Berkeleys Department of Planning and Development is responsible for putting the Housing Element together, and is contracting with a consultant, Raimi and Associates, for help with public outreach. 2023 State of California, Southside Zoning Ordinance Amendments_Initial Study. Overall, though, there was relatively little opposition Tuesday night to the direction of greater density in Berkeleys residential neighborhoods. Please join us for a presentation on proposed changes in zoning and development standards in the Southside Plan area. These were some of the comments Berkeley planning commissioners heard Wednesday as they discussed making zoning changes to increase housing in the neighborhood just south of the UC Berkeley campus. How can I get involved in creating the Housing Element? Once that report is approved, it would act as an upper bound for zoning changes that the commission will consider. community benefits to Southside and other Berkeley residents. City Adopts Southside Development Plan - Berkeley, CA - After years of debate, the city unanimously passed a plan for Berkeley's Southside which addresses development over at least the next 10 years. The Southside is generally defined as the area bounded by Dwight Way on the south, Bancroft Way on the north, Prospect Street on the east, and Fulton Street on the west. These preselling condos have been specially designed to fulfill the needs and demands of promising graduates and young urban couples. The Southside Plan serves as a guide for future development in the Southside area. In addition to considering these referrals from the City Council, there may be related opportunities through this process to support the Citys Strategic Plan goals around housing and climate action. Shootings Traffic Safety City What Berkeley's push to end single-family zoning could mean for your neighborhood A proposed rewrite of the zoning code would speed up the approval process for small apartments throughout Berkeley. Born and raised in Berkeley, he got his start in journalism at Youth Radio as a high-schooler in the mid-2000s. That means the proposal would make it harder to build new housing in many of Berkeleys wealthiest neighborhoods, Kesarwani said, which is in direct contradiction to the councils stated goal to end exclusionary zoning, and violates California fair housing mandates that require new development to be spread throughout the city. Again, we urge the Planning Commission to not up-zone the historic Peoples Park block, but rather to engage in a vision entitled by ORDINANCE No. Location: AIA East Bay Conference Room, Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way #310, Berkeley, CA 94709. Alene Pearson, AICP - Deputy Director of the Planning and Development Department - City of Berkeley | LinkedIn Was Principal in Charge of the following major projects: + Objective Standards for. The zoning changes that were presented to the City Council on Tuesday would affect areas Berkeley classifies as low-density residential, which make up just over 60% of the city. Elsewhere in Berkeley, the proposed zoning changes would create a faster ministerial approval process for two-, three- and four-unit housing proposals in most of the city, including neighborhoods that once only permitted single-family homes. Plus: Bigger buildings could be allowed in Southside. Any applicable fees may be paid online at the link availablehere, using instructions provided by Department staff once an application/submittal is processed, or by cash or check. Born and raised in Berkeley, he got his start in journalism at Youth Radio as a high-schooler in the mid-2000s. Links to the approved documents and effective dates (if applicable) are listed below: To receive updates on theSouthside Zoning Ordinance Update and meeting/event announcements, please send an email to Justin Horner, Associate Planner, atJHorner@cityofberkeley.info. In consideration of the Southside both today and in the future, Measure L guides the City toward a policy of maintenance and improvement of Peoples Park. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Nonprofit news. Others supported the streamlined approvals as a step to make the process of building housing faster, cheaper and more predictable. The maximum potential 20-year buildout scenario that may occur with proposed zoning modifications includes up to 4,597 new units or 10,344 new residents in the Southside compared to existing conditions. Adopted Southside Plan documentsandprevious versionscan be found below as a refence. PDF MEMORANDUM Every bed that we dont build here is a super-commuter, he said. Berkeley's push to end single-family zoning takes shape A study conducted by UC Berkeley in the fall of 2017 found that only 35% of undergraduate students live in university-owned housing, the lowest of any UC campus. The word study was substituted instead to show that zoning changes will be made only after research is done and the EIR is approved. Berkeley officials are also working on changes to the structure of the citys affordable housing requirements in an effort to boost production of below-market-rate units. Indeed, while Peoples Park has suffered from many years of little or no positive park planning, as well as from a multitude of conditions reflecting the various social problems in the Southside, as well as in Berkeley and in California, such neglect should not prevent wholesome planning for the future of the areas town and gown community. It is true that the processes that we have have been used in some instances in obstructionist ways, Hahn said. NX has submitted plans for a 26-story tower at 1974-1998 Shattuck, one . Review, Discuss and Provide Feedback on Proposed Southside EIR Project Description to Analysis in EIR. A draft of the Housing Element is set to be released this summer, and state housing officials must sign off on Berkeleys plan by the end of January. The six council referrals that will be addressed through this process are shown in the table below. Justin Horner has been an Associate Planner with the City of Berkeley for the past three years. City Adopts Southside Development Plan | Berkeley, CA Patch At the direction of the City Council, the Planning Department is considering amendments to the Southside Plan. How much new housing is Berkeley planning for? Southside Zoning Zooms Ahead Berkeley Design Advocates Free for all, funded by readers. And the city is developing a set of new objective standards for development a process that could force choices between seeking to minimize the impact of new buildings on existing residents or giving dense projects an easier path to approval. When Droste introduced the Resolution to End Exclusionary Housing in February, she dubbed the city the birthplace of exclusionary housing. Berkeley was the first city in the United States to enact single-family zoning in 1916, and it began in Drostes district the Elmwood. Its a really important but often overlooked process, Mayor Jesse Arregun said in an interview. Your donation goes beyond supporting our journalism. Freelancer Brandon Yung likes to say he receives his education from Berkeley the city as much as the university. The Draft Southside Plan is intended to guide development in the Southside area until the year 2020. The Urban masterplan is the most important spatial development plan of the city of Sofia and Sofia Municipality. Thats why Berkeleyside created this guide to better understanding the Housing Element, what is at stake in the process and how you can get involved. Even with staffs proposed zoning changes, the hypothetical 1,293 new units would be built on just a select few lots about 64, said Aaron Welch, a city consultant. The citys Planning Commission is exploring how to expand building standards such as increased height and footprint limits to help cure a dearth of student housing in the city. AnInitial Study(IS)was prepared to analyze the environmental impacts of the Project and determined that the Project could have potentially significant impacts on the environment. Berkeleyside relies on reader support to remain free for everyone in our community. Allow increased development potential in the Telegraph Commercial (C-T) District between Dwight Avenue and Bancroft Avenue and develop community benefit requirements, with a focus on labor practices and affordable housing. The hills: The zoning changes would allow for greater density in the Berkeley Hills, though the rules there would be more restrictive. Yelimeli grew up in Fremont and The public is also invited to send comments or questions regarding the Southside Zoning Ordinance Update Project to Justin Horner, Associate Planner, atJHorner@cityofberkeley.info. The Planning Department hired Rincon Consultants to prepare and support the CEQA analysis for the Southside Area. A proposed rewrite of the zoning code would speed up the approval process for small apartments throughout Berkeley. Disclaimer: The City Clerks Office has the official version of the Berkeley Municipal Code. So long as those projects comply with city standards, they could get approval in as little as three weeks under the process, similar to the one Berkeley recently adopted for in-law units and cottages. The ambitious targets for new housing construction set the stage for contentious discussions over where, how and what kind of new homes get built. Those changes are on a faster timeline, with the Planning Commission expected to take them up later this fall. In a letter submitted to the commission, the Southside Neighborhood Consortium expressed concern that upzoning the area would be a giveaway to developers as it would increase property values without requiring sufficient community benefits. Council's determination to lift the moratorium will be based upon the development's private resources to address the following: To meet the 30-day public notice requirement, applications and $150 fee forRequests to Lift the Large-Scale Development Moratoriumshould be submitted within 60 days prior to the scheduled Land Use Committee Meeting for which the item is intended to be considered. Affordable Housing Guide | Remembering Gus Newport | From Kharkiv to Berkeley | Get The Scene, our new arts newsletter | We're hiring: Food editor. A good way to kind of think about what last night was all about was determining what dials we have and where they are going. This site does not support Internet Explorer. Sign up for Berkeleyside's new arts & events newsletter. It will eventually be up to the council to decide whether to adopt a standard for shadows. For more information, please visit OPRs Accessibility Site. It also helps your family, friends and Berkeley neighbors have access to reliable, independent reporting. But I want to make sure that we are not completely throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The planning departments proposed study of the zoning code deals heavily in the ministerial world of building setbacks and floor-area-ratios. But Tuesdays meeting previewed key debates about the effort, including whether wildfire risk means some parts of the city should be off-limits to greater density. This Week in Government and Community Relations at UC Berkeley is a newsletter developed by colleagues in the Chancellor's Office of Government and Community Relations to provide information about local, state and federal policies, actions and events that could impact the university and the communities that count on us. Meetings in addition to those listed may be held or canceled as circumstances may require, subject to applicable public notice requirements. The EIR process comes in the midst of changes in how Berkeley is approaching transportation in the densest parts of the city. The higher targets are meant to help claw California out of its housing crisis, said Heather Peters, principle regional housing planner at ABAG. In order to build, a developer would apply for an allocation from that pool. Public Hearing to receive project update and comments from members of the public, organizations and interested agencies on issues the EIR should address. PDF Page 1 of 6 22 - Berkeley, California The City Council voted to limit fast approvals for accessory dwelling units in the hills earlier this year, citing those concerns. The new policies would also speed up the approval process for those projects, allowing construction to be green-lit without a public hearing. Donate to Berkeleysideand support independent local journalism. Many thanks to AIA East Bay for hosting this event. Explore city services, report issues online, pay parking tickets, Explore news and events, adopt a pet, visit acity park or pool, Get vaccinatedfor COVID-19,report a crime,access homeless services, Apply for a permit,schedule an inspection, research zoningpolicies, Apply for a business license,get business assistance,find bid & proposal opportunities, Attend a City Councilor commissionmeeting, apply for jobs,look up City holidays. I really feel like I have come full circle on this, said Arregun, who as a council member worked on the Downtown Plan and later led an unsuccessful campaign for a ballot measure that critics said would have blocked high-rise construction in the area. These referrals along with City goals to increase the availability and production of housing at all income levels are the primary impetus for this project, which will require updates to zoning regulations in the Southside Area. As we move forward with implementing the chancellors housing initiative and the Peoples Park housing project, we look forward to working collaboratively with the city and the community on housing projects that improve the student experience on the Southside, Dan Mogulof, a campus spokesman, said Thursday. According to the citys latest progress report on its current RHNA targets, Berkeley is far exceeding its requirements for above moderate-income housing, while falling well behind goals for all other income levels. Despite joint efforts to address the student housing crisis between the city and campus, contentions over the fast pace of student population growth since 2005 prompted the city of Berkeley to file a lawsuit against UC in 2019, halting a housing project north of campus on Hearst Avenue. The residents suggested that the city should instead establish a particular number of units as a goal. The Zoning Map for the City of Berkeley in California divides the city's real estate into zones based on land use and building regulations. With a hypothetical upper bound set by the EIR, negotiations about zoning changes would occur further down the policy pipeline. City staff on Tuesday also shared a separate set of potential zoning changes for the Southside neighborhood near UC Berkeley, including increased height limits that could allow apartment complexes up to 12 stories tall on and around the north end of Telegraph Avenue. Between 2020 and 2040, projections show Berkeleys population will grow by more than 13,000 new residents. The changes dont ban single-family homes themselves, but instead prohibit neighborhoods zoned only for single-family structures but not apartments or mixed dwellings. The reality is that change is going to have to happen, Arregun said. A concrete jungle was how one commenter described the future of Southside Berkeley. Below is the estimated timeline for the public portion of the CEQA review and consideration of zoning changes: Development and Release of Public Draft of Initial Study and Notice of Preparation(IS-NOP), Subcommittee and Planning Commission review, Draft EIR released for 45-day review and comment period, Planning Commission recommendation; City Council action. Applications, plans & final plat, and other submittals are accepted for review or, upon approval, available for pick up viaDrop Box or at the Front Counter ANYTIME. For campus freshman Davina Srioudom, the tight housing market was an impetus to attend the meeting. If you value what you get from Berkeleyside, please join us with atax-deductible donationso we can continue doing the local reporting that matters to you. We have not seen a single unit of housing in an 18-story building, Robinson said, and that, I hope, should be upsetting to all of us.. When the city doesnt create enough affordable housing, that contributes to the overall housing ecosystem in the Bay Area the most expensive market in the country, with a steadily worsening homeless crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2007, moderate income housing has been most underserved. That streamlined process would be similar to the one homeowners use to get approval for backyard cottages, and would involve sending notice about the project to its immediate neighbors. Backers of the changes contend, however, that they are steps the city needs to take if it wants to resolve a housing crisis that has left college students, young families and others wondering whether they can afford a future in Berkeley. Because most parcels in the Southside are either historical resources, UC-owned, or rent-controlled, rezoning would likely not prompt broad development in the area. Commissioner Mary Kay Lacey voiced support for the community groups unit pool model, saying it would achieve a higher level of community benefits from developers while giving the city more oversight on vertical growth. The City Council on Tuesday appeared to be broadly supportive of the zoning concepts, though members also scrutinized certain details. Former Planning Commission member Rob Wrenn said people will be less likely to install solar and make other expensive upgrades to reduce carbon emissions such as buying an electric car if theyre worried the utility savings from their rooftop panels might disappear because a taller new building goes up next door. Requests for new or amended Planned Development (PD) Districts or Development Agreements contemplating more than 75 dwelling units or encompassing more than 75 acres are subject to County Councils consideration under the Large-Scale Development Moratorium Process. The Property data comprises Zoning information by aggregating: Municipal zoning mapping The 5 big changes that are transforming Berkeley - San Francisco Enlarge. Its as much as a year away. City planning staff are now working to study whether the kinds of buildings allowed under the proposed zoning changes would significantly limit solar power. The City Council has forwarded six referrals since 2016 to the Planning Commission related to increasing housing production and availability in the Southside Area, which refers to the area located on the south side of UC Berkeley (see figure above). Skip to Main Content. City of Berkeley 2118 Milvia Street Berkeley, CA 94704 Prepared by: LSA Associates, Inc. 2215 Fifth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 (510) 540-7331 March 2008 CITY OF BERKELEY DRAFT SOUTHSIDE PLAN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT STATE CLEARINGHOUSE #2004112021 A crucial requirement of the new housing element is affirmatively furthering fair housing. Along with providing a fair share of housing, this means Berkeley also has to spread it around the city equitably, Councilmember Lori Droste explained.