Downtown Area Plan

Downtown Area Plan Update: 
On February 23, two weeks after Mayor Tom Bates unveiled his “Green Pathway” for Berkeley’s Downtown Area Plan, the Council voted 8-1 to forward the Plan to the Planning Commission and put the Plan on the ballot in November 2010.  In response to the August 2009 referendum on the Plan, the Council first voted unanimously to rescind the Plan they adopted in July 2009.
 
Bates’ proposal requires all new buildings in the downtown to meet green building requirements including LEED Gold certification.  In exchange for a reduced entitlement process, the Voluntary Green Pathway requires affordable housing and prevailing wage provisions.  Following the Palmer decision, which made inclusionary zoning requirements illegal in California, the Mayor’s Green Pathway is an innovative approach to maintaining Berkeley’s commitment to affordable housing. See the attachments below for the full text of the Mayor's proposal.
 
cont'd...
 

In attempts to find consensus with the proponents of the referendum, Mayor Bates initially called for maximum building heights of 140 feet and then a week later issued a second proposal with 160 feet maximum heights. The previous version of the Plan had maximum heights of 180 feet for housing and 225 feet for a hotel.
 
In the weeks leading up to the February 23 Council meeting, Livable Berkeley helped lead a coalition of labor, environment, social service providers, and affordable and market rate housing providers to advocate for feasible building heights so that the community benefits of the Plan could be realized.  The Strategic Economics study completed in July 2008 stated that buildings below 180 feet were not feasible in a 5-10 year time frame.  Therefore, the coalition advocated for the inclusion of buildings that would most likely result in investment in Downtown Berkeley in the near term.
 
On February 23, the Council considered community benefits and the feasibility of buildings that will deliver them as the most important consideration for a new Plan. Providing well-paying jobs and hiring locally as well as generating affordable housing funds for the Housing Trust Fund were primary concerns of the Council. They approved 3 buildings at 180 feet (one that can become a hotel) and 2 buildings at 120 feet.  The Council also emphasized that the Plan will be reviewed in five years.  Jesse Arreguin, the councilmember for District 4 representing the Downtown, voted against the Mayor’s new plan.
 
The Plan will now go to the Planning Commission and return to the Council by July for adoption and certification for the November ballot.
 
 
Let the Council know that you support their vote on the new Downtown Plan and send the letter on the following page, or your version of it, to our City Council members. 
 Dear Mayor and Councilmembers:
Thank you for voting for a new Downtown Plan. I agree with your support Mayor Bates' Voluntary Green Pathway proposal to complete and move forward with the Downtown Area Plan. I am confident that the Plan will help make downtown Berkeley more livable and enjoyable for everyone, more viable for our businesses and much better for the environment.
Here are a few reasons why I support the Voluntary Green Pathway:
• By attracting more residents, workers and visitors to downtown, our struggling business district can become a vibrant place for shopping, enjoying diverse entertainment, and supporting the businesses that provide jobs and services close to good transportation.
• By requiring that all future downtown buildings at any height must meet the greenest construction and energy standards ever proposed for Berkeley, we will help meet our Climate Action Plan commitment to continue reducing our GHG emissions.
• By requiring that all future downtown buildings -- and especially large ones -- must significantly contribute to public amenities such as shared open space and plazas, more effective parking and a more attractive streetscape, we will make downtown a more frequent destination for citizens and visitors alike.
• By requiring that all future buildings - whether condo or rental -- help create more affordable housing, we will help preserve the cultural and economic diversity that makes Berkeley special.
• By reducing the need to argue over every specific parameter of every proposed downtown building, we will save the city money and staff time for other city needs and projects.
I am aware that this plan will bring more people living and working in the downtown. Doing so better supports improved transit and a successful retail and entertainment district, so I support it.  If that requires that a few new buildings will be taller – at the same height as the taller buildings that we have now at Center and Shattuck  – then I think that’s a reasonable means to a desirable end.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
mayor@cityofberkeley.info, lmaio@cityofberkeley.info, dmoore@cityofberkeley.info, manderson@cityofberkeley.info, jarreguin@cityofberkeley.info, swengraf@cityofberkeley.info, gwozniak@cityofberkeley.info, lcapitelli@cityofberkeley.info,  kworthington@cityofberkeley.info, cityclerk@cityofberkeley.info
and bcc: info@livableberkeley.org
 
If you want to help with the effort to further the goals of the Downtown Plan,  email info@livableberkeley.org
Background:
On November 29, 2007, DAPAC (the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee) adopted a draft Downtown Area Plan. During the Summer and Fall of  2008 the Planning Commission will work with Planning Department staff to: develop implementation measures, guide the environmental review process, and suggest refinements to goals and policies.
In July, 2009, the Council approved a Plan that was subsequently referended in August led by the two dissenting Council votes on the Plan.
Livable Berkeley Board members served on the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee and Livable Berkeley held its own Community Workshop early in the DAPAC process. Throughout the process, Livable Berkeley has been advocating for development levels in the downtown that would accommodate a significant amount of new housing to help achieve the sustainability goals of the Plan.
The Vision Statement in the Draft Plan states:
Downtown is the heart of Berkeley. It models Berkeley's commitment to sustainability: it is green and seeks to minimize human impacts on the environment, through its emphasis on green streets, green architecture and transit. Downtown is economically vibrant: it has built on its cultural, educational and historic assests, and increasingly serves Berkeley's residents and visitors with attractive shops, exceptional restaurants, and world-class parks and plazas. Finally, Downtown is a great neighborhood: it is oriented to the pedestrian with safe and tree-lined streets, civic amenities, and retail that meets most daily needs; it offers diverse housing opportunities, with an emphasis on affordability and supportive services.