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Sacramento appears to be ready to over-ride two of Berkeley's most important housing policies: the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance, and the Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause ordinance. Berkeley's housing policies as we know them are slated for execution.

Governor Jerry Brown and the California legislature have made an agreement that will permit, by-right, the demolition of nearly every rent controlled apartment in Berkeley.

Additionally, the agreement will authorize the by-right demolition of single family homes and duplexes throughout most of the city, and their replacement by apartment buildings. Exempt from the impact of these new rules will be the residential neighborhoods in the hills, and a few small pockets of "R-1" zoning in the flats.

Demolished housing units would be replaced, by right and without public hearing, by multi-unit residential buildings that contain some minimum number of designated affordable units. Those affordable units would revert to market rate units after 30 years. 

H. D. Palmer, the Deputy Director of External Affairs at the California Department of Finance confirmed, for the Berkeley Daily Planet, a report by Liam Dillon of the L.A. Times. Budget negotiations in Sacramento led to a compromise in which $400 million in funding for subsidized housing projects will be set aside. The money will be allocated if and when the legislature passes law that removes much of the discretionary rights of cities to restrict the development of new multi-unit housing. New housing will be by-right if it generally satisfies zoning specifications and includes a certain percentage of inclusionary affordable units. 

In Berkeley, these new rules would apply to every residential area except those which are zoned R-1. 

We asked Ben Metcalf, the Director of the Governor's Housing and Community Development staff, to confirm that the proposed rules would allow the by-right demolition of rent controlled units. "That's true," he said, "but let me add some qualifications." 

The qualifications Mr. Metcalf named were: 

1. The new developments would result in no net loss of the number of below market rate units, at least for a time. 

2. The new below market rate units would be governed by deed restrictions for 30 years. 

3. Municipalities like Berkeley could prevent some demolitions by passing an absolute (non-discretionary) restriction on specified demolitions. For example, the Berkeley City Council could elect to prohibit the demolition of rent controlled units entirely and without exception, but it could not specify a discretionary process to allow some such demolitions while denying others. 

(Mr. Metcalf generously spoke with the Planet while in transit and we are scheduled for a follow-up conversation very soon. Hopefully we will have more information after that.)