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The City Council and the Mayor want to make drastic zoning changes in Berkeley’s neighborhoods. They have named the proposed change "Missing Middle Housing," but this name is deceptive: "Missing Middle” does not refer to middle income, but a deceptive description of the intended size of the building they want to be built in single-family neighborhoods. 

Only corporate developers have the resources to develop at this scale. Once these homes are turned into apartment complexes, they will not come back. 

The vote will be on Tuesday, April 29th. (Click here for agenda and attendance details) Despite the fact that these are the biggest changes to the City’s Zoning Ordinance since 1963, changes that will impact thousands of property owners and residents, Mayor Ishii refused to support scheduling a special meeting. The public hearing for the zoning changes will follow two other public hearings on other issues at a regular meeting on Tuesday April 29. A vote is likely immediately after the hearing. YIMBYs will surely turn out to demand this upzoning, so we need to speak out and show up! 

 

The last time major zoning changes were made to residential neighborhoods, every property owner whose property would be affected received written notification about the proposed changes, and five City-run meetings were scheduled in areas that would be affected. This time, however, property owners and residents have received no notification for the April 29 meeting: you'd have to check Council agendas regularly to know what’s going on! The agenda for the meeting, which has only been available to the public since the end of this past week, can be found here: https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas  

Zoning changes are item 30, with a 209 page staff report.  

Would your home be affected? 

Here is a City zoning map: https://berkeley.municipal.codes/BMC/OfficialZoningMap. Most of North Berkeley is zoned R-1 (single family), R-1A (two homes per lot), R-2 (two-family),or R-2A (small multi-family and garden type apartments). If you are in one of those zones, these changes will apply to you.  

What’s wrong with what is being proposed?  

Too many units per lot: The original proposal before the Council would have allowed up to four units. But the latest, more extreme version, allows:  

• R-1: 5 units;
• R-1A and R-2: 6 units;
• R-2A: 7 units.

And the density bonus makes it worse: State density bonus law applies to properties with 5 or more units. If just one of five units is affordable to a low income household, a developer gets a 50% bonus, which permits them to build more units and to exceed the 3-story, 35-foot height limit, so 50-foot apartment buildings could be built! Setbacks could be reduced to zero. The City staff have provided no analysis of the impacts that the density bonus could have as a result of the proposed up-zoning.

Extreme lot coverage standards: Proposed zoning changes increase allowable lot coverage by 50%. Rear setbacks are reduced to five feet. The result: No backyards for kids to play in, fewer trees and gardens, and a reduction in permeable surfaces, which absorb rainfall. Solar panels could be shadowed and privacy reduced.

Gentrification: There is no requirement that any of the units are to be affordable for those who can’t afford new market-rate units. Adding market-rate apartment buildings with higher-income tenants to lower income areas will gentrify those areas  

 

Is there a better alternative? 

Yes. State law has already eliminated single-family zoning. Berkeley could codify state law by rezoning R-1 areas as R-2 or R-2A, with the decision made on a neighborhood--by-neighborhood basis. It’s not necessary to create entirely new extreme zoning standards. We can continue to have back yards and room for trees and greenery. Berkeley can rezone, as originally proposed, for 1-4 unit buildings. Property owners can have more flexibility and more housing can be built without compromising neighborhood livability or the effectiveness of solar panels.  

Let the city know how you feel about this sweeping, uncommunicated change: Write a unique and personal email and send it to your council member and the council at the following email addresses: 

council@berkeleyca.gov
Mayor: mayor@berkeleyca.gov 

District 1 rkesarwani@berkeleyca.gov 

District 2 ttaplin@berkeleyca.gov 

District 3 bbartlett@berkeleyca.gov 

District 4 itregub@berkeleyca.gov 

District 5 sokeefe@berkeleyca.gov 

District 6 bblackaby@berkeleyca.gov 

District 7 clunaparra@berkeleyca.gov 

District 8 mhumbert@berkeleyca.gov 

For more information, please check-out the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council website.