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A controversial plan to build a four-story apartment building with commercial space at 2700 San Pablo Ave. is facing yet another setback in a long line of snags the project has faced since it was proposed more than three years ago. 

This week neighbors Howie Muir, Julie Dickinson and Douglas Press filed a civil suit against the city of Berkeley in Alameda County Superior Court. According to the suit, the city did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act and it violated state and zoning laws when it approved the project. 

The suit is the next step in the neighbor’s long fight. 

The proposal was approved on July 23 when the City Council denied an appeal by the neighbors who argued the building would be too tall and too dense for the area.  

The suit comes as City Council faces increasing pressure from state and local housing advocates to boost the city’s housing stock.  

The four-story project, proposed by developer Panoramic Interests and nonprofit developer Jubilee Restoration, calls for 35 residential units of which seven would be set aside for low-income and medium-income tenants. The project also proposes 52,000 square feet of commercial space. 

Since 1999 the proposal has been bouncing between the Department of Planning and Development, the Zoning Adjustments Board, Design Review Committee and City Council. 

The original plan called for 48 residential units and 5,500 square feet of commercial space. However, the developers withdrew the plan after the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board criticized it. Six month later the project was resubmitted in it’s current form.  

Muir says the city’s project review process, which ultimately approved the San Pablo development, does not function properly and that the city appears unwilling to fix it.  

“The city didn’t listen to the 400 residents who signed two different petitions opposing the size, density and height of this project,” Muir said. “The city ignored the [California Environmental Quality Act], its general plan and area plan to get the project built for it’s developer buddies.” 

Mayor Shirley Dean said she does not believe Muir’s allegations are true. She said the project was closely scrutinized by several city agencies and City Council. 

“I can only speak for myself, but I make it a habit to go over all the materials, including petitions, very carefully,” she said. “I believe we were very careful to make sure [state and city laws] were complied with,” she said. 

Dean also said Muir should be careful not to make insinuations that elected officials and city staff are somehow in bed with developers.  

Dean agreed, however, that some problems with the city’s review process exist, pointing to the suit’s filed date – three years after the project was first proposed – as evidence. 

“I don’t know what the basis of Mr. Muir’s suit is, but I am always hopeful that these matters can be worked out beforehand,” she said. “What’s the use of going through a long, grueling process, like we did on 2700 San Pablo, if it’s just going to end up in court?” 

President of Panoramic Interests, Patrick Kennedy, said the groundbreaking, which was scheduled for September, will have to be delayed yet again.  

“We already delayed the project for a year just to make sure all the ‘t’s were crossed and ‘i’s were dotted,” he said. 

Kennedy has been the city’s most prolific developer in the last 10 years, creating more than 300 housing units in a variety of projects including the Gaia building in downtown Berkeley.  

Battling tall and dense developments has become something of a campaign for Muir. He co-wrote the height initiative, a November ballot initiative that seeks to lower building height limits. Muir part of a lawsuit protesting the height and density of a proposal by developer Affordable Housing Associates that included 40 units of low-cost housing for seniors on Sacramento Street at Dwight Way. 

Ali Kashani, AHA’s executive director, said the approval process and lawsuit caused delays, adding to Berkeley’s critical housing shortage and costing tax payers money. 

“It took us three years to get the use permit for the Sacramento Street project,” Kashani said. “Now after going through all that, we have to take more time and spend more money to go through a legal action.”  

Muir argues that height limits are vital to maintaining the city’s character and says he is exercising his right to oppose the projects.  

“Anything less would mean a curtailing of public process and that’s ridiculous,” he said.