On June 10, 2014, ZAB heard and denied the huge extensions to 2201-05 Blake St. and 2204 Dwight Way because they found that they would be detrimental. The developer appealed the denials to the City Council, who will meet to hear the matters at 7:00 pm on January 13 in Old City Hall, 2134 MLK Jr. Way. If the Council would read the materials that neighbors have submitted, they would be very unlikely to overturn the ZAB’s denials. But we hear that very few of them read their packets before Council meetings. Continue reading
City Council Agendas
This could have been a blank post. The City Clerk has stated that no detailed agendas will be available until tomorrow, despite the fact that there are 5 Council Meetings scheduled for this month, starting on January 13th. So much for keeping residents informed in a timely manner!
Nigel Guest
goBerkeley Parking Pilot enters a new phase
The City wants to hear from you about your experiences and what you think should happen next.
goBerkeley, which will run from July 2013 to March 2015, adjusted parking prices, time limits, and parking signs to better match visitor needs, while providing free transit passes and subsidized carshare memberships to employees and residents in three Pilot Areas: Downtown, Southside/Telegraph, and the Elmwood. Continue reading
BESO ordinance
The City Council postponed the 2nd reading of the proposed BESO ordinance until 7 pm, Jan. 20th, at Old City Hall, on MLK. Most people didn’t know anything about the ordinance until Berkeleyside published an article a month ago:
Do the City’s Email Alerts Work?
Now they do!
I am subscribed to alerts for the Council and four commissions, but hadn’t seen anything for a long time. I checked the “Subscribe” link on a couple of Commission webpages, and they led nowhere. Many residents are complaining that they’ve been blindsided by a new ordinance from the Energy Commission, so I wondered, is the system working at all? I complained to the Council, citing the proposed ordinance (BESO) and a week later, everything worked! Thank you, Councilmembers!
Nigel Guest
The Aftermath of the Big Soccer Game
On July 26th, the California Memorial Stadium hosted its first international soccer game, which caused considerable disruption in the City. Frankly, the stadium’s design and location isn’t suited to such events. Even the playing surface had to be changed, from Astroturf to grass. As compensation, a City ordinance allows it to collect a tax of 10% of the gross revenues of any professional sporting event within its boundaries, and the courts have ruled that this applies to the University, because such events are not part of its core mission. Continue reading