City Council to consider allowing taller, denser housing throughout Berkeley

The Berkeley City Council will consider a proposal Tuesday that would make it easier to build denser housing in every neighborhood across the city, taking another step toward implementing its landmark 2021 decision to ban single-family zoning in the city.

The move is part of an ongoing effort to shape Berkeley’s housing future, which includes a goal of 9,000 new homes by 2031 to meet state requirements. The changes were also intended to bring the city into compliance with a state law, SB-9, that banned single-family zoning across California, though that law was challenged in court and partially overturned in April.

The City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on possible updates to the city’s zoning rules designed to encourage the construction of small, multi-unit buildings in wealthier, lower-density neighborhoods, such as Elmwood, North Berkeley and Berkeley Hills. A final decision will be made in the coming months.

Proponents of the changes say these types of duplexes, triplexes and multiplexes are naturally more affordable. These units are intended to provide what is known as mid-range housing, a term for mid-priced housing that is accessible to people of average means who do not qualify for rental assistance but are not wealthy enough to rent or buy homes in expensive areas.

It is still possible to build single-family homes in Berkeley, but they would require more cumbersome permitting processes in some areas.

Several of the proposed changes recommended by the Planning Commission concern the maximum height of new buildings and the space they can occupy. They would allow buildings to be as tall as 35 feet (the current maximum), but would eliminate the lengthy permitting process to reach that height. The maximum average height in a neighbourhood would be 28 feet, with buildings to be reduced to a lower height of 22 feet near the property line.

It should be noted that the recommendations apply citywide, including areas of the Berkeley Hills that face a high risk of wildfires.

Berkeley Fire Chief David Sprague wrote a letter to the council on July 16 urging them not to adopt a zoning policy that would allow increased density in fire-prone areas of North Berkeley and the Berkeley Hills.

He said the fire department “lacks sufficient personnel and facilities to address the current risk, let alone any increased risk” that could arise from additional homes and structures in those neighborhoods.

In an email to constituents, Councilwoman Susan Wengraf called the planning commission’s recommendations “the most radical and extreme change to our city’s zoning in the last 100 years.”

Staff recommended that council exclude fire-prone areas from its zoning update until the city completes a study on emergency evacuations in high-risk fire areas.

Some changes to the proposal also make it easier to build dense housing in neighborhoods that weren’t previously zoned for single-family homes. Under the recommendation, multi-unit housing proposed in mixed-use residential zones would get expedited approval, while single-family homes would have to go through a longer administrative process.

The document also echoes recent updates the city has made to other housing policies, such as the local demolition ordinance. A developer who demolishes a single-family home can now get automatic approval if it can demonstrate that the new project will result in more housing being built.

The Berkeley City Council will meet to discuss the zoning changes at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Berkeley Unified School District conference room at 1231 Addison St., and will stream the meeting online.

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