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To the Editor: 

My house is zoned R-3 and I am applying for permits to increase the standing room in my attic. With the existing height limit of 35 feet I can make this change. Under Measure P, the height initiative, I could not continue this project. R-3 would be the only residential district absolutely and unconditionally limited to 28 feet. This is much more brutal treatment than proposed for any other residential zoning district. The lower density residential districts R-1, R-1A, R-2 and R-2A would be limited to 35 feet with Zoning Adjustments Board approval. The higher density R-4 and R-5 would be limited to 35 feet and 40 feet. 

Measure P prohibits variances, which preserve the rights of people who live near business districts, on corner lots or steep hills, and those with large trees in their yards. I cannot fit 3 floors into 28 feet without tearing down my 1906 brown shingle and building a flat-roofed box. 

My next door neighbor's house is essentially identical to mine but is zoned R-2. Even though he is in a lower density zoning, he could ask for zoning board approval to improve his attic but I could not. This unequal treatment seems ludicrous and badly unfair to me. 

Measure P does not just affect transit corridors. Walk by my house at 2670 Parker Street and compare it with the house next door and the other buildings on my block before you make up your mind on this issue. We will live with Measure P for 10 years and it will single out some homeowners for disproportionately bad treatment with no appeal process. 

Russ Tilleman 

Berkeley