Public Comment

On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council heard public comment on Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Laurie Capitelli’s proposal for establishing a community benefits system for five buildings taller than 75 feet located downtown. Vice President Navid, along with her chief-of-staff, Zahra Abadin, spoke against the Bates-Capitelli proposal due to its failure to deliver the “significant community benefits” promised to the residents of Berkeley in the 2012 Downtown Berkeley Plan. 

The Bates-Capitelli proposal would require developers to pay a mitigation fee to the city based on the square footage of residential development above 75 feet, which would in turn be used to pay for affordable housing and arts and cultural benefits. However, in exchange for a Project Labor Agreement, developers would receive the a credit towards the mitigation fee equal to 5% of the total costs of construction. For the project at 2211 Harold Way, this would represent a reduction of nearly 50% of the mitigation fee. Vice President Navid expressed concern that the developer would attempt to reduce the required fee to zero by claiming the preservation of Shattuck Cinemas as an arts and cultural benefit. “Such a situation would represent no community benefits beyond the status quo, and would thus be unacceptable,” said Vice President Navid at Tuesday’s meeting. “My office strongly supports Project Labor Agreements, and encourages the City Council to do everything possible to ensure that they occur, but not at the cost of affordable housing. Similarly, we support the preservation of Shattuck Cinemas, but not at the cost of affordable housing.” 

Instead of adopting the Bates-Capitelli proposal, Vice President Navid encouraged the City Council to adopt the process put forward by Councilmember Arreguin, which was developed from community input at a public meeting. Councilmember Arreguin’s proposal would require downtown developers to meet one of two sets of requirements: 1. Affordable housing, a project labor agreement, arts and cultural benefits, and various other requirements, or 2. A variety of community benefits chosen by the developer and approved by the City Council which are equal or greater in value than those required under the first option. Additionally, Councilmember Arreguin’s proposal would require any project to provide the maximum community benefits feasible for such a project, thus ensuring the “significant community benefits” promised in the Downtown Area Plan are delivered. 

Vice President Navid supports Councilmember Arreguin’s proposal because it would result in the greatest level of community benefits, including supporting Project Labor Agreements without negatively affecting affordable housing in the city.