The city will transfer the contested Spenger’s parking lot in West Berkeley to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, making it among the first cities in the country to return land to Indigenous people.
West Berkeley Shellmound
Berkeley must pay $4M after illegally blocking housing project at Ohlone shellmound site
The city violated state housing law by denying a developer’s application to build a 260-unit housing complex at 1900 Fourth St., a judge ruled.
Surfacing Strawberry Creek in downtown Berkeley would fulfill decades-long dream
A group of activists think they see a glimpse of daylight in their 25-year quest to have water burble freely through Civic Center Park.
Berkeley City Council to begin all meetings with a land acknowledgment
Intended as a “starting point” for reparative work with local Indigenous people, a land acknowledgment will be displayed at every meeting and read aloud monthly.
Spenger’s development can proceed on site of Ohlone shellmound, court rules
The decision by the California Supreme Court means a 260-unit complex with 130 units of affordable housing can proceed on the contested Ohlone land.
City appeals decision to allow 260-unit complex at 1900 Fourth St.
An appellate court said Berkeley should automatically approve a project on the Shellmound landmark site, but the city is pushing back.
Court rules a 260-unit apartment complex can go up at 1900 Fourth St., a site the Ohlone consider sacred
The court ruling, which Berkeley may appeal, is the latest development in a long-running fight about the property.
‘This feels cruel, that our sacred site is now imprisoned.’ Ohlones protest new fence around ancestral land
The owners of 1900 Fourth St. want to build housing and retail on the old Spenger’s parking lot, which sits in the middle of Berkeley’s shellmound district.
West Berkeley Shellmound is now considered one of the U.S.’s 11 most endangered historic places
Native Americans and their supporters hope the designation will help them stop a planned 260-unit development at 1900 Fourth St., a lot that is part of the West Berkeley Shellmound.
Judge rules for Berkeley in developer’s lawsuit over Spenger’s parking lot
The judge said the city could deny Ruegg & Ellsworth’s SB35 application because the site is landmarked, even though there are no significant structures on the property and little shellmound evidence has been found.
Judge to rule on whether Berkeley illegally nixed a housing complex on Spenger’s parking lot
The owners of 1900 Fourth St. sued Berkeley over the city’s denial of their SB35 housing application. The law allows almost automatic approval of complexes where 50% of the units are “affordable.”
Berkeley rejects SB35 application for Spenger’s lot development, again
The city was not swayed by the developers’ appeal for a 260-unit complex with 130 affordable apartments.