Public Comment

RE: February 14, 2023, City Council Meeting Item 13

Dear Mayor Arreguin and City Council Members:


The Berkeley Neighborhoods Council is writing to support Item 13a, “updating the citywide Affordable
Housing Requirements in the Zoning Ordinance,” with the changes proposed by Councilmember Harrison
(Item 13b).

We are opposed to the changes proposed by Councilmembers Taplin and Humbert (Item 13c).
Offering developers the option to “fee-out” has led to us far exceeding our RHNA goals for market rate housing while sorely missing the mark on BMR units. We believe that the AHMF must be used to incentivize building BMR units into every project proposed in our city for us to maintain socioeconomic diversity in our city and to meet the high goals set by ABAG. Giving discounts to developers only encourages them to pay a fee that (even when leveraged with federal and state money) does not cover the cost of actually building BMR units.

The proposed Square Foot Ordinance is a start to closing loopholes that developers have used for decades to reduce the fees they pay, but still gives large discounts to developers. The Taplin-Humbert Supplemental only increases those discounts. Proponents of the Tamplin-Humpert amendment believe that it will create more missing middle housing. Unfortunately, what they fail to understand is that missing middle sized housing does not equal missing middle income. Just because the size of the project is between single family and a large apartment building doesn't mean it will be affordable to middle class
families. 

The Harrison Supplemental reduces the discounts given to developers, thus incentivizing them to build BMR units on site which builds more inclusive communities and minimizes the risks that solely low-income housing has incurred in the past. It also uses the findings of the study conducted by Street Level Advisors to prove it is a feasible plan. 

Please support the Harrison Supplemental which moves the needle in the right direction and reject the
Taplin-Humbert Supplemental which does the opposite. 

Sincerely, 

The BNC Executive Committee: 

Dean Metzger
Shirley Dean
Janis Ching
Meryl Siegal
David Ushijima
Paola Laverde
Willie Phillips