The Editor's Back Fence

YIMBY Alert: Making It Easier to Demolish Homes in Berkeley

Becky O'Malley

Sunday March 24, 2024 - 08:15:00 PM

The following item appeared in an email blast from EastBay Yimby, the voice of the for-profit development lobby which has a target painted on the city of Berkeley.YIMBY shock troops are being recruited to provide astroturf "grass roots" input.

If you don't believe believe that it should be easier to tear down family homes in Berkeley and replace them with cash-register multiples, call or write your councilmember to protest, or even better, show up at Tuesday's council meeting, in person or by ZOOM.

March 26th: Demolition Ordinance at Berkeley City Council

This Tuesday, March 26th, Berkeley City Council will vote on a demolition ordinance (Item 23 on the agenda). The goal of the ordinance is to codify when existing buildings can be demolished and turned into larger apartment buildings. The ordinance is key to both the Southside upzoning that council recently passed and the upcoming Missing Middle legislation. Both initiatives seek to densify Berkeley while replacing our aging housing stock. The demolition ordinance as written does a good job of preventing predatory evictions and focusing demolitions on owner occupied homes. However, it currently requires all demolished residential units be replaced 1:1 by below market rate units. While it’s important to preserve affordability, this requirement will make it impossible to build the mid-size apartment buildings that are the biggest source of new units.

Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani has introduced a supplemental to the ordinance that fixes this imbalance and will increase the number of new homes that actually get built. It will clear the way for immediate approvals of new housing near UC campus and will use standard, state-wide, definitions of which housing units need to be replaced.

It’s important that the City Council hears from us and passes this ordinance with Councilmember Kesarwani’s amendment. Take two minutes before noon on Monday to email City Council asking them to pass CM Kesarwani’s supplemental.

Even better, please give public comment during the meeting! Logistics:
v6 pm (likely to go late) on March 26th