Extra
ZAB hearing tonight on the change of use proposed for 2777 Shattuck by Berkeley Honda
I am one of a large group of South Shattuck neighbors strongly opposed to Berkeley Honda’s proposed change of use to “auto sales” at 2777 Shattuck. I am also an advocate for zoning regulations and land use decisions that are consistent, predictable, and protective—ones that further General Plan and Area Plan goals instead of thwarting them.
Berkeley Honda is proposing the first change of use to “auto sales” in the Commercial-South Area (C-SA) District since 1990, when the City prohibited new and relocated auto sales in a step toward implementing South Berkeley Area Plan policies and goals. This prohibition was reversed in 2013 at the request of three auto dealers.
One commercial auto use restriction has not changed: C-SA District zoning still prohibits a change of use to auto repair and parts service as the primary use of a building, allowing this use only if it is “ancillary” to auto sales: a use that is both dependent on and commonly associated with the principal permitted use of a lot and/or building and that does not result in greater or different impacts than the principal use (BMC 23F.04.010).
BMC 23E.52.030.C: The initial establishment or change of use of floor area of an existing non-residential building, or portion of building, shall be subject to the permit requirements as listed in the legend of Table 23E.52.030.
Most districts that allow auto uses (M, C-W, C-1) also permit auto repair as a primary use. Others, like the MU-LI and MU-R Districts, prohibit auto sales but allow repair. Only the C-SA District allows auto sales but prohibits a change of use to repair and parts service as the primary use.
The repair and parts service use proposed by Berkeley Honda is in no way subordinate or ancillary to the sales use. It would be the prohibited primary use of 2777 Shattuck, and under the protections of the zoning ordinance, I am asking that you deny all use permits.
Concord’s zoning ordinance states it plainly: “If a particular land use is identified as an example of one category but exhibits the characteristics of another, the use shall be categorized under the latter.” This is standard planning policy, meant to prevent a prohibited primary use from establishing itself under the guise of a permitted use.
The repair and parts service use has established that it can operate independent of sales.
a. Since November 2014, Berkeley Honda has conducted service/repair at 1500 San Pablo and new & used auto sales at 2627 Shattuck. Combining these uses in one building is a convenience, not a necessity. The dominant purpose for relocating to 2777 Shattuck was not the sales use, but Berkeley Honda’s failure to secure a long-term lease at 1500 San Pablo and pressure to find a new location for repair. In fact, Berkeley Honda would have to find yet another site for its used car sales, as they have stated that they are operating under a short-term lease at 2627 Shattuck. And contrary to numerous statements made by the applicant, state franchise law does not forbid dealerships from relocating within 10 miles of a rival franchisee.
b. A banner at the former Berkeley Honda location announced, “We Service All Makes and Models: Honda, Volkswagen, Infiniti, Nissan, Lexus, Toyota, Mazda.” This auto repair and parts service is not dependent on the Honda sales component.
c. The margin on new car sales is slim. Failing to meet sales expectations at this site, which the Honda corporation considers “inferior” due to its size and distance from the freeway, could make it more difficult for Berkeley Honda to get the best-selling models. There is a very real possibility that American Honda would merge the auto sales component with a larger dealership, leaving 2777 Shattuck as a prohibited repair service and parts facility.
Berkeley Honda learned of a history of site contamination on the Adeline triangle and decided to use above-ground lighting and signage to avoid disturbing the soil. Since these design elements are among many that have not been reviewed by the Design Review Committee, it is not clear how effectively Berkeley Honda could promote new cars, or conduct business on the lot until 10:00 p.m.
Different or greater impacts of the “ancillary” repair and parts service use:
a. Honda proposes to move its indoor operations into a building of only 21,147 square feet (excluding the 2500 sq. ft. mezzanine). Its former building at 2600 Shattuck was 43,878 sq. ft., (excluding a mezzanine). Other than a veneer of sales/display use totaling 2,640 sq. ft and a portion of the 2,380 sq. ft. area designated for administrative use (restrooms and an employee lounge would be shared by both uses), the interior of 2777 Shattuck would be a 14-bay, 7-day, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. repair and parts service. This intensity of repair use concentrates noise, fumes, emissions, and increased traffic—all detriment of the “ancillary” operations—in an area zoned to provide lower-intensity community or neighborhood commercial uses that reduce auto impacts. There is no setback between this building and an R-2 property line.
b. According to empirical evidence from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), auto repair and parts service generate significantly more trips than new car sales. While “full-service dealerships” are included under New Car Sales, the Berkeley Honda project does not conform to the suburban dealership model, which is the primary source for ITE trip counts.
New Car Sales (841): 2.62 trips/ksf (per 1000 square feet)
Automobile Parts and Service Center (943): 4.46 trips/ksf
Automobile Parts Sales (843): 5.98 trips/ksf
Berkeley Honda’s traffic study applied only New Car Sales trip counts. This does not provide a realistic assessment of the potential traffic impacts, most notably in peak a.m. hours, given the extraordinary intensification of repair and parts service use at 2777 Shattuck.
c. Berkeley Honda would provide only 1 parking space per 1000 sq. ft. for all uses—half the number required by code for a change of use to Auto Sales. This was a Planning Department error, caught only a week prior to the ZAB hearing. Planning is allowing 14 driveway queuing spaces and service lifts to count toward the off-street parking requirement. Parking standards in the M District and in other cities reflect the greater impact auto repair will place on limited street parking in the area—particularly given the absence of floor space for post-service vehicle storage in the building.
Berkeley’s Manufacturing District
display floor area: 1 per 1000 sq. ft.
2 per service bay
Other gross floor area: 1 per 500 sq. ft.
Albany
auto sales & display, including outdoor display: 1 per 1000 sq. ft.
vehicle repair: 1 per 300 sq. ft.
neighborhood, regional, and community retail: 1 per 400 sq. ft.
Concord
indoor/outdoor sales area: 1 per 1000 sq. ft.
2 spaces per service bay
Other gross floor area: 1 per 250 sq. ft.
When auto repair is primary use:
4 spaces per service bay or 1 per 250 sq. ft. of floor area, whichever is greater.
Hayward
indoor storage: 1 per 1000 sq. ft.
outdoor sales, display, or storage: 1 per 2000 sq. ft.
repair or service: : 1 per 600 sq. ft.
office, sales, and indoor display: 1 per 250 sq. ft.
d. The proposed 4,427 sq. ft. addition, slated entirely for repair/parts uses, would eliminate 13 parking spaces from the portion of the Ward Street parking lot zoned C-SA and further intensify the prohibited primary use. The remaining spaces are on a residentially zoned (R-2) parcel, with conditions imposed by ZAB limiting its commercial use.
e. All trips in and out of the new driveway abutting Kirala would be for the “ancillary” service and repair use. Accommodating this repair entrance would require removal of at least two on-street, metered parking spaces, a street tree, and a section of storefront window. The City would also abandon plans to add two parking spaces to the eastern side of the 2747 Adeline triangle, solely to allow traffic to pass drivers waiting to turn left across northbound Shattuck traffic and into the service entrance.
With the addition of the new curb cut, Berkeley Honda would have 4 driveways associated with the service use. The two Shattuck driveways are near the Shattuck/Adeline intersection, dangerously close to pedestrian bulbouts which the City plans to install using Safe Routes to School (SR2S) Program grant funds.
In response to neighborhood concerns about the safety of local children on their way to and from LeConte Elementary and Willard Middle schools, the applicant statement claims that “Berkeley Honda’s move to this neighborhood will likely reduce the threat of car accidents to the children. This is based on an overall significant reduction in trip generation by the new uses.”
No previous use at 2777 Shattuck opened before 9:00 a.m., so they had little or no impact on children walking or biking to LeConte Elementary School or Willard Middle School, which start at 8:00 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. respectively. Berkeley Honda, on the other hand, would open at 7:00 a.m. and operate a chaotic, multi-driveway repair and parts service use along a Safe Routes to School (SR2S) route. Berkeley Honda’s own traffic study shows that their business would generate more a.m. and p.m. peak hour trips than Any Mountain did.
Infrastructure improvements on South Shattuck between Ward and Russell are ranked #11 out of 34 high-priority projects in the Berkeley Pedestrian Master Plan. The Plan identifies numerous pedestrian hazards on Shattuck between Russell and Ward that Berkeley Honda’s mid-block repair and parts service entrance would duplicate or exacerbate, including:
- Southbound traffic on Shattuck merges from two lanes to one lane at Ward
- Left turning vehicles on Shattuck northbound at Oregon (to enter Berkeley Bowl driveway) have no dedicated left turn lane, and cause through traffic to veer to right hand side of road over painted bulbout at the crosswalk.
- High on-street parallel parking turnover, resulting in many vehicles pulling in and out of spaces along a congested corridor.
AC Transit’s Designing for Transit guidelines advise minimizing the number of driveways onto key transit streets because they can “interfere with both bus operations and pedestrians.” With the addition of a pedestrian bulbout, Southbound #18 buses would not have room to clear the crosswalk and then veer right to pass cars and trucks waiting to turn into Honda’s service entrance.
The #18 is one of 11 high-ridership bus routes in the AC Transit Major Corridors Study. AC Transit describes these routes as “the backbone of a frequent and reliable transit network.” A public process is currently underway to identify infrastructure improvements that will improve service and increase ridership.
Emergency vehicles would also need to get through this new chokepoint on Shattuck between Ward and Stuart.
Causing vehicles to swerve close to the curb is a hazard for pedestrians and bicyclists. Traffic Engineering has also indicated a willingness to shift the center striping on Shattuck east in order to accommodate Berkeley Honda’s left-turn needs, increasing risks to bicyclists on the narrowed northbound lane.
Adding a curb cut and left-turn service entrance on a major bus and pedestrian corridor conflicts with numerous plans meant to increase safety for all users, promote transit equity, and reduce GHG emissions. These include: the Berkeley Complete Streets Policy (required by MTC and ACTC to qualify for transportation grant funding), the regional Sustainable Communities Strategy mandated by SB 375, high-priority Public Works projects slated for Shattuck from Russell to Ward in the Berkeley Pedestrian Master Plan, policies of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Plans, the Berkeley Climate Action Plan, the AC Transit Major Corridors Study, and both the South Berkeley Area Plan and the South Shattuck Strategic Plan. It is also inconsistent with numerous “core” pedestrian and bike policies in the General Plan Transportation Element.
f. Berkeley Honda’s 14-bay repair department would be open 7 days a week, from 7:00am until 10:00pm. Current service hours are M-F 7:30am-6:00pm; Sat 8-4; closed Sunday. Repair was not open on Sunday at 2600 Shattuck.
(Sales hours have already increased: from 7:30-6:00 M-F; Sat 8:00-4:00; closed Sunday to M-F 7:00am-7:00pm; Sat 8-7; Sun 10-6.)
The longer hours of the “ancillary” repair use would extend impacts—noise, vibration, exhaust fumes and emissions from the open service door, risks to pedestrians and bicyclists, parking shortages and traffic—well into the night and on weekends. Repair would operate during peak business hours for Kirala, a beloved restaurant and the only one in the area open at night. A ten percent drop in sales can cause a small business to go bankrupt.
Other Berkeley auto repair services not only keep shorter weekday hours than Berkeley Honda proposes, but also close, or have limited hours, on Saturdays. No other Berkeley repair shops are open on Sundays—including those which were “grandfathered in” as legal nonconforming uses in the C-SA after the 1990 zoning change:
McKevitt Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Service: M-F 7:00am-6:00pm; Sat 7-4: closed Sun
McKevitt Fiat Service: M-F 7:00am-6:00pm; Sat 7-4; closed Sun
Toyota of Berkeley (formerly in C-SA) Service: M-F 7:30am-6:00pm; Sat 8-4; closed Sun
Dan Chin’s Auto Service: M-F 7:00am-6:00pm; closed Sat and Sun
Model Garage: M-F 7:30-5:25; closed Sat and Sun
Henry Chin’s Auto Care: M-F 7:30-6:00; closed Sat and Sun
g. Berkeley Honda currently offers “Early/Late Hours Service,” allowing customers to drop off their cars. Parts deliveries in this industry are commonly made early in the morning, with the driver having keys to the building. Berkeley Honda claims trucks will deliver to the Adeline triangle and employees will walk the shipments across the street. The Ward Street parking lot, which has a door into the building, would be a tempting alternative.
h. In 1999, representatives of three South Shattuck auto dealerships—Toyota of Berkeley, Jim Doten Honda (now Berkeley Honda) and McKevitt Volvo/Nissan—wrote a collective letter to the Berkeley Planning Commission/The General Plan Project, requesting zoning changes that would allow them to relocate to more industrial parts of West Berkeley. (The City granted their request in 2007.) “While our modern auto repair and service facilities are state-of-the-art and cause almost no emissions or other pollution, they may be best operated in an industrial area,” they wrote. (The letter also noted, “In 1990, a zoning revision resulting from the South Berkeley Area Plan prohibited new auto dealerships on South Shattuck and made the existing ones nonconforming uses.”)
Bringing auto repair back to this area while intensifying its use is a complete reversal of City reasoning in 2005-2007, when removing auto sales and repair was presented as a way to further the goals of the C-SA District and the policies of the South Berkeley Area Plan.
BMC 23A.08.010 The language of this Ordinance shall be interpreted liberally to promote the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare.
- In case of conflict between any of the provisions of this Ordinance, the most restrictive shall apply.
