talk just a little bit more about waivers and concessions and just in general terms?

I realize it's complicated.

So yeah, uh waivers are generally waivers of development standards that would preclude the the project for existing physically from existing physically.

So that could include height, setbacks, um other physical requirements.

Concessions are if the uh the developer uh asserts that the uh uh a regulation would render uh project economically infeasible, then they could avoid compliance with um other regulations aside from uh physical developments.

So historically, concessions were used uh often to avoid compliance with parking minimums.

Okay, we no longer have parking minimums, they're precluded uh prohibited by state law.

Um so it it varies.

We we see um recently more recently we've seen developers use concessions to avoid compliance with our public art and private development requirement.

Okay, thank you.

Um and and something that that I think council member Tregoub touched upon, which is commercial rent control.

So a program if we it sought to institute a program that required a right of return at the same rent that the tenant experienced prior to being displaced temporarily, that's not permissible, is that correct?

Under state law, we we can't have commercial rent control, is that correct?

Maybe I should be directing this to the city attorney.

That is my understanding as well.

Okay, and in fact, I think it had to do with the an attempt uh in the 80s, but uh for by Berkeley to pass commercial rent control, and the state came in and stomped on us.

Um and here's another issue.

Um, and you know, I'm thinking particularly of the Elmwood, and I know also on Solano.

There are very small merchants, um that have, you know, that may not be terribly profitable, you know.

They're somewhat you know economically strapped.

And is there some way in and and to the extent that they are displaced or their businesses interrupted?

There's a there's a high chance that that would be mortal uh for them.

That would be the end of their business.

Is is there something we can do to really focus on protecting those sort of super uh vulnerable vulnerable tenants?

I'm thinking about that.

There are all these beautiful little shops in the Elmwood, and you know, I knock on wood, they're rocking along, but I don't think they're making millions.

Thank you, Councilmember.

I mean that this gets to the work that we've asked strategic economics to complete.

Um that we're talking to our Office of Economic Development about to think to try to answer that question as best we can.

Okay.

Thank you.

That's that's all I have.

Thank you.

Folks, please.

We're not gonna have a chance to follow up and after questions later.

Thank you.

Thank you, Peter.

Um, sorry, so anyway, we are going on to Councilmember Barlett.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate you and your flexibility.

Of course, thank you.

Thanks so much, Madam Mayor.

And uh, and thank you, uh the wonderful team for your work again as usual.

Um it's nice to be not in the hot seat this time.

It's been on Adeline a lot of times.

So that being said, uh forgive me, Councilmir Humbert, I'm gonna talk about your district a little bit.

Um which we share basically, you know.

Um so uh you know, I'm thinking about uh Oakland just recently uh upzoned College Avenue in the Rockridge area, right?

Um, curious, were there any um I guess um any adverse effects from that so far?

So um so I I believe uh that college avenue in Oakland had since the mid-70s been zoned for at 35 feet height, uh which is higher than Elmwood, uh College Avenue in the Elmwood currently, that's roughly what we're proposing in under alt one, okay, right?

And um, yeah, I think it was November of 2023 that uh that that was changed from 35 feet to 55 feet, uh, which is higher than what we're proposing uh for for the Elmwood.

Uh my understanding, and we've recently been in touch with the city of Oakland Staff about this is that there haven't yet been any projects proposed.

Um admittedly it's a down cycle right now.

Um and so that could change, but I do think it kind of goes to the point that change doesn't happen overnight, it happens over decades.

Okay.

Uh and uh can can you put can we put on the screen the the streets the the three quarter salon on North Shadow can college so we can see because the map one.

There we go.

I think the number nine possibly it the the call the college avenue section to be upzoned appears to be uh pretty small, right?

Uh these are these just a couple of blocks?

That's right, yeah.

And so I'm curious, so why so small?

Well, we've been focusing on the CE zoning.

Um the you know, the north and south of College Avenue are zoned R2A, which was just recently upzoned, uh just went into effect on Saturday.

Uh so we're just following the contours of the existing zoning district.

Okay.

And is it is it true that well, I guess when Solano, North Shaddock, and College, do you do you have uh a rough estimate of number of units anticipated?

Yeah, to that.

Uh yes, can you repeat your question?

You asking for each quarter?

Yeah.

So, how many apartments do you were projecting on each one?

Uh, yeah, so um, I will I will give the the number for um first alt one and then alt two for each each one.

So for Solano um under alt one, you know, our our estimate is, you know, if if everything or if a lot of the things go maybe 400 to 550 units, and then in alt two, it goes up to 450 to about 650 units.

Well, North Shaddock, our estimate is um for alt one about 650 to 850 units, and um about 750 to 1000 under alt two, and then for college avenue under alt one, you know, we would expect um maybe 50 to 80 units total, and then under alt two, maybe 80 to 130 units.

Okay, pretty pretty big discrepancy.

It's a it's a small area and the the sites are very very tough for redevelopment for sure.

Yeah, okay, and and in terms of um, you know, the North Shaddock area, I really I I see it reminds me of the Adeline district a bit.

It's um neighbors aren't so impacted by its larger larger footprint.

I'm wondering um, and this goes back to the equity argument, uh to just to keep in mind and think about this.

Uh in the last 50 years or so, um, how many if you know how many low-income units have been built in uh each of the three corridors?

If you don't know, you can get back to me later, or you can you can guesstimate.

Yes, well, the units, yeah.

Or hasn't been a project in college, right?

So there hasn't been a col a project on college uh in 50 years.

Um yeah, it's certainly not in the I mean we we showed you the map of the last 20 10 or 15 years, but um uh gosh, I can't think of a project on Solano.

Um prior to that.

So on North Shattock we have we have two projects in process now.

And I should say we have we have one project in in process for college with four four units?

Yeah, six.

Um so yeah, there not many.

And you asked the number of of low income units.

Um I would expect that the I believe the the two uh North Shaddock projects are both density bonus projects, yeah.

And so each of them will have a handful of of uh, you know, they're not huge projects, but I I imagine there's probably about uh between 10 and 20 total low-income units that are coming to North Shaddock.

Okay, I think the answer is probably zero.

Okay, let's uh write that down.

Uh and uh last question, and uh this is um also very important the the retail aspect, right?

So much of our efforts here are imagining ways to keep our local economy vibrant, people walking in stores, buying services.

Uh I know that college, I believe, uh has a retail formula.

And if it still does, it's gone.

It's gone.

Are there any retail formulas in any of the corridors at this point?

No.

No, there was there they they were gradually removed and kind of kind of college was the last holdout, but then it it was it was eliminated within the last five or ten years.

Okay, and and uh is it my understanding is some of them wrong, probably city attorney here uh if if there's any discretionary view that's granted to a developer, then we can contract with them around the retail um retail setup that that they'd come back to.

Like if we let if we just if we use our discretion to grant them something, we can negotiate uh some sort of a retail lease agreement, right?

I feel like we've done this.

Uh I would need to look into it um in more detail, but what comes to mind is through a development agreement.

If if that is a um that that's a vehicle that could be used to accomplish what you're describing.

Okay.

I'll add to that like if if any project was more or more than two-thirds residential, which just about any mixed-use project would be, then there is no discretionary review.

Okay.

All right, that's it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

So just so it's 7 23.

I'm just doing a time check for us.

So I've got um one, two, three, three more council members, and then myself for questions.

Um I would like to get through our questions if we can, and then what I really want to do because I see there are some families with young children here, I'd like to take their questions and then take our break, and then we'll hear the rest of the public comment.

Um, but just because it is getting a little bit later.

Um, so we are gonna move on to Councilmember Blackaby.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh I just want to thank Jordan, uh, Justin, Uthra, and Chris for being here for all your work and for bringing this to us tonight.

Thank you.

Um, you know, we've heard a lot of discussion about small business, and I will say that um as a council member um protecting small business, enhancing it, growing our local economy.

It's all these these are this one of my top priorities.

I mean, maybe other than public safety and wildfire safety, which obviously have been big issues in D6, thinking about the future of our city economic development in our city is hugely important to me.

So I take these concerns really seriously.

Um, you know, we need new housing, um, but we also need local jobs and economic development.

We need to make sure we maintain that balance.

So I just want to thank you for what I think up till this point has been a very careful balanced approach.

You're trying to weigh those those interests, and they're not necessarily competing interests, but they are standalone interests that we need to sort of manage um appropriately.

So, you know, one question for you is how do we make sure as we continue this process that we continue to achieve that balance all the way through to the end, that we make sure that we're that we're trying to do both.

Do you have any thoughts about how you know how can we do that in the process, and how can we make sure that whatever we end up with really reflects both those priorities?

Um I can address that from the development standard um standpoint.

I think where it is decided that we really want to concentrate retail, we want to really create development standards that ensures um a largely continuous retail frontage.

And and also to provide you know um a higher density of businesses per block that adds vibrancy, but you know, there is obviously a concern that you know as things become mixed use, there's things as lobby and and other fire exits and needs.

So we will be working on developing objective development standards that really try to maximize um active storefronts in the right locations.

Great.

Thank you.

Um Councilmember Bartlett mentioned the Rockridge example.

I'm I'm really interested.

Um, I know we've talked about this a little bit in the past, but I'm interested in finding other case studies of places where we think this is done been done well, and maybe other case studies where we think this has not been done well, so that we can sort of learn and from that, and I wonder if you can suggest any of those here.

I mean, we're not you know, we are pioneering some of these things for Berkeley, but we're also following other examples.

And can we look to some of those for some learnings?

And if you thought about that, how is that going to play into this process?

Do you have an example of other communities working with uh IDS?

Um I mean, I mean San Francisco, I think in a way has been a pioneer in in this, and they've um, you know, they they've worked through their mixed-use zoning to make sure to get the appropriate size spaces, high floor to floor on the ground floor.

You know, they've also um, you know, they've had a priority to restrict um chain development in in different areas.

So I think you know, they're an example as you, you know, you look at places like the Excelsior or some of the uh the outer neighborhoods um that they've been able to to bring in new development and and kind of add to to the vibrancy of these communities.

Um that is one I'm thinking of.

Yeah, and I mean, related to that, they're actually they currently are grappling with a lot of the same issues we are right now at a rezoning project.

Uh they're they're obligated under their housing element to uh to adopt a reserving project by January 31st so they're ahead of us we and they're looking at these small business protection issues specifically so I think we'll have the benefit of being able to see what ultimately gets adopted at the in the city of San Francisco.

Great I just encourage keep these front and center at least if we've got other examples we can look to and then also lift up kind of where we're trying to go the vision of where we're trying to go and maybe other people that have gotten to that place.

So we have those other positive examples that people can respond to and say this is this is what we're trying to do.

So anyway I I find that helpful so it's out of the language of just zoning standards and also to you know real pictures and real examples of of people who've done this well.

One thing we haven't talked about as much tonight and I saw in the previous presentations um if you look at the the rezoning plans you you look at the whole corridor and as you draw it on the map it looks like the whole thing is orange or the whole thing is yellow and I know in previous conversations you've said you know realistically there's actually a small percentage of those areas that are really likely hospitable to development.

It's a handful of parcels in each case could you share a little bit more of that with us and why you think that's the case.

I know you alluded to it earlier but why do you think it's the case that we're not talking about a massive redesign of these areas but sort of you know in spots.

Yeah I mean there's a lot of different factors that go into um you know whether a property owner decides to redevelop and the the opportunity costs to add units and um our our team with strategic economics like one thing we we realized really early on is you know development in these areas is difficult.

You have small parcels you have a lot of different um ownerships like almost you know almost every different building along a lot of these corridors is a different owner and there's there's an economy of scale um when you're looking at redevelopment and you you pretty much need to get close to that like 10,000 square foot site.

Now I I admit in Berkeley especially on the south side you're getting smaller parcels where you're you're looking at dense student housing um but typically what we see is you need that larger site and there aren't that many of them and then you know as Jordan alluded to earlier there are a lot of businesses that are making money and paying good rent and so the opportunity costs to redevelop that lose that rent and then look longer term over making money on a a residential project is is difficult.

In the alternatives report we have a more detailed analysis of you know how many like what percentage of of units that or what percentage of parcels that we think might redevelop but I think over all three quarters it was like something like 42% and then like you know it was a very small percentage along college and more on um North Jadic and and Solana where you do get some bigger parcels that are um you know there are things like banks on which you know we we know we see we've seen a lot of change in the banking industry um lately so you know those are sites that we the types of sites that we identified as as more likely um one of the concerns I know particularly when we talk about people and the shop owners and and people who are concerned about about small business is what happens if we redevelop um areas and now that land is more valuable and because land is more valuable rents go up like that's kind of the that's the one of the economic arguments the part we haven't talked about quite as much is land values go up, rents go up, may go up over time at some point, right?

Um, but if we also build more housing and we spend we send several hundred more people or families into these neighborhoods and they're living in places where they can then shop and frequent these source.

There's also some economic benefit to the existing businesses, right?

That has more walk-up traffic, they have more people that are consuming the products.

Will you be able to model that?

Like help us think about because there's sort of two different factors going on.

There's sort of a the cost of land, cost of rent may go up, but then over time you may have more businesses, more customers, more walk-up traffic.

How does how do those how do those factors play out?

Will you be able to model that in this economic process?

I mean, that is very difficult to model, and I would say it's probably even more difficult in these three quarters to model that um like effectively because each of these quarters they they not only draw from the people that live like near them, but they're all three of them are at least city draws, if not regional draws.

So, you know, it's it's really hard to model like the exact effect that that will have.

Now more customers definitely can support more businesses, um, so you know, from that aspect, we we do think that you know bringing more customers to each of these areas will support, you know, in in each of the quarters, um, you know, we've seen businesses go out of business nicely, book sync, for example, that's in my neighborhood.

Like, you know, that's um was a a cherished part of the neighborhood, and you know, there's you know, the retail industry is is changing a lot, and so more people generally does mean more demand for services.

Okay.

Um, last chunk of questions.

Um, we've talked a lot about the housing, how much, how big, how dense, we've talked about the impact on small businesses, but what I I really like, and I know we're talking about the San Pablo plan later, but there's a huge part of the San Pablo plan that's also talking about these public realm policies.

You know, like how do we activate these public spaces?

How do we make them more engaging?

How do we make them places that are going to draw more people from the neighborhood and from across the city to like spend time in those places?

Each of these three neighborhoods, these quarters that we're talking about already do that and have the potential to do much more of that.

So, my question for you is how do we make sure in this process we're also thinking about the street level activation, uh, you know, creating more parklets, creating more places for people to spend time for families to get make them places that are desirable and even more desirable when there are more people who are there that make it even more desirable for businesses to be than they are now.

Um, how do we bake that into this process?

Because I it feels like we have we can there's a lot more on that that is not just about how do we zone and what's happening to businesses, but activating these spaces a much more creative way that is a 25 to 50 year opportunity.

I yes, I I think that's a really great question.

And and while this project is really focused on public property, right?

That is the the scope of this work.

Um, as we start to look at objective design standards, and I I think the planning commission gave very good and clear direction that we can look at how do you provide that flexibility, but also the standards to ensure an active ground floor and one that's appropriate to the corridor.

So for instance, if we allow ground floor residential, how do we think about a building setback that allows that privacy for a potential ground floor unit, or if it's a live work unit that is flexible to turn to retail, like how do you how do you provide that space that you're creating a positive and um and pleasant environment?

And then in the commercial areas, how how do you think about well, like one, we have to balance that a lot of these projects will be small infill where other projects are right up to the property line and the backup walk, but how do you provide that flexibility, or maybe even provide standards for larger projects to require uh a ground floor setback that allows more space for outside outdoor dining landscape and other amenities?

So those are all um objective design standards that we look forward to digging into in the next phase.

Great.

My time's up, and I just hope we can continue to center that.

This is that's really important to be in this process as well.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Council Member Lunapara.

Thank you so much.

Um first wanted to say thank you for your work in trying to get um outreach to students for the survey.

Um, our office is also always happy to help.

Um, if that's helpful, I I it's really important that we do this outreach because students are an integral and permanent part of our city and our neighborhood.

Um I also wanted to say that for the record, I think TikTok is actually not the best way to reach people in a small geographic area.

Um but I am I we are happy to help.

Um my first question is if you um, in your experience, what is the most efficient way that a city in California can increase its total deed restriction deed restricted affordable units.

Um you know, in Berkeley, we've had the luxury of um of uh measure O that's produced a huge amount of units.

That's been the most effective way to produce units in Berkeley over the last decade for sure.

Um I really think it's I think that cities are in a place right now, particularly with the state and federal budget, you know, and policy direction, the way it is, um, where municipalities have it's like an all hands-on deck approach, like every strategy we can use, we need to use.

And I mean, historically inclusionary has been an important part of that strategy for us, right?

When we see when we see market rate development, we get we either get on-site units or we get a payment to our housing trust fund, which we can leverage for other outside funding.

So um that's that's that's the strategy I would say the most cost-effective strategy for the city of Berkeley, right?

Where our voters or you know, our property owners and and residents don't have to make upfront payment in order to get the units.

Thank you.

Um this kind of ties into a similar question, but I'm curious how our requirements to meet Arena numbers um affect this process or or how that fits into the whole thing.

Yeah, you know, Justin Justin's answer earlier about like why we're doing this project and and it's like been and you heard Chris go through the numbers of the units.

It's not we're not talking about huge numbers here, right?

I will say every uh everything counts.

Right now, we you know, uh 8934 is that is that for the for the sixth cycle.

Um, I think that we permitted about uh about twelve hundred units over the first quarter of the first two years.

So we're not on track, right?

Um, and ultimately the you know the consequence of not hitting our read numbers means that we could have less discretion over future housing and permitting, right?

And so um, so we're mandated to do what we can to hit that.

And this is even though this is we're not talking about huge number here, this is definitely part of it.

That's why it's a program of the housing element.

So I do think it it matters.

Thank you.

Um this is a kind of separate question, but I'm curious about what what you think about the idea of also rezoning the directly adjacent blocks around the commercial nodes to encourage kind of slowly stepping back into the neighborhood.

Um we've heard that from a couple groups, and I just want to ask to hear your opinion on it.

Uh yeah, that hasn't been part of the scope of this project, but it's certainly something that we can look at.

I mean uh the challenge for um it the way our zoning is set up now is that you know um commercial uses many commercial uses are allowed by right on the ground floor, right?

Um and so if we're gonna extend that commercial zoning into the residential districts, um, it could introduce some areas where you know, might be perceived as conflict where there's kind of noise or are other impacts that are generated by customer visits.

So another way we could look at it would be potentially like further upzoning the residential uses at the along the edges of the commercial districts.

So that's not part of the scope of this project, but something we might consider in the future.

Yeah, that makes sense.

They asked they asked me to say also middle housing, which yeah, right, which is certainly relevant here, which just went into effect.

Yeah.

Great, thank you.

And the final question is um kind of it's been touched on already, and it's kind of a direct response to some of the feedback that we've been hearing around the idea that upzoning can kind of like destroy a neighborhood that is currently beautiful because these neighborhoods are beautiful.

Um and we've as we've seen Rockridge upzoned in the past couple of years, I think it's still beautiful.

I also think that our neighborhoods that have new housing are also beautiful.

Um I guess my question is more specific around how you've seen the upzoning affect Rockridge, if you want to discuss it a little more.

Yeah, you know, I I mentioned up front, I feel like um our experience and our observation is that zoning changes neighborhoods gradually over the course of decades.

Um I would note that often like reinvestment in a neighborhood is a positive thing, right?

If it uh a single like development often happens uh at underutilized and vacant single-story commercial buildings that in that feel like blight in the neighborhood or an eyesore in the neighborhood, and if the if it's older building stock rather than be re-tenanted or invested in, it's just it will sit vacant, or if the conditions are right and if the regulatory conditions allow for it, it can be rezoned, it could be redeveloped into a building that brings new residents, new spending power in the district, and new brand new commercial space.

Um, and so that feels like actually contributing to the to the neighborhood and to the vitality of the district.

Great, thank you so much, and thank you all for your hard work.

Thank you, Councilmember Cassarani.

Yes, thank you very much, madam mayor.

Thank you, Director Klein, and thank you to our team uh for your presentation.

I uh wanted to ask a question about height, uh, because I know that um obviously if there is a state density bonus that's used, there's a there's a potential to exceed the base zoned height.

Um I also want to note and asking this question that we have seen a number of high-rise proposals that have recently sought or received a land use entitlement in our downtown um over you know the last decade, and yet none of those high rises have been built.

I think because the financing is difficult.

Um, can you talk about the likelihood of development exceeding eight stories under alternative two?

And um when you talk about that, can you explain how building materials and costs change once you exceed eight stories?

I well, I can go first and then Chris can jump in if you like.

Yeah, we we noted on some of the slides that particularly if in all two if a project did seek a 100% density bonus, then projects could go to eight, nine, ten, eleven stories, um, in theory.

Um folks, please.

In practice, it's as you've noted, it's uh it's very difficult for those projects to ever materialize.

Um, the cost per square foot of construction goes up dramatically above, and there's a big there's actually a big cutoff at 85 feet specifically, because uh above that height, the the building code requires that you switch to steel framed construction, and it places other requirements related to life safety and fire suppression that dramatically increase the cost per square foot.

So we don't really we don't see really even even in our downtown, the vast majority of the new project citywide, even where we allow the highest heights citywide, projects tend to max out at eight stories.

Okay, thank you.

And I think we also saw that at the North Berkeley Bart station where the um development team could have exceeded eight stories with uh the density bonus, but chose not to, and and that is the highest height that we will have at that station.

Uh the next question I had, I know council member Bartlett had asked for the expected number of units for each corridor, and that's in the report.

Can you just explain the methodology around those numbers?

Because I think to Council Member Blackaby's point, it's it doesn't assume that every single parcel that's upzoned gets redeveloped, correct?

Yeah, that is correct.

Um so you know, um let's see.

In general, we we categorized each parcel uh across like five different levels, right?

From the the most likely the higher redevelopment um potential to modest redevelopment potential to you know historic buildings, you know, probably not gonna go like we so we we have this five levels and for the um the highest redevelopment potential.

Now again, these are the larger sites, um, you know, like the bank sites, sites that are nine 9,000 square feet or more generally that have that potential um for a larger project.

Uh we assumed about 50 to 70 percent of those would redevelop, and then for the modest redevelopment potential, we looked at more to 20 to 40 percent, and then we also provided like a range of densities across that.

So, you know, it's a it's a really broad um look, but that's of those parcels that we we we looked at for high redevelopment potential again.

We assumed maybe 50 to 70 percent would go and then 20 to 40 for the modest.

Okay, thank you.

So I I think that's important because as Council Member Blackaby had noted, just because we are considering a rezoning of the you sort of the length of the corridors as shown on this slide, it does not mean that every single parcel will be transformed.

And and you know, do you have an expectation over over what time period we might um see those uh estimated units get built?

Yeah, I mean, and and looking at this, we're we're looking kind of like longer term, like you know, at least 10 years, and it I mean it really do depends on on market cycle, right?

Like there can be times where where things are are going, and there can also be times like now where you know, with construction costs and and interest rates where there can be long down periods where no development happens.

So it's it's largely based on not only the the microeconomics here in Berkeley, but also the the national picture.

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you.

I just have three questions.

Um I'm curious, I know there's concern about this density bonus piece.

Can you tell us has there ever has the city ever permitted a hundred percent density bonus project in Berkeley?

Not building permits, no.

Okay, thank you.

I think the one on the North Channel.

Is it 100%?

I think so.

Okay, Chris Chris is telling me that the project on North Chattock is a 100% density bonus, so I stand correctly.

Folks, please, okay.

So, one is what the answer is.

There may be more than one, but yes, like there are there are so there's at least one.

And I I mean I will I will note that you know the again the state density bonus law continues to change, and the the 50 and 100% bonuses have come in pretty recently.

I think as as 2024, yeah, 2023, 2024 is when um there the state density bonus law changed quite a bit to allow higher density bonuses.

Thank you.

Um and can you explain the pros and cons and maybe the process briefly of doing a zoning overlay for specific opportunity sites?

It versus versus upzoning a corridor in its entirety.

I mean, I think it I think it's hard to um I think it's hard for a city to decide what parcels they think are right for redevelopment, and you know, not give the property owner next to them the same opportunity as a site that you deem like more likely to redevelop or that you want to redevelop.

You know, we we call that kind of spot zoning, and so like there's there's definitely an equity and equitable um piece to it to the property next to them.

Yeah, yeah.

Another way to put that is like how do we how do we define the criteria for which sites get upzoned and which sites don't?

And the other thing I would note is that's not how we've pursued zoning amendments in Berkeley.

Uh just not how we pursued the Adelaide Corridor plan.

It's not what's proposed for San Pablo Avenue.

Thank you.

And um regarding the definition of ground floor retail, I know this has been touched on, but I just want to confirm, would that also include customer focuses like medical services, art studios, things like that?

Yes, generally.

When we say retail, we're using that as a proxy for um a broad set of personal services as well, food and beverage services and uh, and actually it is part of the scope of this project to consider the levels uh the permitting levels required for those types of uses along each of these corridors.

That's great.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate it and thank you all very much also for the presentation and just the time.

I did see the Instagram.

Um so um and and I so I do, like I said, I want to allow for the public comment for some of the folks who have young children here.

Um I at least know there's two, I think.

Yeah, so I'm gonna let you all go and then we're gonna take a 10-minute break.

Go ahead.

I know there's a lot of people.

Make your way through.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Council, my name is Alana Kinrich.

I am very privileged to have the resources to be an Elmwood homeowner.

I'm asking you to provide more opportunities for young families and lower income people to live in my neighborhood by maximizing allowed housing.

When I sat down in the front of this room tonight, I was told that I should sit in the back because breastfeeding my baby would be distracting.

Councilmember Taplin was just shouted at for daring to ask about renters, about students, about people who can't afford to spend hours in this room.

An anti-family and anti-renter sentiment feels very strong in this room tonight.

I come here before you as a representative of people with young children who are unable to come to a lung city council meeting at this time and who desperately need additional housing options in my neighborhood.

I hope you will ask staff to study the maximum amount of housing possible in the Elmwood.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, council members.

My name is Theo Gordon.

I'm asking you and staff to study six stories throughout the corridors and include neighboring streets, especially those like Ashby.

There's gonna be lots of talk tonight about preserving the Elmwood as what it has been.

But I'm here as an Elmwood homeowner with 27 years left on my mortgage, which I think makes me a longtime resident.

To ask you to think about what the future can be, and if it includes little guys like this, or only or only includes people who bought their homes before I, and most of you were born.

Sorry, Mark.

During Halloween, I was at a gathering of five other Elmwood families with small babies.

Every other one of those families was living in their parents' backyard.

What's going to happen when those families move away because they can't afford to stay?

What will our neighborhood be without kids for play dates or teachers in our schools or customers in our stores?

If we want to preserve our neighborhoods a place with family where families can live, and we desperately need more housing.

Homes are what give a neighborhood character, not obscure step down requirements for exclusionary height restrictions.

Please make a plan that builds the homes we need.

Closer to here in North Berkeley.

I never thought that I would be able to be a long, you know, permanent homeowner in Berkeley.

Yeah, that's it.

Thank you.

You can move the microphone by the way.

Hi, my name is Yorhimi.

Um, I have two kids not here at home.

They claim they don't have homework.

I find that unlikely.

Um I live in North Shattock.

Um I would love to welcome um other families with kids into my neighborhood.

Um to explore the businesses we have.

We have icons like cheese board, chapinese, as you guys know.

We also have small businesses that I use all the time like Image Beauty Salon and Soul Clean.

Uh Kim and Image Beauty Salon uh and Eunice at So Clean to Asian American women, completely blindsided, no information about the upsilling process.

So please consider pausing um before we go forward.

Upzoning from what I can hear, it adds housing, but with a trickle down assumption.

So add lots of luxury units, but only 10% affordable.

No talk about home ownership either.

None of these developments seem to have any aspect of condo development where people can buy in.

Um please please consider pausing.

Please consider just involving businesses.

Sorry, my intention was for folks who had children here.

I'd let you finish your comment, but but it was so that you could, you know.

But I understand what you're saying.

Yeah, yeah, no, it's okay.

You you gave your comment.

All right, don't worry, don't worry about it.

Okay.

Yeah.

Am I done?

You're done.

Yeah.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Okay, so we're gonna take our 10-minute break, um, and we will come back in 10 minutes.

Thank you.

Recording stopped.

La sue Recording in progress.

Okay, folks, please quiet down.

Oh, yeah, I know.

We're gonna do my school teacher thing.

If you can hear me clap once, if you can hear me clap twice, if you can hear me clap three times.

Oh, we need to do that again.

If you can hear me clap three times.

Okay, it works in the classroom.

So here we are.

Okay.

All right, folks.

Please, please, please quiet down.

We're starting this meeting again.

Okay, so we're gonna have public comment.

I'm sure many folks know, but in case you don't already know this about me, I am a real stickler for time.

So you will have one minute, not a little more, not a little less.

You'll have exactly a minute.

And if you would like to give your minute to somebody, um, you can do that.

Up to it would be up to four minutes total.

That includes that person's minute, and then three people that would be giving their time.

I would love if you could organize that beforehand, just so you're not standing up there trying to figure out whose minute you're getting.

That would be great.

I know some folks are doing that already, and that will really help us move along.

I'm sure nobody wants to be here past midnight.

So let's make this efficient.

Let's listen to everyone.

Let's be respectful.

And um, we're gonna start with our first speaker.

Go ahead.

Folks, please quiet down because when they're speaking, I really want people to be respectful.

Folks in the back, I know there are people online talking.

Thank you.

Hi, uh Mayor Ishi and Council members.

My name is Nama Firestone, and uh I have been an architect to low-income housing developer.

I really support high density housing and buildings and low-income housing that's been my life pursuit.

Uh, but I think that something has gone really wrong here.

I'm seeing this pant-up frustration from people, and that's because we have not been given the chance to actually be part of the process of deciding how Berkeley will best implement high density housing and developments.

All of us want Berkeley to thrive.

And the way this has been going on, it's kind of like if you allow me to use the metaphor, um, it's kind of like saying to me, okay, what's for dinner?

You're getting chicken.

And I would love to get dinner.

I want all of us to eat dinner, but I don't want chicken.

But not a single time.

Thank you.

Thanks for your time.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, I've gonna have four minutes and we've got three people, so cards one, just hold on.

One, two, and three, if you could hold up your cards.

Uh one, two, and three.

Thank you.

All right, perfect.

They don't need to be in line.

It's okay.

Okay.

Excellent.

Yes, my name is Donald Simon.

I'm a construction attorney based downtown, and I live in Benvenue, right behind all the shops.

I'm one of the organized organizers of say Berkeley Shops, and you see us in the crowd here today.

We're a coalition of businesses and residents who call these places home.

I'm also a real Yimby.

I have two apartments in my backyard, and so do all my neighbors throughout the Elmwood.

This isn't about if we have additional housing in these three neighborhoods.

We all support that.

The question is how?

These shopping districts are home to the most endangered business species in America today.

Small, locally owned, independent retail stores.

They survived COVID, they're somehow surviving Amazon, and now we want to put this on them, and the reason they're all here is because they are fearing for their future, and we are along here with them.

Other cities would give their eye teeth to have these amazing shopping districts that we have, but now it seems the city's just taking it for granted.

So the question is: must we really destroy these shopping districts, some of which are a century old, in order to achieve our housing objectives that we all want to see succeed?

Because that's exactly what will happen.

If you signal approval for this, house real estate speculators will swoop in, they will secure rights to buy contiguous parcels, either through options, most likely, so they can purchase in the future, they'll wait for the market to turn, and then they'll consolidate the lots and develop them themselves, or sell them to someone else who will.

And when that first huge project breaks ground, the noise and disruption is gonna scare the customers away, and the rest of the businesses are gonna suffer.

And so these businesses that are teetering are gonna teeter totter off.

That is how you kill shopping districts that have taken generations to become the sustainable retail ecosystems they are.

We're told that this is only going to facilitate the development of a few target lots.

There's been a lot of talk about that.

That's just simply not credible to us.

If that was the objective, you could use spot zoning and variances under the law today, or you could make those more allowable under the law today.

Why if it's just gonna be a go slow approach and just a few target priority properties are gonna get developed?

Why then are we gonna change the zoning for the entire blocks?

That just doesn't make sense.

More importantly, the developers are not asking for this at this point.

We have entitled projects that we've already talked about that are not getting built, that are eyesores and creating blight.

Exhibit A, Center Street.

Then go where I work out at the YMCA and look at the open hole in the ground.

There are a lot of ways to increase housing without destroying these shopping districts.

We saw surveys talking about what people's preferences were.

Those are rather dubious.

Why?

Because there was no effort made to confirm that those people responding were actually Berkeley residents.

If you had an email address and you could get that URL, you could go on and you could be from Tim Buck too.

But the biggest issue here is engagement.

If you're going to do something like this, the demographic democratic approach would be to engage with us and explore the range of different options for how you could housing to our neighborhood.

But instead, planning met only with developers, and guess what?

The single choice we've been presented, our chicken on the dinner menu, or happens to be the project type that will earn the developers the maximum profit and put the most money in the planning department, which is 75% funded from fees that these developers and contractors pay.

At a minimum, we would expect that we would be told what's happening.

We heard a little bit about outreach here today.

The fact of the matter is, not a single letter went out to residents.

Not a single letter went out to all these businesses.

There was a I have four.

Thank you.

You had four minutes.

That was four minutes, but thank you for your comment.

Come on up.

Okay.

Okay, I'm Barbara here, like my wife, Christine.

I want to say like uh I'm Brazilian, I'm an immigrant, and I left Brazil like eight years ago to live here.

My dreams because like uh my dreams were just not I was afraid to live in Brazil until my family I'm lesbian, and that without know any English, I like just rope like my life up like here, my history up.

And now my wife and I, we are like owner of a small business in Elmwood.

And for the first time, I feel like really afraid not to see.

I feel afraid like just lost everything we are investing in, like we just like kind of stop like it growing our business because we don't know what's gonna happen because I don't think that's a good future for a small business and like people like who really loves Elmwood like us, like shouldn't be feeling like that, like we should have more answers than like just questions.

Hi, my name is Christine.

Um, we we recently took over Berkeley.

The organic market in Elmwood.

Um, I myself am in, hopefully the final stages of my PhD at Cal.

Um, we likely will not be able to afford to live in the new units that are built in college.

Um I've been a renter in Berkeley since 2016.

Um, I expect to be a renter forever in Berkeley, and this project and all projects that don't include affordable condos won't change that.

Um that said, I do want to see more housing.

And I know that it's not the council's job to care about my particular small business.

That's my job.

But I do think the council does care collectively about the general health of the commercial districts that are being upzoned.

And part of the whole vision is for people to live in their commercially and culturally vibrant areas that are walkable.

Can I get one more?

Thank you.

Okay.

Number four, go ahead.

Uh I wish when we got to the meeting about uh the city planning came and told us that this would be good for small businesses because there would be more foot traffic.

Um, and that the thought seems to be that more density will help small businesses.

Keteris Parabus, that would be true.

I wish it were true, but all things do not seem stay the same.

Ground floor retail and new developments is a trap.

It is next to impossible for small owners to get in to those with the build-outs and collateral required.

And even the investment backed chains have taken a while to move in to some of the prime retail spaces right on Bancroft.

Uh, there's something going on there, and I really think that the city would be in its everyone's interest to study that more.

And um, so please also you know, I'm I'm glad to hear there's a consulting thing going on about small businesses, but you can also talk to me.

I'm free.

And I I love to talk about this, and I want to thank you all.

I want to thank you all for your time and service.

Thank you.

Hello, everybody.

Thank you for your time.

Um looking at my name is Aryan and I'm a small business owner on North Shaddock.

Um I'm just looking at the whole situation here, the most positive way.

But we recently have moved our location 30 seconds walking distance, and it hurt our business in the most dramatic way possible.

And this is whatever happens with whatever support that everybody would give us here, changing a location for small businesses hurts the business the most.

And if this happens again, we are not gonna be able to survive, and we are gonna lose our businesses.

We've been there for 30 plus years, and a bank used to own our property, and they kicked us out after 30 years without even uh letting us know that they're even planning on selling the building.

And we change changing a location for small businesses is the worst thing that could happen, and none of the businesses would survive if this happens.

Thank you.

We need uh five, six, and seven.

Excellent.

Good evening.

I missed five.

Sorry.

Oh, five is in the oh, in the back.

Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak and address council.

My name is David Salk.

I've owned and operated a Berkeley Business Focal Point for 50 years.

I've served on the board of the Elmwood Merchants, was president for a number of years, but most importantly and relevant since 1990, I've been the president of the Elmwood Theater Foundation, which is a nonprofit that restored the theater after the fire in 1988.

We work closely with the city of Berkeley from the mayor to the Office of Economic Development, Jordan.

Thank you, and created a viable project working together.

And that's what I want to emphasize to you all tonight.

Is the Elmwood Theater is a statue to working together.

When I learned about the August meeting at St.

John's, I learned about it two days before.

Now I'm not saying that there wasn't some attempt to do reach out, but there clearly wasn't enough.

But more importantly, at the presentation in August, there was no mention by anyone about the fact that there were possibly other options, nor was there any mention to about the idea that businesses were going to be displaced.

If these projects were going to get built, you can't build a five-story, six-story building on top of an existing business.

They get displaced.

They either move or they close.

And the idea that moving is going to be something that can be assisted with with low interest loans and mitigation is just utter nonsense.

Those businesses will not for first of all, they will likely not find other places to move to, and even if they do, the amount of debt they're going to incur in rehabbing the spaces and moving, forget it.

It won't happen.

So what what strikes me about this though is that I appreciate the fact that there were these presentations by the planning department when the when the city was laying out the the two options, but they could have anticipated that business owners would have panicked.

They could have anticipated that business owners would have come to that meeting and thought, what are the implications of this for my business?

And there was no attempt to be proactive about getting in front of that and saying to the community, we know that some of you are going to be unhappy because this could potentially mean the displacement and relocation or closure of legacy businesses, and college avenues filled with businesses that have been there 20, 30, 40, and in my case, 50 years.

I've got 10 employees, they depend on me.

I've got a family that depends on me.

What about all that?

What are we doing to protect that?

So I want to say this isn't a case of NIMBYism, this is a case of smart planning.

And I don't want to see this turn into an adversarial conversation between young, old, racial issues, all of this.

It's not necessary for us to go down that path.

We can work together, we can talk over these problems, we can meet.

I'm heartened by the fact that we've been talking about more collaboration and reaching out.

This is the first time that I've heard that that, you know, we're not deciding anything tonight.

But you know, when I heard your comments at the state of the state state of the city address, I was really heartened by your comments, Mayor Ishi.

When you said Berkeley has had a reputation of not being a business-friendly city, and I want to turn that reputation around, and my office understands the direct connection between the success of our local businesses with our local economy jobs and the unique culture of Berkeley.

And to that I say bravo.

I'm asking for you to show us the respect that we deserve.

Social justice is about housing, but it's also about protecting our small businesses.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And let's see, I think we're seven, eight.

We just did seven, so eight.

Okay, thank you.

So you will have three minutes.

Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to speak with you tonight.

My name is Vanessa Vichet Vatican.

I am one of the 50 worker owners of the Cheese Board Collective.

And is going to abut any building that is built uh in the space where the Bank of America building currently stands.

So it's obvious that we're concerned about what how that will affect us.

And I don't know because we haven't gotten any information really.

Um we were lucky that a neighbor sent us an email uh letting us know that the construction was an actual plan in the neighborhood, and that's how we found out maybe three weeks ago.

So you're taking her time.

So thank you.

Um, I am here to ask you and us to work with the cooperative lens on.

This is how, this is how we operate, and this is how we've stayed in business for 58 years today.

This is our birthday today.

So, what that means for me and for us, I think I can speak for the cooperative when I say that this involves really good, clear, frequent, and good communication.

This involves transparency, honesty, and cooperation.

It's it's sounds kind of simple, it's a little bit difficult sometimes, but it's how we've lasted this long.

It's how democracy lasts and endures.

We have to practice it to keep it alive.

Um, I think that there was a question about the timeline of things feeling like they're going really fast.

And someone over here, I believe, said actually the timeline doesn't seem that fast, but when you're a small business who's about to be shadowed by a building, that might or might not be a good thing.

I don't know, because we don't have the information, but once we do, we'll know.

Um, but we that timeline feels a lot faster when you're about to be in that shadow.

So I want to echo what I've heard before, which is please involve us in the communication and the um and the process.

Um we are here to do that.

This this is what we do.

The cheese board is all about that.

So um thank you for your time and thank you for this opportunity.

Thank you.

10 and 11.

We have 11.

12.

All right, we'll have to 11 is over here.

So 10 and 11.

Hello, Ms.

Mayor, City Council members, consultants, and fellow Berkeley business owners.

City Council, thank you for your efforts to address our housing crisis.

I'm Mike Apte.

I'm a retired LBL scientist.

I'm now the manager of Apty Family Properties LLC, a task left to me by my late father.

We own two commercial buildings in Berkeley.

We have Berkeley Business License to operate both properties.

The CZU directly involves our property at 1519 and 1521 Shattuck Avenue.

We've owned that for 45 years.

As a landlord, I take the responsibility of caring for and protecting the interests of our tenants seriously.

When major issues such as possible rezoning of the neighborhood come up, I need to know about it because it likely has major downstream effects on both my business and that of my tenants.

That is why I was appalled when I attended the Remy Associates workshop in the North Berkeley Senior Center.

I found out about this meeting as a local citizen from a neighbor, not as a local business owner.

The workshop proved to be an attempt to stifle real community input with no real options offered.

Questions to the presenters were quashed, and the poster board voting was really a show of a choice between a couple of design elements for one rezoning outcome.

Little or no consideration was provided on how local businesses would be protected from the disruption caused by implementation of this one basic approach.

We are not given a chance to discuss, explore, or offer other possible approaches to development of new housing.

Why does this bother me?

My business has never received any communication by any means from the city to elicit our ideas or otherwise participate in planning.

As a licensed business owner, we have been lit down by the city by its lack of notification and invitation to participate.

Having personally walked and contacted all the local stores along North Shadow Corridor, I can confirm that not a single shopkeeper has received an invitation to participate in developing strategies to create more local housing.

It is shameful that the city thinks that it can get away with the taxation without representation scheme.

Our business urges the city council to slow down and bring us to the planning table.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next person.

There we go.

Oh, 12?

So we have 12 and 13.

Okay.

And 14.

Okay.

Four minutes.

You need them.

Okay.

Do you need four minutes?

Yes.

She's gonna.

Okay.

Alright, I'm gonna, you'll have three minutes then.

So 12 and 13.

Okay.

Plus yours.

Hello, members of the city council and mayor.

Um, my name's Mary Oram.

Um, I own a real estate business that I had with my husband until he retired, and it's been in the uh in the Elmwood neighborhood for 40 years.

Um, I also live in the Willard neighborhood.

I walk to work almost every day.

Um, my concern is that in considering what you're what you're planning on doing, it's going to sow the seeds of the destruction of these small commercial districts in Berkeley.

Um, not tomorrow, but gradually over time.

Um, the problem is that there are two conflicting groups.

There are the property owners and the business owners, and they have different goals.

The property owner, of course, wants to maximize their income, the business owner wants to continue their business and maximize their income.

In changing the zoning, you will dramatically change the incentive of the property owner to sell the property.

Um, because the bigger the building you can build uh on these lots, the more valuable the lot will be.

And so, as it currently stands, there's kind of a balance between the commercial rent and the the return that the property owner is getting.

When you increase the potential for many more rents by building many more housing units, it's going to dramatically increase the value of the lot.

And so perhaps the current owner has some a good relationship with their business tenant, but if that current owner's circumstances change or if they their family inherits, that um imbalance is going to come forward, and that's when those properties are going to be sold, and that's when the existing businesses are going to be have to leave, and that's when the property is going to be torn down and something's going to be built in its place, and it's going to be very disruptive.

Um, I live across the street from Willard Park, and oh, a couple years ago they started building, they tore down the old clubhouse, they built this community center.

It took a year and a half.

Um, now there's only houses on one side of the street, but the construction people took the parking on both sides of the street all day.

They took, I think, an equal amount of land in the park for staging the construction.

And so I'm very concerned that this um the little former dry cleaners on College Avenue is going to be rebuilt because there's no room for the the construction workers to park.

There's no room to store the construction materials.

I think it's going to be devastating to the businesses that are on either side, to say nothing of the traffic on College Avenue, because I figure they're gonna have to close off a lane at times.

Um the AC transit bus goes there, the 51B, it's gonna be a mess.

And I think those are my committees.

Come on up, please.

We gotta keep our line moving.

Yeah, okay, just she's giving us second minute.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Margo Smith, and I've lived in Berkeley since 1969.

And I speak for the Berkeley voters who oppose the uploading plans for three Berkeley business districts, North Shaddock, Solano, and the Elmwood.

These vital commercial districts now allow small businesses to flourish and shoppers to buy near their neighbors the hoods.

I can walk to shops for my home to take care of my daily needs.

Unfortunately, it seems that uh there's some commitment to allowing massive housing in my neighborhood that will destroy this vile commercial district.

And not only that, as a social scientist, I can tell you that the city upzoning survey was poorly written and will give council misinformation.

It only allowed opinions on new proposals, not other options.

And not only that, you had 1,200 respondents in a city of 100,000 people.

That's very not very representative.

I hope.

Thank you.

Come on up, please.

Come on up.

Hello, mayor, council people.

Uh, my name is Drew Detsch.

Uh, I'm here to uh talk about what everyone else is talking about here, and all you council people do know you've all walked these neighborhoods.

You know we actually have really vital neighborhoods.

These things work.

Most planners would give their eye teeth for to develop something with that much texture, the life.

These are fabulous places, but they're very fragile.

And yes, we need housing, but housing has to be thought of in an appropriate way in appropriate areas.

Absolutely important.

We have adequate housing.

This what we had here, you heard about before, that the process was skewed.

Working in urban planning for 40 years.

When you have a workshop, you present things to people, you get their input, you show opportunity, show options, you show alternatives and let people look, you inform people and get their informed opinions.

This didn't happen.

Thank you.

I have someone giving me a minute in the back.

Uh Stephanie.

Okay.

Pardon?

I have two.

Okay, so we have two minutes.

Go ahead.

Okay, that's up to you.

You can keep your mask on if you want whatever's.

Yeah, I have a dad with dementia and a sister with cancer, so I try to be super careful.

Um good evening, council, mayor, and staff.

My name is Moni Law.

I'm a resident of Berkeley.

Uh mayor, council.

I appreciate your stated goal of adding more housing with a goal of equity and affordability.

To those formidable goals, I have questions and concerns.

I'm a Cala lum, I've owned three homes.

I'm starting my nonprofit business, and I'm fortunate to live in a rent-controlled apartment in Berkeley.

I love and support businesses in all three corridors, including I love Salls and their Matsabal Soup.

Since 1978 to 87 and the last 15 years, one, has the city conducted an audit, a comprehensive study of how many current housing units are actually empty or being Airbnb'd, which is just as well be empty because they're there for a couple of weeks and gone.

I've had Calparents and students tell me that many units are empty.

Shattock Avenue, University Avenue.

New buildings now charge $3,500 for one bedroom, 4,500 in that two bedrooms, and many new buildings are charging students by the bed 1,200.

And these are not rent-controlled units.

Two, is a town in Gown coordinating as we build.

UC went decades without building, as did the city failed to build affordable units despite its nexus studies confirming 20%, not just 10%, and they stuck on that.

So ABAC cited us for failing to increase affordable units.

My alma mater just bought the Marriott Hotel on Center Street, gutted People's Park, and killed over 50 trees.

And the last open space that was in South Berkeley.

Three, is the council passing a community benefits ordinance to require diversity hiring local hires, public art, affordable child care, free conference rooms, etc.

Four and final, what steps are being taken to increase the number of black brown and indigenous tenants to these new units.

Equity for Black Berkeley preference points were created after extensive workshops, legal research, and Jack McCormick and the mayor air game, an awesome team, and healthy black families to try to turn around the displacement and gentrification of 42% of South Berkeley used to be black, and now it's only 7%.

Thank you.

Thanks for me.

Oh my phone.

Hi, everyone.

Hi, um, hi, I'm Sonia Trauss, and I live right here on Browning.

So I'm about a block and a half away.

Uh I support the upzoning.

We definitely need more housing.

We definitely do not have enough housing.

We're renting actually in a triplex, so some little multifamily zoning, and it's working, so that's good.

Um, I think there are definitely creative and fascinating ways to solve all of the real problems that people are uh presenting here.

Um small businesses are super important and they definitely do need state um support from their local governments, and I and I think there are people who are sincere in their concern about small business, so I hope that they spend all of their energy thinking about solutions to the problems.

Um I am a professional organizer, and so I would like for everyone to know that you never have to wait for the city to ask you for an idea.

You can always have an idea on your own and bring it to them.

Um, this is part of the housing element, which was passed in like February of 2023, and it's now 2025, which is two years.

So it's not, shouldn't be a surprise.

Hi, thank you.

My name is Julia.

I um I'm an owner of Novelon Bakery in Elmwood.

And I am here to say nobody who works at my bakery can afford to live in Berkeley.

Low income housing is a joke here.

Think about what minimum wage is and think about how much people make when they make your food, and that is low income housing.

And if you can't provide that, we don't want it.

Good evening.

I'm Dr.

Stephen Alfred.

I live 300 feet from Solano Avenue.

At the second Solano Avenue Workshop on August 27th, the presenter assured the audience that applicants would most likely request only 50% density bonus, which allows for eight-story buildings with up if upzoning is enacted.

Accordingly, every single slide displayed showed building heights of only eight stories.

In fact, 11-story structures are permitted on Solano with 100% density bonus as documented on page 19 of the August 18th Berkeley quarters alternative report shown here.

At a meeting of the Berkeley Design Review Committee on August 16th, a developer, what do you know, requested a hundred percent density bonus to allow for his proposed 23 story building on 2029 University Avenue?

Could the city be any more duplicitous and deceptive regarding upzoning?

You absolutely refuse to address 100% density bonus.

Thank you.

That we did actually address that.

That was one of the questions I asked.

So just to be clear, go ahead.

Hi, I'm Dr.

Celeste Marks.

Planners miss lead us by saying uploading would improve housing equity.

Most of the units will built will be market rate.

The private real estate industry is not going to build housing for people of modest means because it doesn't yield the profit they their creditors and their investors demand.

What if a developer evicts the tenants, retail and residential, and then decides not to build?

That's what happened to the once vibrant row of restaurants on Center Street in downtown.

Please pause this process and engage with us.

Thank you.

Come on up.

Feel free to move the mic.

Yeah, thanks.

I'm Michael Hammersley.

I was born in the bay, went to school and college here.

I live on the edge of Berkeley in Oakland with my wife and daughter.

We also pay way too much in rent.

Our rent is 60% of the median Berkeley salary.

And my landlord is still terrible because there isn't enough housing in the bay.

We need more at any price.

I'm worried we won't be able to afford to raise our first child here, let alone the second or third would like to have.

I'm also one of the lucky ones.

I haven't been pushed out yet.

But um many of my friends have already left for less expensive places, and my rent keeps going up to subsidize the status quo.

So on behalf of all the folks who are spending tonight either working or raising their kids, I respectfully request that instead of adding only two or three stories in each corridor, let's explore five or seven or twenty-three.

Let's keep it retail ready.

But let's minimize if not eliminate setbacks.

Let's study upzoning not just along the corridor, but for several blocks parallel to it on either side.

Please make Berkeley affordable for its young people who want to raise their families here.

More housing cannot wait.

Housing delayed is housing denied.

Thank you.

Folks, please don't boo.

It's okay if you clap.

Be aware you're taking up some of their time when you're doing that, but please no booing.

Okay, go ahead.

Yeah, Halloween's over.

All right.

Second minute, yeah.

Uh 14.

All right.

Steve Tracy.

Good evening.

When I walk from Euclid to North Shadow, I get some exercise, but yesterday I drove to Elmwood.

I had to carry stuff back with my car.

And I paused and looked at shops I'd never seen before and realized this is part of the culture.

This is part of the DNA of the city.

So I'm asking you, counsel tonight, to please consider what you can do to support small businesses.

And that housing element has kind of paid for this.

Can we see that?

You don't need to see me.

Uh that way, this way.

May consent calendar item authorized.

We can't hear you in the yeah.

May a quarter million dollars was authorized on the consent calendar to study small businesses.

I think that's part of the 600 grand for the current study.

Oh, thank you.

It's out of the camera though.

Um there were specific directives, six.

I didn't practice this part.

Six specific directives, three of them about housing, but three that haven't been addressed by the current study.

So it would be nice if the current study addressed these items four, five, and six to support the uh sustainability of small businesses.

Um please pause.

Think about option three, not just option one and two that are laid out, and then uh go drive down SHATOC and go look at two one oh nine Virginia.

Ninety-two percent density bonus is already under current law, eight stories at Francisco, seven stories under construction.

Thank you.

Uh okay, a minute.

Go ahead.

I wish I had better pictures.

You can put that down.

Um, I wish I had better pictures from my silly cell phone.

What is mixed use?

Guys, hold up the number of fingers.

What percent needs to be commercial to be mixed use?

It only takes two hands.

Because this project at 2109 Virginia is six percent commercial, 94% housing.

So we took out all those businesses.

Poolet is gone.

We took out those businesses and we're putting in 1,200 square feet.

The second building that's under construction at Francisco, you need two more fingers.

12% commercial.

That's a big one.

Um they those hit the 10,000 square foot bonus that you guys were talking about to make it viable.

Thank you.

They're all really there.

Thanks.

Come on up, please come.

Hello, my name is Joan Etlinger.

I actually live in book in Oakland on the border, and I shop in the Elmwood all the time, which is why I'm making the time to come to this meeting.

Um, what really concerns me more than anything is the upzoning is the height of the buildings.

College Avenue is a narrow two-lane street.

It's very easy to walk across it.

The pedestrian scale nature of the buildings, one and two stories is what makes it so very enjoyable to walk there and shop there.

And to build at the scale that is being considered, takes away from that.

I think of it as the Manhattanization of College Avenue.

But to the extent that I've been around long enough to know how these things go, when you start allowing construction of these buildings, please consider anything over three stories, which they will be.

Thank you.

Setbacks.

Thanks.

15 and 16.

All right, there you go.

Hi, my name is Caitlin Randolph, and I am the owner of Imagine It on College Avenue.

Go ahead and pull it closer to you.

Yeah.

And I'm also a homeowner in the Elmwood neighborhood.

I'm pro-housing, especially affordable housing.

I want to live, raise my kids, and run my business in a vibrant and diverse neighborhood.

However, I am opposed to the corridor project.

This proposal will be catastrophic to the economic health of our local businesses.

We have not, as of yet, been provided any meaningful outreach data, resources, or any sort of reassurance to local business owners about how upzoning would impact us.

To think our businesses could ever survive the building which we rent being sold to corporate developers who will have to demolish and start a years-long process of installing a mixed-use high rise is completely out of touch with reality.

The proposal itself specifies that this is not a mandate to build and by their own estimates could take anywhere from 15 to 20 years to play out.

So why are we spending so much money, time, and resources on a project that might yield results in a decade or two when we could be making more thoughtful and strategic moves that get us housing sooner?

I understand that this proposal is a result of a measure to add more housing to high resource areas, but could it not be argued that the reason why these areas have become so successful is directly tied to their local businesses?

Yet me and my fellow business owners don't feel supported by our city planners.

Instead, we just feel shut out of the conversation entirely.

I urge us to take a pause, collaborate, and get back to the drawing board.

This is Berkeley.

The amount of brain power and innovative thinking in this room alone is insane.

Like the mayor's right there.

Let's use it and come up with some ideas we can all be proud of that are all that are in support of both housing and small businesses.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, 17, 18, 19.

All right.

Okay.

Hi, Mayor Ishii and wonderful Berkeley City Council and staff and consultants.

Um, I'm a Berkeley kid.

I grew up here, went to Malcolm X, went to West Campus.

This used to be our cafeteria, except for it had pizza on the floor.

I am a pro housing dude.

I am a pro housing guy.

I am a transit-oriented development guy.

My dad was a nationally famous housing economist and planner.

I have lived this stuff my entire life.

I'm also interested in having housing in the right locations.

We do not put tall apartment buildings in the Rose Garden.

We do not put tall apartment buildings on San Pablo Park.

We do not put tall apartment buildings right over here on Strawberry Creek Park.

We also don't put tall apartment buildings in the middle of a contiguous two-block long street of precious 19 teens to 1930s glassy shop fronts that are robust, that are occupied by thriving businesses, and we don't jack them up by putting some giant crazy apartments in the middle and ruining, as one of the other speakers said, a beautiful amenity that people travel from all over the region to come to, and that is what will happen.

I have to say that even more importantly than all of those strong feelings about you know place and about the built environment.

There's also, as a Berkeley native, as somebody who went to Berkeley High and heard people talk about democracy, who heard people talk about citizen participation.

We live in the birthplace of free speech.

This process has engaged with paid consultants, well meaning no doubt, but paid consultants, and we were funneled into a process that literally had us putting yellow and blue stickers on predetermined choices in so-called workshops.

We were asked to fill out surveys, which also had predetermined choices on them toward outcomes that were either, you know, do you want your broccoli on a blue plate or a green plate?

This is not democracy.

We need that here.

We need that.

That's what you folks were brought in as representatives of your constituencies and your neighborhoods to do is engage with people, not just take the paid consultants and the planning staff, the nice large planning staff, and take their recommendations and go with that.

With that in mind, I would like to make a motion or have you guys make a motion on behalf of the beautiful Save Berkeley shops consortium and community.

This is Berkeley, California, one of the smartest communities in the world, birthplace of the free speech movement.

We can do better than this, and that's why we're here to ask you, our elected leaders, to write this wrong.

We ask that you hit the pause button and engage with us by adopting the following motion.

City staff and consultants, excuse me, one city staff and consultants will pause development in the corridors zoning update.

Two, the planning department shall mail notices of its current proposals and future proposals to all businesses within the three quarters and all residents within 1,000 feet.

And three, most importantly, city planning and economic development department shall engage corridor businesses and residents in a collaborative analysis on ways we can increase housing in these neighborhoods without displacing existing businesses.

Excuse me.

I just want to remind folks that there is no action being taken today.

This is a workshop, so we're receiving information, so we're not taking any votes, just so you understand.

Okay, go ahead.

Next person.

2021, 22.

Hi, good evening, council.

Hi, everybody.

Delighted to be in your company.

Thank you.

Four minutes.

Um, my name is Amy Thomas.

I'm the owner of Pegasus Books.

I have two stores in Berkeley and one in Oakland.

Um, just for the record, um, our store is operated in the Solano Avenue location for 42 years, our Shattock store for nearly 30 years, and our oldest store has been in Oakland for 56 years.

What we are asking you to do is pause this decision so we can have some time to really discuss the implications of it.

No one from the city has reached out to me for my input, not you know, whatever.

Sending an email about a Zoom doesn't cover it since the implications are so great.

Having a meeting that turns out to be a presentation by people who have already sold themselves on the zoning change, is not getting input.

What I see is the city giving permission for building owners and developers to build taller buildings, and it will be a gold rush, with only vague offers of oversight and community input.

I see no vision for what this will actually look like.

Will it be independent stores, larger national chains?

If you want to fill up a lot of little expensive spaces with retail, who have you got?

Um there's no vision, whatever, except what the developers come up with, and they have only one goal, and that is to maximize their profits.

And they will say anything now to get what they want.

I offer you a few examples of what has happened when the city council demonstrates both recklessness and naivete when it comes to city planning.

In 2001, the Gaia building was put up with the promise of making a community space with the input from the Gaia bookstore.

The bookstore did not build a building went up, the bookstore did not survive the recession, the space did not materialize, but the building is called Gaia.

In 2002, the fine arts theater on Shaddock was evicted and the building was torn down.

The developer there promised that the theater would move back in, but it didn't.

No fine arts theater, but the building is the fine arts building.

So on both center, we don't have to talk about Center Street in our Harold Way, but it's dismaying.

One of my stores at the corner of Shaddock and Durant, and I'm just dismayed by the mess.

It's a right mess down there, guys.

Um Solano Avenue, Oaks Theater was sold and left empty and boarded up for 10 years.

A huge drain on my business.

When that theater closed, my business dropped 20%.

It took years to get that back.

These are the people you were living the vision to.

I am so disappointed that you keep going down this road of getting involved with these developed for-profit developers for a tiny amount of actual affordable housing.

Like what's a creative solution?

How about a lot of smaller buildings built in conjunction with nonprofit developers with a hundred percent affordable housing?

Will you require, will you require developers to offer apartments that say my family my employees could afford?

Will you require them to create an affordable commercial spaces on the ground floor?

Do you know how congested Solano Avenue is currently?

Do you know that there have been two traffic fatalities on Upper Solano in the last few years?

Do you know how many years it takes to bring a retail business to profitability and keep it there?

We have been through the wars as retailers.

It's hard.

Business is up now, but it's oh my god, I don't have fingernails because of this.

Um, I don't know if you know specifically what it costs the retail sector to get through the plague.

We are asking you to delay this decision until real vision is played out, and not at the busiest time of the year, fourth quarter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello to all of you.

I'm Sue Johnson.

Oh, Sue Johnson, custom lamps and shades.

On Solana Avenue on the corner of Ensenada, which is one of the targeted buildings.

I'm so glad to be here tonight to hear from you because I haven't heard anything before.

And my heart is just sinking.

But I love what I do.

I'd love to share my ideas with you, as you've been sharing your ideas with me tonight.

The Solana Stroll was started by three of us on Solano in the mid-70s.

I've my shop has been there for 53 years.

And the Solana stroll brings 250,000 people.

I got a white minute.

I'm sorry, I can't see who's talking.

Okay, thank you.

250,000 people to Solano.

That is a vibrant, lively group of people.

I do a for the stroll, I do a um, treasure hunt.

And I have over 250 people who come in and fill out a form to do the treasure hunt.

Tiny children and adults.

We're a community.

You and I are a community too.

And I want to be with you in community.

I want to hear more about alternatives.

An eight eight story high building on Solano is just a dead space.

We don't need dead spaces.

We need spaces that are alive.

And I want to study that with you.

I want to share my ideas and I want to hear yours.

Thank you.

23 and 24, please.

23 and 24.

23 still okay, 25.

Oh, it's 23 and 24, so we're still 2324.

Hi, my name is Fern Solomon, and I am the owner of Fern's Garden on Solano Avenue.

I am I am also the new chair and commissioner for the city of Berkeley for the Solano Avenue bid, and a member of the Solano Avenue Association.

Today I am speaking for myself and my business.

I chose Upper Solano nine years ago to build my business because of the walkable charm of the street.

We feel very lucky to have a store on Upper Solano.

Our customers are totally devoted and come from every part of Berkeley and beyond.

It's amazing how far they come.

I'm at become a destination store here in Berkeley.

Recently, I have been completely overwhelmed by my customers because they're so upset about the upzoning proposals.

They are concerned that their neighborhood will be turned into something that's completely unrecognizable.

They love the century-old charm of the street.

When Pete's closed down last month for just three weeks to remodel, all the businesses around me took a quite a big dip in sales.

Our sales have been doing terrific.

Pete's closed down, the trucks lined the street.

I am very concerned about construction on our narrow street on Solano Avenue.

I can't even imagine how it could it could happen.

And I'm so happy to be here tonight, and I can't believe the community outreach.

Thank you guys so much for coming.

It's so hard to make a small business work.

And I have somehow created a business, 2,000 little square feet that attracts people from all over the world now.

And I'm on the board for Visit Berkeley, and I'm working hard to create a more permanent vision so that people who visit Berkeley can visit all the independent shops with a map with a way to help people understand that there are so many incredible pegasists, Sue.

I mean, we have amazing people that have been here for long, long time.

Thank you so much for all you guys do.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Fern.

Thanks.

Good evening.

I'm uh William Torciana, and I live by the College Avenue Corridor.

Uh, given that I have 54 seconds, I'll keep it short and just make uh three quick points.

First of all, the College Avenue Corridor is one of the most vibrant and diverse in Berkeley.

It represents an enormous value for the city, and we'd be absolutely foolish to wreck it.

Second, I disagree strongly with Mr.

Klein.

Once you start ripping at the fabric of a low-scale architecturally cohesive area like this, the impacts happen very, very quickly and not over decades.

And once you lose a neighborhood like this, you don't get it back.

Third, the meeting materials clearly show already that the College Avenue quarter is heavily oriented towards rental housing, primarily younger tenants.

There are a hundred empty apartments on Zillow on College Avenue as of this morning.

We absolutely need to address housing affordability, but you don't do it by destroying a commercial district and giving it away to the real estate industry.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Nancy Fasher.

I live off of Solano.

Thank you all for your service.

Um my comments tonight are focused on Solano.

I'm not really um uh suited to speak for the other um uh neighborhoods.

Um I've been a homeowner for 31 years.

I'm a social worker married to a lifelong BUSD teacher, and I've had the privilege of raising my children in Berkeley.

Unfortunately, they can't afford to live here, and I really strongly believe we have to increase the housing stock as one solution to a very complex problem.

We do know that increasing supply does show a modest impact on housing prices.

Just like the neighbors who live around Solano, we all read that article about Thousand Oaks.

Solano itself has aged in place, buildings are old, the foot traffic is down, and as a result, we have lost many cherished small businesses that can't afford to make ends meet.

There's an ever-increasing number of vacant storefronts.

I'm in favor of the higher density that will allow businesses to thrive.

And of course, our shops will need care and attention during the transition, which will happen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Glenn Wolkenfeld.

I'm 63 years old.

I'm a Berkeley homeowner, and I live two blocks north of Solano Avenue.

I spent 27 years as a science teacher at Berkeley High School.

Democracy is about electing people who can make wise decisions, and that's what we've done.

So I'm hoping that you have the courage to know that many of us support up zoning.

We do have to take care of our local businesses 100%.

But for anyone who opposes upzoning in the Solano corridor, try this on a Saturday night at about 9 p.m.

Go to the corner of Solano and Calusa, and you can lie down in the middle of the street.

Nobody is there.

Solano's dying, it's the central corridor that only works, central corridor of a retirement home that only works for privileged old folks.

We need more class.

Let him finish his comments.

My adult children can't live here.

We need more housing to lower prices.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Just want to make sure folks know it's not safe to lie down in the middle of the street.

Your point is taken, but just to kind of put that out there.

Thank you, though, for your comment.

Please just be safe on the streets.

Okay, go ahead.

I've got a minute from a minute from this person over here.

Okay.

Someone waving on the far right.

Okay.

Good evening.

My name is Todd Darling.

I live in District 3, where we have been dealing with upzoning for years.

I would like to talk about our future and about where we're going.

First, we should recognize whence this plan emanates.

Berkeley's planning department.

Salaries for this department come from developer fees.

The citizens of Berkeley do not pay their salaries.

The biggest lobby backing upzoning is Yimby, yes, in my backyard.

Ostensibly organized to promote housing.

This is not a grassroots organization.

Yemby funding comes from big tech founders of Facebook, Yelp, Stripe, and venture capitalists like Ron Conway.

They will not engage in questions of who the housing is for, where it is built, or how it is built, and if it is affordable.

These vital questions are ignored and insulted.

YMBE's prime product is displacement.

And they have a lot of money to do it.

As of 2023, various YMB California organizations have 20 million dollars in assets with revenues of over $8 million.

Their CEO earned $333,000, and local director Matthew Lewis earned $153,000.

These figures are from their tax reports.

Yimby believes in trickle down economics, a theory disproven back in the Reagan administration.

They believe in deregulation of industry, and deregulation is evident in this upzoning plan.

They don't care what developers build or where they do it.

And Berkeley has obliged them.

Thousands of new units, but the units are too small for families.

Most of the buildings appear half empty, and the rents are definitely not affordable.

Yimbi is a political project, and Yimbi Cash has flooded California politics.

Our current state senator, our current assembly member, all receive their endorsements and their money.

Our former mayor, our current mayor receive their endorsements.

Two current city council members have long career Yimby endorsements and regularly attend their events.

A lot of us feel like this came out of nowhere.

This is a setup.

Thanks for your comments.

Okay, next person.

Wait, wait, we did 25.

I got 25 already, but 27.

I thought we had 25 already, no, Jane?

Did you not give your minute?

Okay, all right.

All right, 25, 26, 70.

So you'll have so you'll have four minutes then.

25, 26, 27?

Three.

I'm gonna go for three.

Throw in four if I need them.

Okay, 25 and 26.

Okay, go ahead.

Okay.

Um my name is Claudia Hunka.

I am the owner of Your Basic Bird.

I've never lived in the Elmwood, but I've grown up in the Elmwood because my business has been there for 44 years.

I support housing that is in scale with commercial districts.

The proposed plan would disfigure our historic neighborhood corridors, displace independent merchants, and forever alter the character of Berkeley.

This plan was created without any study of the economic and social impacts on the businesses, many in the Elmwood who have been serving this neighborhood for 25 to 50 years.

The loss of any business impacts an entire commercial district.

We share customers.

We all lose customers even when one business closes.

What about the loss of the jobs of over 400 plus employees in the Elmway, not included, not included in the other alias.

In two months, the Elmwood merchants and residents have collected over a thousand signatures in opposition to the upzoning.

Minor changes in the zoning in these corridors could allow for housing without creating six to eleven story buildings.

Meaningful conversation or consideration for the businesses that will be impacted by these proposals has not occurred.

Options and other considerations are not possible without this communication.

We urge the city to engage directly with local merchants and residents in each corridor to create responsible balanced zoning that promotes housing without destroying local businesses.

Studio session, sense by the bay, me Hero, Pretty Penny, Old Salt Merchants, Worthy, Elmwood Laundry, Palmer Say, Imagine It, Casa de Chocolate, State Flower Shop, Elmwood Copy.

These represent these are new businesses that are just investing their lives in the Elmwood.

They represent everything that makes Berkeley unique.

Creativity, diversity, community connection.

I want to see them grow up in the Elmwood and have the same potential which I have had.

I ask everyone in the audience who is opposed to this to please hold up their signs.

Mayor Ishi and Council members, we request that you please pause this and engage with us.

Thank you.

Thank you for your time.

Oh, I have 20 more minutes.

Anybody else want to talk?

20 more seconds, sorry.

Counting is never a high.

Thank you.

Okay.

All right.

Good evening.

Oh, am I ready?

Good evening and thank you.

My name is Alice Giroud.

I moved to Berkeley in 1975 to go to architecture school, and I'm still here.

I live in District 3, and I shop in all three of the uh commercial areas, but most often the Elmwood because it's closest to where I live.

As many other people have said, Berkeley's neighborhood commercial districts are a treasure.

They are thriving, they're busy every day of the week with unique small businesses that are a key part of Berkeley's economic health and cultural vibrancy.

In contrast, look at our downtown, once bustling, now with much of it cleared out and empty, waiting for mega housing projects that may take years to come.

Deregulation and upzoning for market rate units is not a housing solution.

It will not guarantee affordable housing, but it may very well kill small businesses.

And by the way, there is literally an ADU in my backyard.

Thank you.

So your husband?

Is he gonna give you his minute?

Yes, okay.

So yeah, so you'll have two minutes then.

Go ahead.

Hello, I'm Renee Copeless, and this is my husband, Edwin Gamez.

We own Elmwood Laundry in the Elmwood, and as Claudia mentioned, we are new business owners.

We um invested our savings that we've worked for to buy the laundromat uh in 2021, 2022.

And we have a lot of customers, like Claudia and other people have mentioned too.

Our businesses are all codependent.

Most of our customers, if not all, are also customers of everyone else in our neighborhood's businesses.

Um, a large portion of the community in the Elmwood also do not have laundry uh washers and dryers in their homes, and they use the laundromat on a weekly or even more often basis.

And um, we are just devastated because this project will, as our council member said, will be mortal to us, to our business.

And I think that once the if the upzoning project goes through, it actually will be mortal to the Elmwood in general as well.

It's never gonna be the same historic, charming neighborhood that it is today.

And it it's sad to know that we are such a wonderful destination.

People from the outer community come visit the Elmwood, they do their laundry at our laundromat.

We met a person from Fremont who came with her husband this weekend, and they spent the whole day in the Elmwood shopping, doing laundry, eating, and you know, they come.

We have customers from the city from San Francisco who either they come out here to work or do other things, and they want to um enjoy what we have because it doesn't exist anywhere else anymore, and it's very important to preserve and by not going through with this project.

Our neighborhood will be preserved.

Thank you.

Hi.

One minute.

And can you just talk in the laptop?

One minute to talk about protecting a unique and wonderful commercial shopping center called Elmwood.

Uh, I think that's a metaphor for what's been going on recently with this project.

One minute.

And I know the time constraints, but one minute to talk about protecting a hundred-year-old thriving commercial district.

I want to be a little pragmatic.

Everyone said many things, and I agree with almost everything.

But the one thing is we're talking about 80 units based on discussions with the with the city staff.

80 units, and you could destroy the Elmwood in for the future.

We talk about children.

And first of all, housing.

Housing is absolutely critical.

But we want to preserve the Elmwood for the future for children of the future.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Arnold Mamarella.

I live in the Solano Avenue area.

I'm an architect and an urban planning consultant.

I work with several cities in the Bay Area on these type of projects, among other housing things.

And what I want to say is, first of all, all three of these districts are different.

They should be approached differently to what works for each district.

I think it's a big point that's not been talked about yet.

The other thing I want to say is we've got to see what we can get out of this.

We need more imagination, more nuance, more creativity.

There's something missing here in this process.

Look at that project.

Look at it on Google closely.

Look how the upper floors were actually, you can't even tell there's a village up there.

They're small offices, but they were originally planned as possibly housing units.

We need to think differently, and in a minute I can't go over everything.

But also one more thing.

Thank you.

Thanks for your comment.

I'm sorry your time's up.

Thank you.

Um, so just so I have a sense.

If you are not making public comment, if you're finished with your public comment, can you please sit down or move away from this wall?

Because I'm trying to keep track of how many people are here, and I think the line gets a little confusing.

Okay, and then also if you are still making a comment, can you just give me raise your hand so I can see?

If you're are folks in the back here making comments.

Woman in the blue hat.

Okay, could you sit down or move away from the line, please?

Because I think it's confusing about so none of these people here, no one here is past the door is making a comment.

No.

Okay, so Brandon, you're the last one.

No?

There's somebody here.

I just fine.

Okay, so where's your spot in line?

No, you don't have to stand.

I'm just curious.

Where, sorry, where are you?

After Brandon.

Okay, there's someone, and Kelly's after that.

Okay.

All right.

I think I'm clear.

Patrick, are you getting in line right now?

Okay.

Okay.

So there are two people in front of you, and then Brandon, and then then and then Patrick, and then anyone else?

Okay.

Yeah.

All right, go ahead.

Sorry.

I'm just trying to get a clear sense of, I'm trying to figure out breaks and we have online comments, so go ahead.

Hi, my name is Jacob Dadman.

Uh, I live in district three.

Uh, and I'm here to ask the city to fulfill its legal obligation to affirmatively further fair housing.

Um, by alternative two in the corridor zoning plan.

Uh, putting more affordable homes uh in Berkeley's most exclusive historically red line neighborhoods, uh is not only good for our economy, but it's the right thing to do.

Um I love my neighbors and I want more of them.

Uh and I think that apartments are good actually.

Um, and when we put people closer to where they want to be and where they want to go, that means fewer cars on our roads, less carbon and air pollutants in our air, and more vibrant and and vital neighborhoods uh that are not only up with the times but can be resilient to future changes.

Uh so I appreciate uh everyone's comments here, but I would really love to see alternative two, not only on the corridors, but also in the streets adjoining.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, Miss Member, sorry, Miss Mayor and members of the city council.

My name is Karina Holbrook.

I'm a Berkeley resident, and I often shop at Elmwood.

And I'm speaking to express my support for upzoting and for Berkeley's commitment for racial equality.

I'm Japanese American, my mother's Japanese.

I grew up part of my life in Japan, and someone like me, and when Elmwood and Solana were created in 1931, I would have been able to rent a unit, I wouldn't have been able to buy a unit just solely because of my race, nothing of who I am.

That's shameful.

But we're making steps towards fixing it, and I commend the city council for being brave and envisioning a better future.

I fully support the proposed upzoning and I encourage the city council to think bigger, to allow for six doors everywhere, prioritize transit oriented development, and build more housing.

That being said, I also support protecting small businesses and expanding uh commercial spaces.

Small spaces are often more affordable.

So I encourage this council to allow for commercial businesses at all intersections and reduce city fees from new and existing businesses.

Let's build housing today for better Berkeley tomorrow.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, next person, please.

Good evening, Council.

Good evening, everyone.

Uh my name is Drew Ewer, and I'm the owner of Bill's Trading Post.

My family's business uh in the fourth generation.

We've been in the same location for over eighty-five years.

And historic Elmwood district.

I am speaking today on a lot of everyone has touched mostly on all the points that um about the zoning and how all that is.

It's we didn't really get any information about that, but I would like to touch base on um the historical charm of that place.

Uh the proposed construction project threatens not only the character of our charming neighborhood area, but it also the livelihood of all the small businesses that makes this community unique.

This project will bring a significant congestion to an already very congested area.

College and Ashby, if you've ever driven down or even try to walk, it's just it's heavily trafficked.

People would struggle, or you just avoid going to the area during a construction period which can last many years.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

Just hoping to get two or three hands from the audience.

One, two, twenty-five, twenty-six.

Sorry, we wait.

No, we were we did 25 and 26.

So we're at 27.

Sorry, 27, 28.

27, 28.

Where's 28?

Okay, thank you.

All right, go ahead.

Thank you.

I'll be honest.

I hate coming to these meetings.

I hate the stink eye for my council member, and I see you yimbis laughing over there while people like me bleed our hearts out.

You sit there smiling while the businesses, the workers and neighbors who build this city are fighting to stay.

We show up month after month because we still care, because we still love Berkeley, even when you don't act like you do.

I'm here because I love telegraph.

We are the canary in the coal mine.

When telegraph struggles, Berkeley's soul is in danger.

From those stupid lift bikes from Yimbi smart i kiosks to Blackstone real estate development to the destruction of over a hundred mature trees, 30 years of topsoil at People's Park.

They always attack us first, the ones living 200% below the poverty line.

And tonight I'm the ghost of Christmas past, and I'll tell you what, Santa is pissed.

I love this city.

I love the small businesses.

I love working with Food Not Bombs and Nabalone and Cheeseboard are here who help us give mills to our community.

Thanks.

I stand with 50-year-old businesses you've swept away, though, like trash for your housing progress.

Missing Link, Bike Cooperative, Anna Purna, Mars, Buffalo Exchange.

You even find Ken Sarakan at Bad Monks, thousands of dollars because our community dared to gather and share food after you barricaded us off at People's Park.

You took away our public space, then punished a business owner for helping us create our own.

Shame on you.

You erased more than a hundred parking spots for those double stacked razor wire shipping containers and called it safety.

Guess what?

It's a park.

People park there.

Now they have to double park on Durant Avenue just to pick up DoorDash, and they're constantly being policed for it.

People get ticketed trying to support themselves and the city.

And your response?

A freaking bus lane.

Thanks.

You'd rather Bulldogs telegraph for a bike lane than stand for the businesses that are feeding us, employing us, and caring for our neighbors every day.

I have no confidence in this city council.

I have no confidence in Paul Buda Gagan, who's been sitting in the city job for over a decade.

I have no confidence because you criminalize our poor, you hand our streets to multinational corporations, and you sell out my neighborhood to a multi-billion dollar war corporation called UC Berkeley.

And you gave them the right to destroy our homes, our community through eminent domain in the constitution of the California state.

And now I won't even have telegraph, Christmas on Telegraph.

You destroyed it when you built People's Park because now we can't have a street fair.

I won't be able to hear our churches singing or kids singing, Heart to the Herald Angel Sings.

I won't be able to work with uh games of Berkeley to give out toys because of you, but you can help these people.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Hi.

Um sometimes there is a gap between the ambitions of a program and the options that staff puts in front of you.

With middle housing, they recommended that you zone South Berkeley at a greater density than North Berkeley when the whole point was to eliminate those disparities.

You rejected that and you equalized the density.

In other words, you acted to affirmatively further fair housing.

But why did staff recommend that?

They didn't set out to treat different areas differently, but they followed one of the assumptions of their profession, which is that changes in land use should be gradual and not start.

That approach, when you apply it to formerly redlined areas and formerly exclusionary areas like the Elmwood, by definition reinforces those disparities.

Here in these proposals, by basing it on existing commercial zones, basing the details on existing land use patterns, we are reinforcing the exclusionary policies that we are trying to get away from.

It is the antithesis of affirmatively furthering fair housing.

We are not treating the high resource corridors the same as South and West Berkeley.

Thanks.

Hey, folks, no brewing, please.

You can clap, but please no booing.

Hi.

I'm here to agree with what the prior speaker was saying.

I am here to ask staff to include six stores, ask you to ask staff to study, including six stories of housing across the board, across all of these neighborhoods, even Stephen, Solano, College, San Pablo, and North Shaddock.

As my as the previous speaker was saying, what makes San Pablo different from North Shaddock from Solano?

Why is it a different thing?

Um, these are all corridors, it's just that one of them was formerly redlined.

This is one of the best chances we'll have for a while to affirmatively further fair housing in our city and to create some integration in our zoning.

I ask also that you upzone adjacent streets, gradually tapering the zoning down to the rest of the neighborhood.

And I ask you not to require ground floor commercial and new construction.

I live on San Pablo, and the ground floor of my building is vacant.

The people who face onto the street, uh sorry, it was vacant.

Um finally.

Anyway, um, please don't require ground floor and taper the zoning.

Thanks, and then it goes by fast.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um, good evening.

I live three blocks from college in Ashby with my parents.

I'm starting to work in low-income housing, and I deeply want affordable housing in Berkeley.

But we don't get affordable housing if we don't build housing.

When market rate housing isn't built, those people don't cease to exist.

These richer people outbid the rest of us for housing.

If we can't be better and truly give more people opportunity, we have said more housing, and we did not act on it.

By continuing to restrict new homes, Berkeley is closing its doors to its own children and to its own grandchildren.

We, the younger people in the crowd are the future of Berkeley, and I hope the city council builds for the future.

Thank you.

Thank you, excuse you.

Not helpful.

Folks, decorum.

Go ahead.

Thanks, all and thanks.

Thanks for the council.

So I'm I'm a young father and a homeowner in Elmwood.

I have a course.

Hey, hey, folks, you know what?

Decorum.

You can have a conversation outside.

Okay.

Thank you.

Sorry.

So I'm uh I'm a young father.

I'm a homeowner in Elmwood.

I have a young daughter, one more on the way.

I love the Elmwood Corridor.

I shop there every week.

I'm looking forward to continuing to do so and raise my family there.

Uh I would want to urge the council to support uh the corridor zoning effort.

We need to create more opportunities for uh people like me, and especially ones who weren't as lucky as my wife and I in our 20s to be able to live here and to raise their families here in this incredible city.

I mean, this development can absolutely be disruptive.

Uh I've I've uh really you know learned a lot from listening to all the folks here tonight, and we should think about how to mitigate disruption where we can, but I urge the council to courageously prioritize the housing opportunity here.

And and lastly, I'd urge folks to think about the balance of all the voices who aren't in this room.

Uh I was actually here before, I had to leave to put my daughter to bed, and then I came back.

Uh, and a lot of other folks in my position just couldn't swing that tonight.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Okay, so just so folks know, I'd love to get through the comment and hear in person, and then we're gonna take another break.

I think we're gonna take a 15-minute break because it's been a long sit.

And then I know there was someone who is over here that's still just so you know, don't worry, you haven't lost your spot.

I just and Kelly Hammergren as well, but that's it.

Okay, go ahead.

Hi, I'm Julie Noctway, and I've lived here since 1980.

Um, I disagree with people who say redlining happened, you know, 60 years ago, so we should punish people now because they they somehow manage to get good jobs through good education, combine those resources and buy a home around the Elmwood.

I think that the city council should think outside the box and not think that families are gonna have to be happy living for their entire lives in six to eight to twelve story buildings.

We might think about the woman who suggested having smaller units with like maybe four units and place them in other places so that the people who live in those units can feel that there's a community of their own, not just taking the elevator up and down the 12-story building.

So I think that we should also think about the city making some job efforts to educate people, give them job training so that they can afford to rent anything because if they don't have some kind of income, they're not gonna be able to afford anything.

Thank you.

Thanks for commenting.

Okay.

Good evening, everyone.

Uh, my name's Rebecca.

I'm a worker in the North Shadow neighborhood.

We've been hearing a lot from business owners tonight, and much less, I think, from the workers.

So I want to speak on behalf of workers.

Uh, workers at these businesses can barely afford to live in Berkeley, much less in the high-resource neighborhoods that we're talking about tonight.

As business owners, if you want to keep your workers, you've got two options.

Pay us more or help us lower the cost of housing.

But I've got good news for you.

Building more housing in Berkeley is working.

Uh I just moved out of an apartment in downtown and I checked.

It's now renting for 400 cheaper than what I was paying for it a few months ago.

Uh if I had known that, I would have stayed and renegotiated.

Uh, so why stop now?

Let's keep building more housing so us workers can continue to live and work in all these beautiful neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Hello, I got a friend to give me a minute in case I need it.

Um, okay, thank you.

Uh hi council and mayor.

My name is Brandon Young, District 2 resident.

Um it's interesting to me how every time we have a conversation about a new district rezoning, it turns into a conversation on whether or not we should build more housing.

Um that conversation, I just want to address people here.

That conversation is over.

Uh, that debate's settled.

This is a workshop, and we should be focusing on how do we work together, find consensus and implement policy that helps with this issue, particularly here of retaining uh our small business community and supporting them in um what is a a transitional moment.

Um so toward that I want to share some ideas.

Um, these zones we're talking about are overwhelmingly smaller lot sizes.

Uh, they're gonna have um very small setbacks.

We probably want to encourage very small or no front yard setbacks to maintain that very vibrant commercial frontage.

Um, and because of that lot configuration, um, I would consider our policymakers to reconsider the uh on-site art requirement or 1% in loo fee.

Typically, those pieces of public art are provided on site or on the building facade.

I would kind of suggest that maybe we reassess the effectiveness of that program overall, but I think for this this rezoning, we can consider uh allowing the option of instead of having that fee or provision, we create a fund that helps very similar to a program that San Francisco administers uh support for our small businesses, relocation, and basically act as brokers between interested small businesses and new ground floors.

Uh next, um, there's a lot of interesting research out there about what we can do to help this issue of reducing the costs of improving our uh ground floor commercial spaces, a lot of which uh developers don't put the capital into turning what we call the hard shell into a rentable area.

Um there's policies we can put in there.

So yeah, let's think creatively and solutions.

Thanks.

Oh wait, um, I think this this woman was behind you, Brandon.

So yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, you and then Kelly is behind.

I'm sorry, Donna, I forgot your name.

Apologies.

Go ahead.

And then Kelly and then this person.

Okay.

Um my name is Donna Diedemar, and there are two things that I've noticed being said here tonight.

Um, we keep being told that um no one will use the 100% density bonus.

We also keep hearing that we need to provide more affordable housing.

If that's the case, then don't upzone to a place where if you invoke the 100% density bonus, it won't be built.

Zone to a place where it will require the 100% density bonus to get the affordable housing units you need.

So don't let it go up to 12 if somebody does it.

Just because right now you're just giving it away.

You're giving away to developers that last uh that other part of the um affordable housing.

It's clear that it's a disingenuous thing, and you can't guarantee on the on the equity thing, you can't guarantee who's gonna rent these places.

So that's that's a disingenuous art.

Thank you.

Thanks, Donna.

So Kelly is next.

Kelly is next in line.

I had said that earlier.

I'm sorry, I don't know if you got that, but she she this is like a mobility standing thing.

So I she told me she was standing there.

Okay, thank you.

Um I'm not gonna repeat what other people have said.

Uh I just want to make a few short comments.

I think I attend more design review committee meetings than anyone else in this room.

I've probably missed five or less in the last 11 years.

And I'd like to say that the worry about commercial space is very real.

I invite everyone who remembers Aqua Collet to go back to 2000 university and to see Cafe Brusco.

Because that's what is left over after we've given everything to the residential building that they need, the elevator banks, the stairwells, the mail, the mail room, the leasing room.

Um, yeah, everything is just taken up on the first floor.

And so there's very little commercial space, and unless you really invest a lot, thank you.

I won't get it.

Thank you.

Thank you for your can I have one more minute.

Oh, Kelly, anyone left?

We have a lot of these.

Okay.

Uh, so just a couple more things.

I just want to make this real quick.

I'd like you all to write down the title of this book.

It's called Six City, and it's uh disease and equity and land use, and it's about what happens when you add more density to land.

And this is by Patrick M.

Condon, who lives in Vancouver and is a landscape and city planner.

And what he found, he believed in adding density and that it would really work in terms of lowering the cost of housing.

And in 2021, he wrote this book, and what he found is that it didn't lower the cost of housing at all.

And there was actually someone who identified this problem back in the 19th century called Henry George, is that when you add density, you increase the value of the land and increase the housing.

Okay.

Thank you for your patience.

I appreciate it.

Go ahead.

Um, I'm Mary White.

I'm a West Berkeley artist and educator, and I go to the Elmwood several times a month from West Berkeley to the basic bird and other places.

I think we have a disconnect between low-cost housing and this proposal because I don't think density in will mean low-cost housing at all.

And so I I urge that you pause and that you get the younger people who've spoken and the businesses to come and talk, and that each area, each of these residential areas is or did a commercial is district.

I also know that Fourth Street is specifically popular because it's low, low density in that area, that shopping area, and I've been here for about 45 years, and what about focusing on San Pablo where all and university where all of those houses, all those commercial businesses have managed to be destroyed.

Thank you.

Concentrate on pause.

Thank you.

As you all know, I am a big booster of housing uh um rental and uh for sale, and I'd like to talk a little bit about um disruption of small businesses for development.

I'm quite familiar with the Elmwood.

My mom lives on Benvenue and uh Woolsey and she's been there since 1986.

I patronized the basic bird, Gordo's, the Elmwood Cafe, and many others.

And I'd like to tell you that the fears of the neighbors and the businesses there are grossly overblown with respect to interests of market rate developers like myself in their spaces.

They're too small, the complications of construction are too great, and the costs of assembling a property that is big enough to make an economically viable development is far too great.

Moreover, because the council recently passed the missing middle housing.

There are much more, there are many more opportunities.

There are many more opportunities next to Elmore.

Thank you.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Please thank you.

We got to keep the we got to keep the flow.

We're doing so well on timing, everyone.

Thank you.

Okay.

The question was raised as to how the 2020-23 upzoning in Oakland has impacted the College Avenue businesses.

Last year, a small business owner uh in Rockridge um advised me that she and her the adjoining owners are living with complete uncertainty because the landowner who has never done this before uh refused to provide more than a three-year lease.

And so they're presuming that he's looking for the bigger profit and the development.

Um second, I am one puzzled why the Sacramento Corridor isn't being looked at.

It is has been designated a high resource area.

You have homes there selling single family dwellings for 1.2, 1.4 million dollars, and south of Dwight, there are vacancies and underused properties that that those areas could use housing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

49 or anything about I had 29 written down already, so you're on 30.

30, okay.

31.

Yeah, we got plenty more.

Wait, sorry, so 30.

How many minutes are you getting?

31.

Two?

Okay, so you'll have three minutes total.

And we went up to 31 just now, right?

Okay, yeah.

Okay.

Uh I'm Alc Goldberg.

I've lived in Berkeley since 1968.

Nobody here except one individual a short while ago mentioned the greater cost, the greatest cause of Berkeley's housing shortage.

That's UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley agreed 10 years ago to limit its enrollment to 32,000.

Right now, it's at 46,000.

So there are 14,000 young people without housing who are students.

Now you are building the housing for the students.

A lot of the these apartments are basically chicken coops where you can jam three, four, and five students into an apartment.

So I wonder why UC doesn't build and why it's throwing the burden onto the city in 19 in 2023.

The California Supreme Court, in its people's park decision, said university has plenty of places to build.

So why are we destroying viable neighborhoods to house students?

Those are the people who you are trying to provide housing for that UC should be providing housing for.

And what is done in your desire to provide that housing for UC students, you've killed the downtown.

And you know, other cities seem to get by without these mandates.

I don't see any high rises in El Cerrito or Albany.

I don't see any in Piedmont where Patrick Kennedy lives, and I don't see any in Lafayette and Rinda.

Why are we taking on this immense burden when no one else is?

Thank you.

Um, so I was told that you've already used your minute.

You gave it to somebody.

Is anyone here?

We've got extras.

Okay.

Oh, yeah.

So I well, but she has to use her minute, but she's telling me she didn't.

She's got 44, so I don't know what happened, but go ahead.

You're not even going to take a minute.

Okay, go ahead.

Yeah.

My name is Merrill Siegel.

I'm the co-founder of Beautiful San Pablo.

And I've been communicating with our people and and their business owners, and they're asking if it's possible to push San Pablo Avenue plan specific plan to another evening.

I'm so sorry.

We we really have to keep going.

There's a lot to cover.

We have only three council meetings left, and there's a lot of information to do.

So and we still yeah, so anyway, um, so we've finished the in-person comments for this evening.

Can I just have a sense?

If you are online, can you please raise your hand?

Um, if you have a comment on this item.

We're gonna take a break, but I want to see how many comments we have.

It says 12 now.

So folks, please be here participating remotely on Zoom and you'd like to give comments uh please raise your hand on Zoom.

Okay, so we have at least 12.

Yeah, 13.

13.

Okay, so we're gonna take a 15 minute break, and then we will be back for these 13 comments.

Thank you.

Recording stopped.

Oh, raising the word.

I'm sure that'll be 20 minutes.

Okay.

Okay.

Recording in progress.

Recording stopped.

Okay.

Recording in progress.

Hello.

Hi, everyone.

It's ten twelve, and we still have at least thirteen comments online.

Uh, how many comments is it?

Sorry.

Yes.

It keeps me going.

It's about now at fourteen.

Fourteen.

Okay.

All right.

Hey, folks.

Please, can I have your attention?

All right.

So we are back in session.

Oh my gosh.

Council members.

Thank you.

All right.

Going on.

We're going to the online comments.

I know we're reaching the silly hour, I can tell.

Um, so let's go to our online comments.

I think we've got about fourteen.

We still have council member comments, and then we have another item.

So let's get going.

Okay, folks, please take your conversations outside.

Okay.

Go ahead.

Okay.

We are one of only two families with a young child on our block.

And as the first house right off of Solano, that means that we have two commercial properties to the left of our law, and one commercial property and the back of our lot.

So I don't want to see a massive ugly wall wrap around my backyard.

Our backyard is gorgeous.

It's an oasis.

It's my child's favorite place to be.

And if you really want to be equal, then support actual homeownership with green spaces.

Don't just facilitate living in poverty in some high rise.

Okay.

Next speaker is Veronica Foxon.

Should be able to unmute Veronica.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

My name is Veronica Fuchsen.

I would like to join with the comments that were made by Sue Johnson and the owner of uh and Amy Thomas and also of Mr.

Simon who spoke toward the very beginning.

You know, this doesn't have to be an either or, and there's a need for people to get together and to work these things out.

Because something can happen, doesn't mean that you have to make it happen.

And so you can take your time.

This one says that people want to be cooperative, they want to get together, they want to figure some things out, and I urge you to do that.

It's really, really important.

Having things dropped on one at the when they don't know it's coming and it's heavy is not the way to do government.

Believe me.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next is Amy Baldwin.

Oh hi, I was gonna cede my minute to Dietmar if he's still online.

To who are Deepmar Lawrence?

Is he?

Uh don't.

He might have he might have gone to bed.

Okay.

Um, then I guess I will comment for myself.

Um the sorry, Amy, they're looking for it.

He's on.

Yeah.

Yes.

Okay, great.

I'm seating my minutes.

Okay.

Thanks, Amy.

All right.

And yeah, when he comes up, then or when they come up, then they will get that extra minute.

Go ahead.

Yes.

Okay, next is Scott.

Yes, hi.

My name is Scott Salmanov.

I want to thank all of the small business owners who came tonight and represented themselves at this meeting.

I have lived in uh Berkeley for over 50 years, and I shop at all those stores and many more.

I'm opposed to upzoning.

Uh that is a power grab by Wall Street.

Follow the money.

Um any discussion regarding housing and low-income housing must include representation from the University of California.

The University of California has approximately 50,000 students and they provide about 10,000 beds.

This is part of the housing crisis that's been going on since I moved here in 1971.

I also want to give a big happy birthday shout out to the cheese board collective.

58 years now today.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next is Becky O'Malley.

Becky O'Malley, you should be able to unmute.

Yes, I'm here.

Okay.

My husband who shares this computer is seeing a minute to me.

So I guess I have two.

Sorry, um, Becky, are you there so that you can tell us that you're giving a minute?

No.

Um, first of all, thank all of you who's sorry, hold on one second.

Um, just to be clear, so Becky needs to be there to give you a minute.

Becky is there.

Well, then it's better.

I just can't hear.

Okay.

Okay, go ahead.

Where are we?

Is that okay with me to start?

Sorry.

Yeah.

I don't even would like to thank all of you for making the effort to get down there.

And I heard some really remarkable speeches.

Umberg at the end, really nailed it, as did this other guy who spoke afterwards.

It's the university that's causing all this problems, and there have been many deals with the university sometimes with money exchanging hands, um, which were part of the program and continue to be part of the program.

There's not a lot you can do about it.

Um, but I did want to point out one thing, Dean.

You might consult somebody at the university about this.

The first amendment, you can't say people can cheer, but they can't boo.

That is censoring content of permitted speech, and it's absolutely not in consistent not consistent with the First Amendment.

I think your legal counsel will probably tell you that.

So if people want to boo, they should be able to boot.

And that's really all I have to say.

Appreciate all the work that everybody else has done.

I myself am at home with uh the end of about a pneumonia, so I can't be there, which might be where I sound certifying too.

Okay, thank you.

Uh next is Nancy Rader.

Uh good evening.

Uh, yeah, my name is Nancy Raider.

I live in the hills above North Shadow.

I avoid buying online as much as I possibly can and buy local.

Just today I shopped at Sheesboard and Ace Hardware downtown.

I buy all of my books at Pegasus, etc.

But for various reasons, it's not practical for me to walk or bike down and up the hill to shop, so I drive, but parking is already tough.

So my question to the planners is have you considered the impact of potentially much greater density and congestion in these commercial areas on the ability to park so people can keep supporting these businesses.

What's the plan?

And if you build the cycle tracks that are also planned on Solano and Shaddock, we'll lose most of the parking we have.

I attended all three community meetings and didn't hear a word about the impacts of the proposal on parking, which allows thousands of people in the hills and people all across the city to buy local on Solano North Shaddock and the Elmwood.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Next is um Michelle.

Should be able to unmute.

Um hi.

Uh my name's Michelle Hayner, and I live on the edge of the Elmwood.

I'm a high school teacher with two kids, including one in Berkeley High School.

Um, I would like to reinforce that, you know, in the past gosh, less than a year, the city council voted to open up, you know, 80% of Berkeley to a massive rezoning to increase housing stock.

Without going into to what extent that's just gonna be fueled by venture capitalists, though we have received many cash offers on our old brown shingle house here.

Um I want to reinforce that before we instigate another wave of massive change, including the destruction of really precious historical areas, local businesses.

We should go slow and look at how housing is already going to be massively increased by what you have already implemented.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Uh next is Tony Mester.

Uh good evening.

Good to see everybody.

I would like to donate my minute to Dietmar Lorenz.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Dietmar will have three minutes.

Next is Christopher Kroll.

I just decided to, I'm gonna give Dietmar my minute as well.

I don't know if he wants it, but he's gonna get it.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Okay, Dietmar will have four minutes.

Uh next is Nathan Landau.

Nathan.

Should be able to unmute.

Unmute.

There you go.

Hi.

Um we always have trouble identifying where housing should be, should go.

We we all want it.

These corridors are among the best places in the city.

People who live there can walk to businesses like the cheese board and grocery stores from North Shadow.

You can walk to BART.

And of course, there are business districts around the world in the country that have that have apartment buildings and businesses on the ground floor.

And what we'll get from this is we'll get a mix of old and new spaces, different rent levels.

It will be very healthy for the district for for a particularly easy for me to see it on North Shadow.

I'd also say what happens if housing isn't built?

Well, we know that sky prices skyrocketed.

Also, the state could impose the builder's remedy, which would take away Berkeley's ability to control development.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, next is Joel Meyerson.

And Peggy Radell.

Oh, yeah.

Um, so the representative from beautiful San Pablo requested that you push the discussion of the San Pablo plan to another evening, presumably because of the late hour and how much time's being taken up with the corridor zoning update.

And you basically dismissed her by saying, I'm so sorry, we really have to keep going.

There are only three council meetings left.

You know, as well as I do that the council can call another special meeting anytime they want.

And I think you're really just blowing off important stakeholders by not doing so.

Thank you.

Okay, next is uh Brianna Morales.

Hi, my name is Brianna with the Housing Action Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for housing across California.

Small businesses are essential and displacement is a real concern.

We need to pair strong protections with zoning that actually has new homes being able to be built.

Housing in small businesses cannot and should not be put against each other.

More homes means more customers, more stability, and more life on our streets.

Fixing the housing crisis means homes at all income levels, including often forgotten, missing middle.

And my work with affordable nonprofit market rate builders.

When projects can't pencil, we lose new homes and crucial affordable housing funding that comes directly from market rate fees.

We urge a strong six-story-based zoning across all corridors and no mandatory ground floor retail.

Focus active uses where they make sense and allow housing when retail isn't viable.

Rather than I support housing, but dot dot dot.

Every neighborhood in Berkeley is someone's right place.

If we want an inclusive city, especially now, we have to start saying yes here too.

We cannot afford to wait while in a housing crisis.

Thank you.

Next is Alfred Twu.

Hi everyone.

Here to speak in support of the corridor zoning.

It's a matter of fairness.

South Berkeley already was rezoned and San Pablo Avenue is coming up as well.

I think to address some of the concerns of the businesses.

Berkeley could do something like San Francisco's legacy business program, which provides funding to many of the longtime businesses to help them get through impacts from construction and other issues.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, next is Dietmar Lorenz, who have uh four minutes.

Hi, good evening, Mayor and Council.

So just to clarify, the seated minutes by Tony Mester and Amy Baldwin and Chris Call.

I think they wanted to see these minutes for me to speak on the San Pablo specific plan.

So uh I will keep this to one minute uh relating to the corridor zoning update.

I found this CZU public comments very compelling, very differentiated and nuanced.

And I think it's and you know, also many statements that it's really a false choice to say, well, it's eight-story or nothing.

Uh, you know, there, I'm an architect, and you know, I've seen this from both ends and seeing how difficult it can get through with zoning and everything, but there's a great in-between zone that has not been explored.

Somebody made this comment.

What's what's for dinner chicken, right?

So I think we need to zoom out on a larger city level, and I think it's very important to give equal opportunity for West Berkeley.

We are into four and a half hours of this.

And West Berkeley again is getting your show.

You said, Did you want to use that?

So give me give me one extra minute for this because I think it's really important.

Just saying, sorry, this is the end of it, and this is the last meeting, then you need to make time for it.

This is going to redefine the city in a very fundamental way that will shape what the city will look like decades from now.

And it is it's 10 30.

The people in our group in our neighborhood, they they they dialed out, they went home, they're tired.

You are tired too.

Even if you're saying, well, it's too bad for you if you went home.

But who of you really is gonna have the stamina to give the same amount of consideration and an open ear to what we have to say in West Berkeley?

It's an historically disadvantaged part of town, and again, this would we will be thrown under the bus by not giving getting the same opportunity that uh higher resourced areas of the city had.

So I f I would find it inconsonable to just keep going and brush this aside, make more room for it, postpone the part for the San Pablo specific plan, please.

Thank you.

Okay.

Okay, so we are moving on to council member comments.

Um briefly, I just want to touch on two things.

One, yes, of course, we can always call another special meeting, but uh out of respect to staff who have been waiting out of the fact that there are many folks who have waited this long to speak on this second item.

We are gonna can continue with it.

And the other thing I wanted to address is the uh booze.

Um that is actually in our procedural matters document under decorum.

So that is a stated thing.

People are not allowed to boo and hiss, it's not a First Amendment violation.

So okay.

Moving on to our council comments, starting with Council Member Taplin.

Uh thank you.

And uh let me please begin by saying that I certainly have stamina for both these corridors and my own corridors from Hubble Avenue.

And I do thank my West Berkeley people who have stuck it out.

Um, and I do share your frustration for how much space and time these corridors took up.

That being said, can you please uh restate what you're asking feedback on?

Yes, please.

Yeah, well, thank you, Councilmember Taplin.

We're gonna bring those questions back up.

I think it's a summarize.

Uh we were we were hoping to if to get your feedback on the alternatives presented, whether you think uh alternative one or two or or neither of those uh hits the mark to the extent you're comfortable giving us feedback.

Um the building form alternatives we presented regarding stepbacks, um ground floor, residential, whether to require it throughout the entirety of these districts, or you saw the maps that we showed where we would allow ground floor residential in certain areas of these corridors, and also the question of whether city council would be interested in in having staff and the team bring back more detailed objective design standards uh for each of these corridors, and we could potentially look at differentiated standards that vary uh for each corridor.

Um if council's interested in that.

So it would be helpful to get that feedback.

Uh yes, I will limit like my feedback to the zoning alternatives um and the ground floor question.

Um, and I do want to reflect that what I heard tonight was a very strong interest in protecting our small businesses, um, and a great concern for uh the risk of extensive commercial vacancy.

What I did not quite hear was whether the conditions of these three corridors were conducive currently to the vitality of these businesses, and if so, how, and if not, why not?

Like, does low density, low pedestrian traffic, support fragile small businesses?

As someone who lives along a thriving, vibrant and historic commercial district that has neighborhood serving businesses.

It's been my experience that having customers who live nearby is a net positive for them.

And that's how they've been able to stay.

That being said, I do look forward to the continued outreach to the businesses in these corridors.

And I would like to see what's working for them, what's not working for them, so we can think about how to make those conditions uh continuous throughout each of these corridors moving forward.

Um I don't think we should require commercial ground floor, not because I don't think it's nice to have continuous storefronts.

I just also am very concerned about you know the potential of having extensive commercial vacancies.

So I think some flexibility is important there.

Um, I mean, I didn't hear this as much as I thought I might have heard it by now, but there were a few comments, few, albeit few, that somehow housing belongs somewhere else, everywhere else, it seems like.

Right now, and so therefore, I do think it's important to have parity across the corridors because I don't see any utility in reinforcing the segregationist history of exclusionary zoning.

So I would support seven across.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Moving on to Councilmember Cassarwani.

Uh, thank you very much, uh Madam Mayor.

Uh, thank you again to our planning staff and uh the consultant team for your extensive work and the community outreach that has taken place since uh the council first passed the housing element back in January 2023.

Um, you know, this is a really exciting night uh for me personally, you know, that we are discussing rezoning these transit commercial corridors in high resource neighborhoods, as was stated during the presentation.

This is because it is in our housing element plan required by the state.

Why is it in our housing element?

Uh it's it's there because we are required to affirmatively further fair housing.

This is a mandate that originates from the federal fair housing act of 1968 to create inclusive communities.

On a technical level, what this means is that we have a requirement to attempt to locate more affordable housing in higher income neighborhoods.

And the slide that we saw during the QA, Councilmember Taplin asked that we put that up.

We could see visually that there has not been development of any kind, you know, whether affordable or not, on Solano and North Shadow and College.

I think we just have a couple projects now on North Shaddock.

So we know that our rules are a barrier.

Um, we we have just two stories that are allowed currently on Solano Avenue, which is such a wide street.

Uh we have college that only allows two to three stories.

North Shaddock is just three to four stories, and we all pass that Bank of America lot, it's completely underutilized.

There's so much potential there, and you know, I understand it was actually just recently purchased, and so if we can do this rezoning, we can hopefully have um people living right there right next to cheese board and all of those wonderful businesses walking along that street, patronizing those businesses.

You know, that is really what I see as as beneficial to the businesses, and that's not to minimize the concerns we heard tonight.

I actually want to thank especially the business owners who are trying to run a business, who took the time out of their evening to come and talk to us tonight.

Um, I really think we need to continue, and I know our staff and consultants will continue to reach out to businesses.

And I just want to express my support for the study that we will be doing.

I think the staff mentioned through strategic economics to look at what we can do to make sure that our small businesses are supported.

So let me just get into the feedback points in the remaining time that I have.

And here's why.

People tell us that they don't want to see taller buildings in residential neighborhoods.

We kept middle housing to three stories.

And you know, I'm often, I often get feedback from the public that we think that the taller buildings should go on the commercial transit corridors.

So I think this is our opportunity to do that.

We I I just want to remind us we zoned the North Berkeley and Ashby Bard station for seven stories.

State law SB 79 that was just signed by the governor will now allow seven stories within a quarter mile of all of our BART stations and six stories within a quarter mile to a half mile from those stations.

So we are going to see over time more height along transit corridors.

So I think it makes sense for these three corridors to sort of have the similar standard of seven stories.

And I I really think that we need to do this now.

I think about some of the young families we heard from.

Some of them have been fortunate enough to buy a home in Berkeley.

We didn't hear from some of the people we heard from during middle housing.

Some of those grad students living in garages.

We know that our many of our college students are homeless, they're couch surfing or living in cars.

We need to be thinking about the next generation.

My son is seven years old and in second grade.

So 15 years from now, when he and his peers graduate from college and they're trying to figure out where they're going to live, we need to plan for that future for the next generation.

So I think we need to be ambitious now.

Um I also think we need to look at increasing the floor area ratio for non-residential and mixed-use development to make sure that there is the square footage that's necessary for things to be feasible.

I just want to quickly wrap up that I think we should have no stepbacks because I don't want to lose units.

I don't want to do that trade-off of losing units for stepbacks.

Um, I think we should be flexible by con on the ground floor.

I'm talking about by concentrating retail in the targeted nodes, those major intersections, and allowing ground floor residential or office and other locations to again to improve feasibility.

And I don't think we need uh differentiated objective design standards for each corridor.

I I'll talk more about that when we get to the San Pablo plan.

I think we can use some targeted standards for the ground floor and and apply them to all the corridors.

So that's all I have.

Thank you very much, and and thank you again to the business owners who came and spoke about their concerns, and I know that we will continue to outreach to them.

Thank you.

Councilmember O'Keefe.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you so much, planning staff.

Um, you guys are you're doing great.

Uh, and thanks so much to everyone who came out, uh, especially um the small businesses.

I really appreciated hearing from so many of them.

Um small businesses are among the most vulnerable and most affected by this kind of change, so it's very important to have their voice.

And I want to say it's probably true, like two things are true.

I think that planning staff was very diligent and did um a great job reaching out.

It's also a huge task, and so I think that's true, and it's also true that there were quite a few business owners who didn't hear about it.

And so I just want to I think don't feel blamed, but I think that's I do want to validate that clearly that was some people's experience.

I want to plug my newsletter.

Um any small business in Solano or uh North Shadow should absolutely subscribe to my newsletter, because we definitely announced announced it a lot.

You can get great information that way.

Um but anyway, if that was your experience, I'm sorry.

Fortunately, we had this forum.

This was also to get feedback.

So, you know, I'm glad you're part of the conversation now.

Um that was that's the main feedback I have is that I agree, and I really think we do need protections for small businesses.

I was glad to hear that there's nothing really to talk about now, but it sounds like you guys are taking it really seriously, and you have a process moving forward that will result in some good ideas.

So I'm looking forward to that, and I really am gonna place a lot of importance on something coming from that.

That's my that's my main feedback.

And then I just I have to say something that's been bothering me.

Um, you know, and most people left, unfortunately, but so many people tonight said, you know, this is being shoved down our throat, this is we're only giving one option.

Um, nobody's listening to us, we're only being offered chicken.

I mean, I'm not making it like I I hear that, and it makes sense.

That sounds frustrating, that's totally valid, but what I didn't hear alongside that is like an alternate idea.

Like I want if there's another way to bring density to these neighborhoods, I want to hear it.

They want to hear it.

Um, we're open-minded.

You know, this is the this is what we're working with now.

Nothing is set in stone.

And so I just want to want to give a plug for just like work with us.

It's and so I really, you know, I invited, um, and I'm sorry that people feel left out.

Okay, so the process is ongoing, and there will be more conversations, and I know they're nodding, they definitely want to hear from you.

We do too, and thank you again for coming.

Um, so okay, I want to just want to make one final point, which is I have a real North Star when it comes to how to think about this sort of thing we're up to here, and that's equity.

And so this is my feedback for all the other questions, okay.

Small businesses, and then whatever we're doing in the other corridors that we've upzoned, I want to do that with these.

That's the whole point of this.

So when I hear proposals like, well, you know, but our but it's so we love our businesses.

Yeah, we love our businesses.

I love them.

I love all of Berkeley's businesses.

So I want us to do whatever we're doing citywide, and just to bring it back to my original point, I want the small business protections that we will come up with to be applied citywide.

I want um, you know, Sue Johnson's lips to be protected, I want your basic bird to be protected, and I want all the nail shops on University and San Pablo to be protected, right?

Like, this is universal, this is equity, and that's a very important value, and that should be our North Star.

And so um, I think that's all I want to say.

Um, although I get my nails done on North Static, I want to say.

Polished is a great place, but I want all the nail shops to be protected, but polished is great.

Um, okay, so that's all.

So small businesses be an equity.

That's my feedback.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember and Councilmember Trakeup.

Uh, thank you, madam mayor.

Thank you, colleagues.

I want to begin with a shared truth.

We all care deeply about making Barkley a place where people can afford to live, work, create, and belong.

In short, a Berkeley we can all call home.

We hear from young families, students and working professionals who want to stay here and cannot.

We also hear from small businesses who are holding the cultural and economic heart of our neighborhoods, and from property owners who are navigating real financial pressures and real uncertainty in this market.

So the question is not whether we need more housing, which we absolutely do.

The question is how we create this housing.

How do we affirmatively further fair housing in a way that strengthens our communities.

There are two values here that may at first glance appear to be intentional, but don't have to be.

And I am confident that by the time we as a community together figure this out.

They will not be intention anymore.

We do need to understand the impacts on small businesses.

Construction can be extremely disruptive.

Businesses rely on consistent foot traffic, predictable customer patterns, and stable rent conditions.

If we're encouraging redevelopment along our most vibrant corridors, what is our concrete plan to support the businesses that make these corridors vibrant in the first place?

We want them to still be here when new residents arrive, not replaced by empty storefronts or national chains.

And we must acknowledge the mixed incentives facing property owners.

Some want stability and want to keep neighborhood serving businesses.

Others, probably no one that attended tonight, may hold properties vacant, waiting for redevelopment.

And these dynamics have real consequences for street life, economic diversity, and cultural identity.

So how are we accounting for this variability in policy design?

We have lived through the very real impact of stout construction and unfinished projects in my district.

A condition that predates my time on the council, but one that we are absolutely committed to resolving.

We need clear safeguards and performance standards to prevent long-term commercial vacancies called shells and fenced off lots.

After I was sworn in, I also voted for what I believe to be uh one of the strongest demolition ordinance in the nation.

We unfortunately are constitutionally barred from having those same levels of protection, but I want to work with all of you and with staff to figure out what we are able to do to keep small businesses here.

Um, just gonna briefly respond um to feedback topics on zoning alternatives around height.

I agree with the planning commission's recommendation that perhaps what matters most is um what we're doing to um keep uh the vitality of the neighborhood.

So this may be um somewhat context-specific.

Umilarly with the uh upper floor step back.

Um I I do believe to further housing, um I support um there not being a step back on the main street, but I certainly understand the reason and uh would be open to having um a step back uh going uh towards the residential neighborhoods on ground floor.

I support uh transit um having commercial uh storefronts on the ground floor, concentrated along uh certain nodes, and um 30 seconds.

I very much support objective design standards.

Um council member Keith and I used to be on a committee to try to develop them, and maybe we can actually get it done here.

I wanted no design standards.

I I support thinking beyond these particular resource rich areas.

Uh, some commenters have said, let's look at the north side of Sacramento or South Side of Sacramento, other uh wide arteries.

I am very open to looking at those as well.

Um lastly, um I very much support flexibility, including uh being creative around having live work, um, looking at what San Francisco is doing, that can be a North Star right now.

You're a minute over now, so I just please if you can.

Yeah, we have a responsibility to build housing and to protect the communities we are building it for, and I believe that we do not have to choose one or the other.

The goal is to do both well with care, and I am committed to working with all of you and the neighborhoods and our small businesses, and will be reaching out to those in our district to do that.

Okay, Councilmember Humphrey.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And I bargained with the mayor to get a couple extra minutes by promising not to ask too many questions.

So I'm gonna try to wrap this up within seven.

Um, thank you, Director Klein, Uttara, Ramakrishnan, Justin Horner, and the planning staff for all your work on this really important effort.

Thanks to the consultant team who produced such a thoughtful report, and I want to thank the entire team for the outreach they've done so far, and I know they will continue to do, and you know, not no casting no shade, but let's let's do even more.

I think it's really critical, and that's what we heard tonight.

Deep thanks to all those who've spoken here tonight and the vast numbers of Berkeley residents, merchants, a lot from my district, who've sent compelling emails, all of which I've carefully read and considered.

First, I want to emphasize that I reject arguments that District 8 and the Elmwood should not allow for any new homes or that they strictly belong elsewhere.

I've heard a lot of that, and it's disheartening, and I don't but I don't believe in it.

It's it's unfair.

My conviction that we can't simply say no to any new housing along college is consistent with my strong support for middle housing, which upzoned significant portions of District 8, and I hope will go a long way to addressing previous exclusionary zoning practices.

I think that middle housing was the right thing to do, and that we need to continue to take steps, even beyond the corridors of zoning that we're considering here to make sure that District 8 is building its fair share.

I want to see my daughters be able to afford to live a middle class life in Berkeley.

They're in their mid to late twenties, and it's really so difficult for them now.

I want to see other people's children and grandchildren have the same opportunity to become homeowners if they don't want to be renters in our beautiful community.

Um I want to see people living close to work instead of burning time and carbon, commuting in from exurbs.

At the same time, the Elmwood commercial corridor faces a number of concerns and constraints that I believe are unique.

It's a very narrow street, very small lots, and I believe these argue for a careful focused approach.

Um colleges by far the narrowest of the three corridors under consideration, which means maximum building heights would need to be lower to maintain proportionality with the street width.

I know some of my colleagues don't agree with that.

Even more importantly, College Avenue is the shortest of the corridors, comprising essentially only two blocks of retail.

When you combine this with the fact that College Avenue has, I think at this point, well, there might be one old storefront that's been empty, but essentially zero retail vacancy.

This means that any displaced businesses will have nowhere else to go within the district, and that their loss would have a much greater impact within the small and tight-knit shopping area.

Additionally, Elmwood has what are concurrently some of the most continuous pedestrian-oriented retail blocks in Berkeley.

Not a single driveway crosses the sidewalks along College Avenue all the way from Russell to Webster.

This differs considerably from the other corridors where there are multiple existing parcels with auto-oriented parking and driveways facing the sidewalk.

The only parking areas facing college are at the 7-Eleven and the post office, both at the very edges of the district.

Indeed, combined with the rear parking lot of the Wells Fargo, which has its driveway on Ashby, these three parcels represent the sole likely opportunity sites for potential development identified by the project team.

Taken together, I think all of these constraints argue for limiting the rezoning at this time to the three parcels identified as opportunity sites.

I want to emphasize that taking this approach would have no effect on the projected potential units, as far as I can tell, because these three sites were the ones really deemed likely to redevelop and thus are the only sites.

Maybe I'm wrong, the project team calculated build up for, but perhaps a few, some additional.

If we can get the exact same projected housing potential or something similar, but take an approach that addresses neighbors and merchants' concerns.

Why wouldn't we take that opportunity?

That approach in the future development economics or the will of the neighborhood or council may change.

The new zoning could be expanded to other parcels, but given what we've heard from stakeholders and what staff have deemed our best sites, I think we should work smarter, not harder when it comes to rezoning, specifically in the Elmwood.

I want to also acknowledge the apparent lack of economically feasible housing opportunity along college is understandably disappointing to people who want to see a greater degree of geographic equity, and I agree.

This is why I want to suggest that we also, and not in the context of this project, but immediately after, if we can, we look into potentially doing a targeted rezoning of both some upper Claremont parcels that currently feature solely auto-oriented uses, such as the as well as the areas of Telegraph Avenue that fall outside the South Side plan.

The long stretch from Woolsey to Parker, taken together, such upzonings could contribute huge multiple, you know, multiples of the housing that's available and the puny little or the very small area of College Avenue.

If the if the goal is to increase geographic equity and maximize housing production in the high resource areas, adding telegraph, which is a high resource area, it's just on the other side of of the Elmwood and Willard and runs through District 8 and along district 8 for its whole length from Woolsley to Parker.

Having said all of this, I think we ought to look at that.

I think we ought to upzone telegraph because Telegraph is not a thriving commercial district.

It could use a leg up.

Having said all of this, I understand there are a number of directions this could go depending on the sentiments of my colleagues.

I therefore want to provide a few other specific points of direction tonight that I think will be crucial for any upzoning option and potential housing development in Elmwood.

One, we preserve active retail frontage along College Avenue.

Two, in addition to minimum active retail frontage, I would strongly encourage adoption of requirements for any new residential entrances and lobbies to be located at the rear of the buildings off of College Avenue.

I want objective design standards to be ready for adoption, concurrent with any rezoning.

They don't need to be particularly prescriptive, but I want to make sure we're avoiding what our poor design choices like over-articulated facades.

I strongly support objective design standards that mirror planning commissioner Alfred II's excellent work about reducing massing but increasing increasing visual articulation and ornamentation.

This would also be consistent with more traditional building styles and what we currently actually have in Elmwood.

Finally, I want to ensure that a retail retention and relocation program is also put in place at the time of adoption.

I know we're legally limited in what we can require in this respect, but perhaps some incentives and other carrots and sticks and development agreements could be deployed to ensure that all the corridors retain existing businesses, all of them.

Again, I want to thank staff and the project team and all the Berkeley residents who spoke and emailed me about this effort.

I hope my comments tonight demonstrate that even as I remain committed to allowing for more homes in our community.

I'm listening to and acting on your concerns, and I welcome your continued participation as we take what will be many more additional steps in this effort.

It's not over.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor.

I move we extend the meeting till midnight.

Second.

Second.

Okay.

Is there any objection to that?

No.

Okay.

Then we will extend the meeting until midnight.

Um sorry, I so um I'm gonna give up some of my time just because we went a bit over there.

So um I'm gonna move on to Councilmember Bartlett, please.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And uh I I I want to appreciate and join myself to many of the vice mayor's comments.