Features

Two DAPAC meetings—both centering on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)—and a session of the Landmarks Preservation Commission mark the week’s major events in land use. 

The first meeting is tonight (Tuesday), when the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee’s subcommittee on BRT commences at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Their focus is AC Transit’s plan to establish Bus Rapid Transit service providing dedicated lanes and faster travel times along a surface street corridor from Berkeley to San Leandro. 

BRT will also be the topic when all DAPAC members meet at 7 p.m. with the city’s Transportation Commission, once again in the North Berkeley Senior Center. 

Jim Cunradi, BRT project manager for the bus company, will give a presentation on BRT service in downtown Berkeley, followed by questions from both city panels. 

Next, the two groups will consider the proposed chapter on parking that will eventually be included in the new downtown plan DAPAC must complete by the end of November, following discussions of pedestrians, bicycles, possible incentives to increase use of mass transit and policies to manage transportation demand. 

After the Transportation Commission leaves, DAPAC members will discuss upcoming meetings and the possible creation of additional subcommittees to work on draft chapters of the plan. 

The LPC meets Thursday night, again in the North Berkeley Senior Center, but starting at 7:30 p.m. 

Among the items on the agenda are: 

• A hearing on the addition of a by-right accessory dwelling unit (ADU) at the landmarked Wallace-Sauer house at 1349 Arch St. Designs for the ADU, planned for the owner’s father, faced harsh criticism by LPC members and neighbors during last month’s meeting. 

• A landmark application for a home at 1375 Summit Road, along with an application to create a historic district that would include that house and two others at 1363 and 1365 Summit. 

• An application to landmark the former car dealership office at 2747 San Pablo Ave., the site of a proposed “green” apartment complex. 

• An alteration permit to remodel the storefronts at 2340-2350 Shattuck Ave. 

• A permit for seismic strengthening of the Corder Building at 2300 Shattuck Ave. 

The commission will also review an application to raise the roofs of the canopies that once shaded gas pumps and the former gas station at 1441 Ashby Ave. The station, designed in a faux-Asian style, is on the state’s list of potential landmarks.