Public Comment

Berkeley Needs a Moratorium on High-Rent Units

Rhiannon
Friday May 15, 2015 - 03:25:00 PM

According to City of Berkeley Housing Elements (past, current and proposed), from 2001-2006 Berkeley provided 166% of its regional housing unit needs (RHNA) for above median income housing (120% of median income +) or 757 units for its 455 requirement. That left us 302 units ahead of our fair share for that time period. The Housing Element 2007-2014 saw Berkeley's RHNA grow to 1130 above median units with 1005 units of high end housing already under Permit leaving a 'deficit' of 125 units but, since high end units were already ahead by 302 units, Berkeley had exceeded its requirements for above median income units by 177 units when the latest Housing Element was drafted in early 2014. 

In the same period, from 2001-2006 Berkeley provided just 483 of its 814 share of median income and below units, less than 60% of its Regional Fair Share, or a deficit of 331 units for the first 5 years of the millenium. Berkeley's RHNA for median incomes and below jumped to 1301 units for the years 2007-2014, but they provided only 185 units, not even making up the deficit from the earlier years. So while the City is fully caught up and already ahead on its higher income units, we haven't even made our quota for moderate or lower income units for 2006 yet. This makes the big push to build block after block of high rent homes and apartments unfathomable.  

Berkeley's RHNA for 2014-2022, according to ABAG, will be 1,401 units for high income (minus 177 units already surplus, or 1224 units total). The City's RHNA for moderate and lower will be 1558, plus 1301 from 2007-2014, plus 146 from 2001-2006 for a grand total of 3005 units required for those making $89,000/yr or less. In its proposed Housing Element for 2014-2022, the City has identified sites with capacity for only 2,461 units, not even enough to bring just the lower rent housing requirements up to date. Once those sites are filled, there is no plan for more, and once again it is the less fortunate that suffer. With the majority of units in the historically lower income West and South Berkeley being built with high rent units and with the concurrent loss of affordable local services, the gentrification of Berkeley will be nearly complete. Once these sites are built up, the only place to build new homeless shelters and SROs will be up in the hills, and then the City will find out just what NIMBY, and the gap between the haves and have nots, is really all about.  

We need a moratorium on the construction of higher rent units, at least until the City can craft a legally binding and more equitable inclusionary ordinance that makes those who profit most also contribute the most. This is Berkeley, home to many great minds that claim to be progressive but, like most places, those who suffer the most are those who struggle to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table in a climate of gentrification. Even in this day and age, they don't all have computers and wi-fi capable of downloading and storing all of the City's constantly changing Plans and Codes, or even City Council Agendas. Many work more than one job and can't afford to lobby those that are supposed to represent them. The Housing Trust Fund with 'non-profit' Project Based Section 8 is not a solution. Tenants of self-certifying non-profits stand to lose their home and their subsidies if they complain, while the non-profit landlord can continue to collect the subsidy for an additional 2 months after the eviction of a "troublemaker" who complains about lack of heat or hot water. Turnover is both profitable to the landlord and chilling to the tenant. Problems found in inspections can go without attention for years, when tenants have nowhere to turn for help except the landlord The City is on a fast track to destroy any remaining diversity left outside of Campus. A moratorium should start immediately, so the City can catch up with its lower income RHNA for 2006-present before starting on the higher income unit requirements of 2017.