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Berkeley council advances MRD zoning, certifies EIR despite acknowledged air, cultural and GHG impacts
Summary
After a public hearing, Berkeley staff recommended—and council unanimously moved forward with—an ordinance creating a Manufacturing, Research & Development (MRD) district in West Berkeley and certified the Gilman Gateway draft EIR, which identified significant unavoidable impacts in air quality, cultural resources and greenhouse gases and requires project‑level mitigation.
Berkeley City Council on March 25 voted unanimously to advance a new Manufacturing, Research & Development (MRD) zoning district for a portion of West Berkeley and to certify the environmental review that accompanies the rezoning.
Staff from the Planning and Development Department described the MRD district as a tool to reactivate the former Pacific Steel Casting site and surrounding parcels with uses intended to encourage high‑density industrial employment, research and development, and ancillary retail and public market uses. Jordan Klein, Director of Planning and Development, and Senior Planner Ashley James said the proposal includes zoning map and code amendments, corresponding West Berkeley plan and general plan language, and an associated draft EIR that analyzes a reasonable‑foreseeable redevelopment scenario, the Gilman Gateway project.
The draft EIR identifies three categories of significant and unavoidable impacts: air quality, certain cultural‑resource impacts tied to the potential demolition of a landmarked structure at 1306 3rd Street, and greenhouse‑gas emissions where future projects could include new natural‑gas connections. Staff emphasized those impacts remain after mitigation because project‑level specifics are not yet defined and recommended that any future development include project‑level health risk assessments, compliance with Air District construction requirements, and temporary relocation of sensitive residents if warranted.
Council members who spoke in favor framed the rezoning as a long‑running referral to modernize industrial zoning, remediate a blighted site, create middle‑class jobs and broaden the city’s tax base. Council member Keserwani, who moved the measure, said the district will help attract life‑science and R&D employers while enabling environmental cleanup. Council member Humbert noted pension restitution for former Pacific Steel employees and urged strict oversight of site remediation.
Members of the public raised questions about how labor standards and local hiring requirements (the city’s “hard hats” ordinance and project labor agreements) would apply to future projects on MRD parcels. Staff said the MRD is a rezoning only—project‑level labor or hard‑hat requirements would apply when a specific development proposal comes forward and would be enforced through municipal code and building permits. BioComm California testified in favor of the rezoning, saying the district would provide predictable, streamlined rules for life‑science firms.
The council’s action advances the ordinance for next steps and certifies the EIR; staff and the EIR both prescribe project‑level environmental safeguards and require oversight by appropriate regulators before construction permits would be issued. The decision was unanimous.
The council flagged the EIR’s identified unavoidable impacts and directed staff to ensure robust mitigation and monitoring at the project approval stage. The council also moved item 10B (a separate staff recommendation allocating $2,294,774 over FY2026–27 for a sugar‑sweetened‑beverage reduction effort) to the consent calendar and approved the consent calendar earlier in the meeting.
Next steps: the ordinance proceeds through the council’s public process and implementation will depend on future project applications and required project‑level environmental and remediation work.
