Berkeley council directs staff to craft middle‑housing ordinance, pauses hillside changes pending evacuation study

Mayor Jesse Arreguin and planning staff presented proposed zoning and General Plan amendments to allow ‘‘middle housing’’ — duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and similar small multifamily forms — and asked council for direction after identifying a procedural error in the General Plan materials.

The proposal, developed through years of outreach and included as a program of the city’s Housing Element, would create a new Multi‑Unit Residential land‑use category, merge some low‑density districts, and allow development that meets objective standards to receive a ministerial zoning certificate rather than discretionary review. Staff described nine broad changes to the zoning code: merging R1A and R2; permitting by‑right projects with objective standards; revisions to additions and bedroom permit rules; new density metrics expressed as units per acre; objective height and lot‑coverage standards; revised open‑space calculations based on residential floor area; smaller front setbacks in some zones; a 5‑ft minimum building separation; and rules permitting demolition of non‑tenant‑occupied single‑family houses with a zoning certificate when the demolition creates a net increase in units. Jordan Klein, the city’s planning director, told council staff had revised their recommendation so that council would provide direction rather than adopt first reading that day while staff corrected the procedural issue.

Why it mattered: supporters said the changes are a long‑overdue step to undo exclusionary single‑family zoning and to add housing supply and more affordable, family‑sized options across Berkeley. Opponents and many residents urged caution, asking the council to exclude high‑risk fire zones and delay action until the city’s evacuation study and additional fire‑safety work are complete.

Public testimony at the special meeting was extensive and sharply divided. Dozens of speakers recounted losing insurance, narrow and inaccessible streets in the hills, and the experience of past wildfires; disaster and fire‑safety commissioners, neighborhood groups and the Berkeley Fire Safe Council urged the council not to apply the zoning changes in the high‑severity fire zones until the evacuation study is available and the Fire Chief’s recommendations are addressed. Other speakers — including housing advocates, architects and young families — urged the council to move quickly, arguing that allowing gentle density citywide is essential to lower rents, restore racial integration and create middle‑income and family housing.

Council action and direction: After deliberation the mayor, joined by Councilmember Kesarwani, offered a package of staff directions that incorporated several amendments requested by councilmembers. Those directions asked staff to: - prepare an ordinance carrying forward the Planning Commission’s recommendations for the R1, R1A, R2, R2A and MUR districts but to delay applying the new standards in the Hillside Overlay/ESR (very‑high fire severity) until the Fire Department evacuation study is reviewed by council; - incorporate a units‑per‑acre approach (expressed on a 5,000‑sq‑ft lot basis in the mayor’s direction) to provide more predictability for neighbors; - regulate the size of a single primary unit (a proposed cap of roughly half the lot size was discussed) and keep objective height limits (35 ft / 3 stories maximum, with a 22‑ft limitation within 15 ft of rear property lines) to simplify design standards; - require neighbor notice procedures similar to the city’s ADU notice rules; - refer $200,000 in funding to begin a citywide historic‑context statement and plan for a future citywide historic resources survey; and - undertake additional community workshops, a General Plan consistency review, and report‑backs on demolition‑ordinance interaction, potential “mini‑dorm”/group‑living impacts and how land‑value recapture/affordability fees would apply.

The council voted to give staff that direction; the public hearing remained open and staff will return with a revised ordinance and accompanying analyses. Jordan Klein told council that prior sequencing analysis conservatively projected up to about 1,700 new units over eight years but that actual production would likely be a fraction of that number; staff also told council past permit activity shows a slow historic pace of small‑scale multifamily permits in Berkeley.

What’s next: staff will correct the procedural error, prepare a revised ordinance and supplemental materials responding to the council’s requested analyses (including demolition‑ordinance applicability, land‑value recapture considerations and General Plan consistency), schedule additional outreach workshops and return to council with the revised draft. Council explicitly deferred application of the ordinance to the Hillside Overlay/very‑high fire severity zones until the Fire Department’s evacuation study is reviewed.

Sources: staff presentation by Jordan Klein and Anne Hirsch; public testimony; council motions and vote directions.