Extra
Join Berkeley City Council Tomorrow Nght Regarding BART Zoning
This Thursday, June 2nd, is the big one: the all-important City Council vote on zoning the BART stations. On Thursday, please be a part of it - it's our last chance to influence the council’s vote. Here's what to do:
1. Show up!
At 4:45 PM attend an outdoor rally of all the Berkeley neighborhood groups that share our concerns, including North Berkeley Neighborhood Alliance, Friends of Adeline, Neighbors Not Towers, and Berkeley Together. There will be speakers (including famed artist Mildred Howard, whose mother led the fight to get BART undergrounded in Berkeley), signs, slogans to chant, and a creative surprise presentation. Don't miss it! Come take photos/videos, and post them to your favorite social media.
Where: 1231 Addison Street, in front of where the City Council meets. 1231 Addison is at the back of the Berkeley Unified School District building and is just west of Bonar St. It is one block south of University Ave.
2. Attend the 6 PM City Council meeting!
It will be a long evening, so be prepared. There are two ways you can attend:
In person: Enter the meeting room at 1232 Addison and wait to speak. Arrive early and reserve a seat in the meeting room (bring a sweater or something to hold your seat!). If you're attending the rally, do this before the rally starts.
Proof of up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination or verified negative COVID-19 test is required, as well as wearing a mask, for in-person attendance.
Online: Join online, raise your hand, have dinner and watch the Warriors while you wait your turn to speak.
When you speak, say what street you live on and in which district. Rashi's district is District 1, Bartlett – district 3, Taplin – District 2, Harrison – District 4. Main points:
· Support zoning of 7 stories maximum height and 75 units per acre maximum density, as recommended by City Planning staff and required by AB2923. Zoning for 7 stories is a hard limit: Anything above 7 becomes high-rise, concrete and steel construction.
· Support contextual development. At the City's own "Visioning Event" held to get input from the community, 86% of participants did not want more than 5 stories, and the majority of those did not want more than 4. Even 7 stories is out of scale with the low rise neighborhood. The vast majority of Berkeleyans want low-rise housing at the stations! Represent the well-being of the people who elected you, not the interests of BART and big real estate developers.
· Support maximizing affordability. Because a high rise costs more to build, it must bring in more cash, which means predominantly market rate housing. We do NOT need more of that; we have a glut of expensive vacant apartments. We need affordable housing. Public land for the public good!
· Support green construction. Recent studies show that high rise steel and concrete buildings have a much more negative impact on the environment than low rise, wood frame construction. There is nothing green about building more than 7 stories.
· Don't surprise us. The South Berkeley community was shocked at the sudden addition of a story, without additional affordable housing, after years of community and city planning. No more "Adeline Corridor surprises"! The community has spoken loud and clear, please listen!
