Public Comment

Friends of Adeline Asks Berkeley Council to Reject SB9

Friends of Adeline
Sunday June 13, 2021 - 04:46:00 PM

To the Mayor and members of the Berkeley City Council –

Friends of Adeline has, from its beginning, been a strong advocate for the building of more housing. We have seen our community decimated and our long-time residents, and their families, eliminated from the city. Local development over the last 25 years has pushed the cost of housing and the cost of living higher and higher. The homes they have lived in have become too expensive for them to be able to continue to survive here.

A major factor in the development of high cost housing has been the lack of any serious controls. New construction has been primarily of market rate housing. There have been only minimal attempts to ensure that low-income, affordable housing, gets built. Senate Bill 9 is now attempting to force Berkeley to have more, high-income, affordable housing and to eliminate more of its low-income residents.

We Say No To This.

Why is there is no requirement that any of the units replacing demolished homes be affordable? Some cities like Cambridge, MA allow greater density if the developer builds affordable units on a site. But SB 9 gives away density while bringing no benefit to the community.

SB 9 will result in more displacement. The San Pablo Park neighborhood has been zoned single-family residential since 1963. The homes here are not as expensive as in most other parts of the city. The lots here and the homes on them tend to be smaller than in other parts of the city. They will be less expensive to acquire by speculators than housing elsewhere. Much money can be made by demolishing them and replacing them with up to six market rate units, none of which need to be affordable to the many low-income people currently living in South Berkeley.

Once again, we see our community being looked at as the source for large profits for those who have little interest in the well-being of our people. We are pleased that Councilmembers Harrison, Wengraf and Hahn are asking the City Council to oppose SB 9. Friends of Adeline urges the Berkeley City Council to state that it cannot support legislation that allows housing development without a requirement of the inclusion of significant numbers of on-site, low-income, affordable units. 

Friends of Adeline Says Oppose SB 9!


Friends of Adeline is an organization of residents and neighbors in South Berkeley.