Editorials

Historic resources will be on the agendas of two city commissions meeting this week. 

The first, the newly formed panel created to help form a new plan for downtown Berkeley, will hear tonight (Tuesday) from a subcommittee which is considering how to assess the historic buildings in the downtown area. 

The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) was formed as part of the settlement of the city’s lawsuit against UC Berkeley’s Long Range Development Plan 2020. It is charged with creating a new plan for the city center. 

DAPAC members will also share their own ideas of what they’d like to see happen to the city center. 

That meeting will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will meet in the same venue starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to hold several public hearings on proposed projects affecting Berkeley landmarks. 

First on the agenda is a hearing under the National Historic Preservation Act on the impact of a proposed senior residents’ housing project across the street from the Ashby BART station. 

Prince Hall Arms proposes to build a mixed-use senior housing project at 3132-38 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Thursday’s hearing will focus on the impact the structure will have on other historical buildings in the project’s area of potential effect. 

The hearing is mandated because the project may receive federal funds for the project through the City of Berkeley. 

Two hearings will consider aspects of proposed alterations of the landmark H.J. Heinz Building at 2900 San Pablo Ave., where the owner is seeking to make repairs, including replacement of siding and windows and to demolish an existing garage. 

The LPC has also scheduled hearings on two new proposed landmarks, one at 1861 Solano Ave. and a second at 2667-69 Le Conte Ave.›