Update, Feb. 26, 10:11 a.m. The city manager’s office sent the following notice to city officials at 10:05 a.m. “It is with sadness that I inform you that Eric Angstadt has submitted his resignation as Planning Director effective March 25, 2016 to become the Chief Assistant County Administrator for Contra Costa County. Eric came to Berkeley in […]
Eric Angstadt
Posted inCity, Housing & Development
Berkeley considers ways to build more affordable housing
Transferring development rights to allow for taller buildings. Increasing the amount of affordable housing required for large developments. Offering developers a discount if they pay into the Housing Trust Fund at the beginning of the development process rather than the end. Read more about Berkeley affordable housing. These were some of the ideas tossed around Tuesday night […]
Posted inCity
402 Berkeley buildings found to need fixes after launch of inspection program spurred by balcony collapse
Inspections performed in Berkeley since last year’s deadly balcony collapse at Library Gardens found more than 400 buildings that needed work out of nearly 2,200 with weather-exposed elements, such as balconies, stairways, decks and landings, according to a city report released Wednesday afternoon. The inspections were part of the city’s response to the Library Gardens […]
Posted inCity, Community, Crime & Safety, Housing & Development
‘Severely dry rotted’ timber found after Berkeley balcony collapse; city plans to stiffen safety rules
Update, June 24, 1 p.m. Teresa Drenick, spokeswoman for the Alameda County district attorney’s office, confirmed Wednesday that the office will be taking a look at the balcony collapse. “The District Attorney’s Office is reaching out to the city of Berkeley and our office will begin looking at this matter,” Drenick said Wednesday by email. “I have […]
Posted inBusiness
Berkeley to consider restricting large drugstores, future of proposed Solano Ave. Walgreens store in the balance
Berkeley is set to consider whether to limit the number of larger drugstores in the city, at least in certain neighborhoods, which may put a halt to disputed plans by Walgreens to open a new store on upper Solano Avenue. The issue will be discussed at the city’s Planning Commission meeting Wednesday, March 19. If the commission, a […]
Posted inHousing & Development
Work underway for 4-story MLK apartments in Berkeley
Construction work has been underway at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Dwight for the past few weeks. Photo: Emilie Raguso Work has started on a project to build a four-story apartment building in central Berkeley after a nearly nine-year gap since the city approved the plans. The project as it was approved by the […]
Posted inFire
Berkeley units to stay rent-controlled after 2012 fire
A three-story, six-unit apartment building destroyed by fire early last year will remain rent-controlled, and former residents should have the right to return to the property, city staff said Tuesday night. The Berkeley City Council heard an appeal Tuesday, filed by former tenants, of a June 2013 Zoning Adjustments Board decision regarding the property. Appellants alleged that […]
Posted inBusiness
Testy response to proposed Walgreens on Solano Avenue
A proposed Walgreens on upper Solano Avenue is meeting feisty resistance from neighbors, even before the developer has started the city’s official permit process for the project. About 50 people showed up Thursday, Oct. 24, at an informal public meeting on the plan held at La Farine Bakery, which is across the street from the […]
Posted inCity, Housing & Development, Schools
Berkeley officials crack down on ‘mini-dorms’
After at least eight meetings dating back to late 2011, the Berkeley City Council voted last week to begin to try to curb the proliferation of “mini-dorms” in residential areas around town. Residents, particularly in the campus area, have been speaking out to the city about the problems that can be posed by these set-ups, […]
Posted inHousing & Development
‘The Durant’ apartments win approval from City Council
Tuesday night, the Berkeley City Council upheld a March decision by the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board to allow developers to move ahead with plans to build a 78-unit rental apartment complex in downtown Berkeley. The building, called “The Durant,” is set to have frontage on both Durant Avenue and Channing Way; it’s set mid-block between […]
Posted inNosh
North Berkeley merchants want parklets for the people
Gourmet Ghetto businesses want to build parklets in their neighborhood but the city doesn’t have an approval process in place as yet to review applications for these slivers of open space designed to enhance urban neighborhoods.
Posted inCity
Oakland’s Angstadt to be Berkeley’s new planning director
Update, 8:00pm: At the public comment part of a closed session of the Berkeley City Council tonight, Mayor Tom Bates said that no-one had been hired as director of planning for Berkeley. He said the council would be interviewing Angstadt in the closed session and “our decision will be made after that”. Councilmember Kriss Worthington […]