Berkeley Proposal Reopens Debate Over Downtown Development

By Frances Dinkelspiel
Berkeleyside

City Councilman Jesse Arreguín, some members of the environmental community, the labor community and preservationists are circulating a ballot initiative that would drastically overhaul elements of the Berkeley Downtown Area Plan endorsed by voters in 2010 and codified by the City Council in 2012.

The initiative would restore the “green” in the “Green Vision” part of the plan, according to Arreguín.

It would essentially mandate that all buildings in the downtown core taller than 60 feet high follow the more stringent “Green Pathways” provision of the Downtown Area Plan, rather than making that an optional track for developers.

The initiative would require all buildings over 75 feet high to be LEED Platinum (they now have to be LEED Gold) and to have 30 percent of the units be affordable (up from 20 percent). It would remove the possibility of paying into an housing fund as an alternative to building the affordable housing, would require there be apartments big enough for families, and require there be parking for electric vehicles and the disabled. Buildings over 60 feet would have proportionally similar requirements.

“If you want to go higher and make an incredible amount of profit by going higher, you should give more,” said Arreguín.

The initiative would also require developers to pay construction workers prevailing wages, make sure that half the workers reside in Berkeley or in East Bay Green Corridor cities (up from 30 percent), and use 16 percent apprentice labor, if possible.

Moreover, in a move that Arreguín termed as “historic,” once the buildings are constructed, all maintenance, security officers and hotel employees must get a prevailing wage as well.

Tall buildings would also have to have restrooms available to the public.

It would also remove the expedited review of potentially historic structures by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The initiative would also create a historic overlay over the Civic Center area. That would make it impossible, for example, for a private developer to take over Berkeley’s Main Post Office and convert it to a private commercial use.

The backers of the initiative started collecting signatures on May 2. If they want to be guaranteed a place on this November's ballot, they must turn in 2,638 signatures by Thursday. The groups involved with collecting signatures include Save Our Post Office, which is trying to stop the U.S. Postal Service from selling the Main Post Office on Allston Way, and the Council of Neighborhood Associations, which unsuccessfully sued Berkeley over the environmental impact of the Downtown Area Plan, among other groups, said Arreguín.

Arreguín said he decided to push for the ballot initiative because he is frustrated with Berkeley’s inaction on demanding well-articulated community benefits from developers. One intention of the Downtown Area Plan (which was endorsed by voters as Measure R in 2010) was to give developers the opportunity to build taller structures in exchange for “substantial environmental and community benefits.” If developers chose to go through the expedited “Green Pathways” review process, they would have to provide “extraordinary public benefits that could not otherwise be obtained,” according to Measure R. No developer has yet pursued this option.

While developers are offering some benefits, in Arreguín’s opinion they are not substantial enough.

Members of the development community disagree with Arreguín’s point of view. They say the initiative, if adopted by voters, could slow down or even stop what they see as the revitalization of the downtown core. Measure R allowed for the construction of three 180-foot buildings, about 15 stories tall, within one block of the downtown BART station and the construction of two 120-foot buildings, about 10 stories high, elsewhere downtown.

Currently, developers have plans to build three high-rise structures, one aimed at apartments for urban professionals, one aimed at families and empty-nesters, and one hotel.

“It’s a series of poison pills,” said architect Jim Novosel, who is designing a 120-foot building on Shattuck Avenue and Berkeley Way for the Nasser family. He is also a member of the Planning Commission and ran for the council against Arreguín in 2010.

“Minority politics is trying to control majority politics. It sends out a message to people who want to come into Berkeley that … it’s going to be friggin hard. You are going to have to work much harder.”

The initiative “will set into stone” the community benefits, said Matthew Taecker, a former Berkeley city planner who is now helping Jim Didion and Center Street Partners LLC get entitlements for a 16-story hotel at the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street. Right now, the shape and scope of each project determines what the community benefits look like, he said. That flexibility is critical.

“Just the prospect of the initiative throws a chill on things,” said Taecker. “It will test the commitment of developers who haven’t yet received their entitlement.”

Steven Donaldson, a member of the Zoning Adjustments Board, said that the community benefits process is working. For example, the developer of The Residences at Berkeley Plaza, a 180-foot, 17-story tower with 298 residences slated for Harold Way, originally planned to eliminate the Shattuck Cinemas. The ZAB board thought that was a bad idea and got the developer to agree to retain them, said Donaldson. That shows the current development process and review are working, he said.

Arreguín said he anticipates a lot of developer pushback.

“It’s great we have people wanting to invest in our community and build housing, but obviously they want to maximize their investment, their profits,” he said. “So of course they are going to say things aren’t feasible because they are trying to increase the amount of their rate of return.”

Read how the initiative would revise Berkeley’s municipal code.
Read a summary of provisions of the initiative.

KQED News Associate Berkeleyside is an independently owned news website based in Berkeley. Click here if you would you like to receive the latest Berkeley news in your inbox once a day for free with Berkeleyside's Daily Briefing email.