Council Chambers - 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (between Center & Allston

At This Time No Master Use Permit (MUP) or Industrial Protection Issues

(R&D into Wholesale Trade/Warehouse Space) Projected for March 22Council Meeting

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• Important Issues To Be Addressed at the March 22nd Council Meeting • Reducing/Eliminating Parking Requirements, Easing Permitting for Art & Crafts, Allowing

Arts Performance, Instruction and Rehearsal Studios for Dance, Music, and Theater.

The Schedule Going Forward – Why We Don’t Always Get It Right: An ongoing challenge facing WEBAIC throughout the West Berkeley Project has been receiving timely notice as to when important issues are coming before the Planning Commission and Council.Though we make strenuous efforts to determine agenda items and notice them immediately, the City frequently changes the agenda and the notice we receive is often short. We apologize for any inconvenience resulting from these ongoing, less-than-ideal conditions.

NO Master Use Permit or Wholesale/Warehouse Industrial Protection Issues Expected March 22nd:

City Council meetings are scheduled for March 22nd and March 29th, after which Council breaks until April 26th. On Friday, March 11, Planning Director Dan Marks assured WEBAIC that he doesn’t intend Council to take up either the Master Use Permit or Wholesale Trade/Warehouse Industrial Protection issues on March 22nd.The Council’s Monday, March 15th agenda committee makes the final decisions, but we’re assuming at this point that the MUP and Industrial Protections won’t be addressed on the 22nd.WEBAIC will email an update on Monday the 15th verifying Council’s March 22nd agenda. The Council’s March 29th agenda is unknown to us at this time.

Important Issues Will Be Addressed at the March 22nd Council Meeting: The West Berkeley Project comprises many issues of varying levels of importance to the industrial and arts communities. While we have tracked and commented on all the issues, WEBAIC has been required to focus the majority of our efforts on just a few that are absolutely most critical to our sectors. The March 22nd meeting is scheduled to focus on the second tier issues, several of which do have very important consequences for industry and arts, particularly:

1.) The proposal to allow partial to full parking waivers for expansion of existing buildings and changes of use (including conversions of protected space) to more intensive uses while much of West Berkeley has severe parking problems.

2.) The Planning Commission has proposed Zoning Certificates (ZC), the over-the-counter permit, for Internet Retailers, R&D, and other uses, while still requiring Arts and Crafts Uses and Contractors of all sizes to obtain Administrative Use Permits (AUP) and Use Permits (UP – always requiring a public hearing).

3.) Itappearsthatartsperformance,instruction,andrehearsalstudiosdevotedtodance,music,&theaterusesarenot specifically permitted in any of the four West Berkeley M zones. This oversight should be fixed within this process.

AdditionalIssuestobeaddressedattheMarch22ndMeetingare: Mini-Storage,LotSize.Height/Story/FAR, Office Space/Incidental/Ancillary Space, Food Service, Childcare, Distances of Residences from Incompatible Uses, Warehouse Based Non-Store Retailers, Services to Buildings and Dwellings, Truck and Utility Trailer Rental & Leasing, Research & Development, Contractor, Visual & Aural Arts Production, Alternative Fuel/Charging Stations

Please contact WEBAIC staff at 910-0568 with any concerns about any of the above issues.