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Tell Berkeley City Council: Yes to 12 at both stations!
Read our op-ed! | Read the agenda here | Read the new agreement with BART
On April 6, 2022 the Berkeley Planning Commission (PC) officially recommended increasing the height limit at Berkeley’s BART stations from 7 to 12 stories!
7 is the minimum number of stories the city needs to zone the sites to be compliant with state law but the Final EIR identifies 12 stories as better for fighting climate change - which is true! - but we know there are lots more reasons to support 12 (our op-ed lays out many of them).
The City Council will vote on this June 2 (meeting starts at 6). Tell them you want 12 stories and to support PC’s recommendation aka “Option B.”
* Get caught up: Read the staff report, check out the PC meeting’s presentation, read the meeting minutes and Berkeleyside coverage
YES TO 12
Stop and watch this animation about Ashby BART showing how 12 is superior for affordability, better for the environment, and enables better design.
Send a Pre-Written Letter
Take action by sending an email to city council. Copy and paste the message below and send to: council@cityofberkeley.info
Subject: Support 12 stories at BART
Dear Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council,
I am writing to urge adoption of the Planning Commission's recommendation to zone for up to 12 stories of housing at Ashby and North Berkeley BART.
Berkeley urgently needs more housing, at all income levels, close to transit, to meet our shared housing and climate crises. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put that housing directly on top of BART.
I also urge you to adopt the Joint Vision and Priorities (JVP) Document as-is. The JVP sets out important priorities and goals, including maximizing the total number of new homes, especially affordable homes, with a strong requirement for a minimum of 35% affordable housing at both sites and a target of 50%+ (including 100% affordable at Ashby BART). Changing the JVP risks jeopardizing the ability to produce the maximum possible number of affordable homes.
Lastly, I support a requirement that BART not exceed the parameters evaluated in the EIR. We need these new homes to be built quickly, not to tie up the project in additional CEQA review and litigation.
Please vote for an allowable height of 12 stories and support the JVP and EIR as-is.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
[Your City Council District]
GET THE FACTS: Read and share our leaflet that's been showing up at NBB neighbor's doorsteps
Prepare your unique letter or public comment
Send an email to council right now. Assemble a letter using talking points below, and be sure to include some of your own words and sign with your name/location:
I am a Berkeley resident and I support a maximum of 12 stories at North Berkeley BART. Allowing more height provides more flexibility in the design, especially when stepping down height at the edges of the lot. More height also means more open space.
Given the choice between building more homes and providing more parking, the choice is obviously homes. Excess parking is not needed, and reducing parking at North Berkeley BART will reduce the traffic in our neighborhood. BART's own 200 spot maximum for North Berkeley is good.
Our community needs the maximum amount of affordable homes as quickly as possible. While Berkeley has set aside $53 million for this, not all of that money is here yet. We must support the creation of market rate homes to help pay for the affordable ones.
The economic, social, and environmental benefits of hundreds of households living next to high quality transit in high-opportunity neighborhoods for years to come are tremendous. We must not let fear of temporary discomfort lock us into a less ambitious trajectory.
Every part of Berkeley is attractive because of our mild climate, superior tenant protections, justice-oriented leaders, walkable streets, bike and bus networks, excellent K-12 schools, and a world class public university. Equitable zoning is equal zoning because we are all in this together. Development at North Berkeley should not be smaller than Ashby just because our NIMBYs are louder.
I urge you to adopt the Joint Vision and Priorities (JVP) Document as-is. The JVP sets out important priorities and goals, including maximizing the total number of new homes, especially affordable homes, with a strong requirement for a minimum of 35% affordable housing at both sites and a target of 50%+ (including 100% affordable at Ashby BART). Changing the JVP risks jeopardizing the ability to produce the maximum possible number of affordable homes.
Public Comment Tips
Start out with your name and your location relative to North Berkeley BART, e.g. "2 blocks from," "a 5 minute walk away," "across the street from."
If it helps, write down what you want to say ahead of time. You absolutely do not need to be a good public speaker to make an impact with your public comment.
Keep it short. You’re not going to have a lot of time; all speakers get a strict time limit, maybe 1 minute. Stick to 1 or 2 talking points. (If you can, practice your comments beforehand and time yourself to make sure you get to say everything that you want.)
Call out someone else by name that you agree with. i.e. “Janet really hit the nail on the head when she said…” or “I agree with Alex that...”
If you have a little time left, thank commissioners, councilmembers, and/or staffpeople for their hard work on this issue or just thank them for their time. It costs nothing to be polite!
We are almost there, good job keeping the energy up.
Let's do this!
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