Tag Archives: Laurie Capitelli
Does new cannabis body provide more accountability?
After months of delay, Berkeley’s new Medical Cannabis Commission will meet for the first time on Thursday, ushering in, city officials hope, a new era of oversight and accountability.
For the past 15 years the medical marijuana business has operated in a gray zone, legal in the city and the state but at risk from crackdowns by the federal government, which does not recognize cannabis as medicine. Despite this uncertainty, the medical cannabis industry has flourished in Berkeley, spawning three … Continue reading »
Berkeley bids for second Lab campus fly under the radar
Richmond is pulling out all the stops in its bid to persuade the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to build its second campus there. A full-blown, city-sponsored advertising campaign includes a billboard on I-80, lawn signs for residents’ front yards and “Richmond (Heart) LBNL” buttons available for all to wear.
Alameda, another bidder for the site, has put $20,000 behind a “Let’s put the (Alameda) Point to work” campaign.
Three Berkeley sites are also on the Lab’s shortlist of six — but if there’s a Berkeley welcoming committee, it’s certainly not making its efforts very visible.
The main reason for that is that the three Berkeley-related bids were submitted by private companies, unlike in Richmond and Alameda where the cities signed off on the bids. … Continue reading »
Berkeley students want better stores, fewer street people
While UC Berkeley students eat regularly downtown and on Telegraph Avenue, they generally go elsewhere to shop for clothes, get their hair cut, buy sundries, or go out on the town, according to a new survey of 1,800 graduate and undergraduate students.
While 40.3% of the respondents say they eat weekly on Telegraph Avenue, at least half said they visit the street less than once a month to shop, work, or get personal or professional services. Instead, they go to Emeryville or San Francisco. The numbers were similar for downtown.
But the students said they would frequent Berkeley’s shops more frequently if the selection was better, the streets were cleaner, and they felt safer walking around. … Continue reading »
City acts to make it easier to do business in Berkeley
Merchants in Berkeley may have an easier time in future opening or expanding a business if eight retail zoning amendments that were approved at Wednesday night’s Planning Commission meeting go on to be implemented.
The city’s approval was interpreted by John DeClercq, co-CEO of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, as a symbolic shift in tone for Berkeley. “Berkeley really does want to be more business-friendly. We have to get rid of the bogeyman. Berkeley needs to open its arms to business,” he said.
All 18 of the city’s merchant associations were surveyed over a two-week period about eight amendments identified by the city’s planning staff.
Five amendments seen as being the easiest to implement, and having the greatest potential impact, involve sidewalk seating, and instituting a straightforward over-the-counter fee to apply for it; allowing ground floors to be used for offices such as insurance agencies; lowering the review process period for restaurants to obtain a beer and wine permit from 6-12 months to 2-4 months; simplifying the review process for new restaurant applications; and lowering the review process for pedestrian-oriented businesses such as banks and exercise studios. (Read the survey for a full description of the proposed amendments.) … Continue reading »
A.G. Ferrari closes Berkeley store, company bankrupt
The Solano Avenue outpost of A.G. Ferrari, the Italian delicatessen chain founded in 1919 in San Jose, has closed after the parent company filed for Chapter 11.
“It’s the last thing I wanted to do,” said A.G. Ferrari Foods’ CEO Paul Ferrari. “We love Solano Avenue and we were hoping we could ride out the recession. But the street needed a certain vibrancy to make the business viable, and upper Solano has been horribly hit by the economic downturn. We weren’t making any money.”
The Solano store had its last day on Sunday. Ferrari said all of its employees have been given jobs elsewhere in the company. High rent was also an issue, Ferrari said. “We were paying way over market rent.” Ferrari believes that, eventually, the neighborhood will come back, but that rents will have to come down.
With the closure, A.G. Ferrari now has a total of 12 stores across the Bay Area, including its College Avenue deli in the Elmwood, which Ferrari said he has no plans to close. All 12 stores are operating as usual, although Ferrari said the company may close more stores in the South Bay. … Continue reading »
City’s best scenario: cuts of $12.5 million
Some of the scale of the budget difficulties face by the City of Berkeley was painted graphically at a special session of the City Council last night. The city faces a deficit of $3 million in its general fund and $9.5 million in its special funds that could require the elimination of 96 positions over the next two years.
“These are tough decisions and they don’t come easily,” said City Manager Phil Kamlarz, introducing the discussion. City Budget Manager Teresa Berkeley-Simmons described the pressure on the city from shrinking state and federal budgets as “staggering”.
Three Berkeley sites proposed for new LBL campus
When officials from Berkeley Lab open proposals for a second campus today, there will be three Berkeley-based offers: one at Golden Gate Fields, and two separate projects near Aquatic Park, according to informed sources who asked not to be named.
The fact that there are three sites proposed in Berkeley may give the city a good shot at snaring the Lab’s expansion, since it is more than any other city is offering. Alameda, Emeryville, Dublin, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Albany and Richmond are also vying to grab the second campus, which is expected to generate thousands of jobs in the coming years. … Continue reading »
Slim council majority for changing West Berkeley zoning
After three marathon public hearings, a narrow majority of the Berkeley City Council supports lifting protections on zoning in West Berkeley.
The council voted 5-4 Tuesday night to have staff report back on impacts within 30 days once 100,000 sq. ft. of protected warehouse and manufacturing space have been converted to new uses. Four members — Jesse Arreguin, Max Anderson, Kriss Worthington and Linda Maio — opposed the measure, seeking instead a plan that would set a cap of 100,000 sq. ft. for changes to currently protected properties. The impact study — supported by Mayor Tom Bates, Darryl Moore, Gordon Wozniak, Laurie Capitelli and Susan Wengraf — was an attempt to answer concerns about changes.
The vote last night is the first of many stages that will lead to a council vote on a final ordinance. … Continue reading »
Councilman Max Anderson in hospital for back surgery
City councilmember Max Anderson has missed the last two council meetings because of a bad back.
Anderson had surgery early this week to repair the problem, and the operation went well, according to Councilmember Laurie Capitelli.
The operation was necessary because the pain was so bad, said Capitelli. He expects Anderson to be out of commission for another few weeks.
Anderson represents District 3, the south-central part of Berkeley.
Is it hard to do business in Berkeley?
On May 5, 2010, Robin Dalrymple walked excitedly into Berkeley’s Planning Department to apply for a use permit. She wanted to convert the vacant Ritz Camera store on Solano Avenue into an ice cream parlor.
Eight months later, her store is still not open.
Veronica Bradley signed a lease in April 2010 to transform what had been Left Coast Cyclery on Domingo Avenue into a store selling olive oil from around the world. After working with five city departments — building and safety, health, zoning, public works and engineering, and fire prevention – she finally got a permit in November. The store opened Dec. 24.
It took Jim Meyers only six weeks to launch his store, Wine Thieves, in Lafayette. It hasn’t been that easy in Berkeley. He has been trying since March to open a branch on Domingo Avenue. He is crossing his fingers that he can open the store next week.
“We have had the most difficult time,” said Bradley, who said she paid more than $50,000 in rent before Amphora Nueva opened. “We heard this about Berkeley, but we had no idea it would be so challenging. I blame it on the city of Berkeley. Given the vacancies you would think they would do whatever they could to make the process a little less painful, a little less costly. In other parts of the country cities bend over backwards to help business.”
Berkeley has long had a reputation of being a difficult city in which to do business. There are many factors contributing to this perception, including complex zoning laws, neighborhood business quotas, and a 60’s era desire to give neighborhoods, rather than the planning department, discretion in saying what kinds of businesses can move into nearby commercial districts.
The impediments to doing business, and the large number of vacant storefronts, so frustrated City Councilmember Laurie Capitelli that he introduced a number of measures in December to overhaul regulations governing Solano Avenue. The City Council directed city staff to return with a series of recommendations to simplify Berkeley’s zoning ordinances, permit processes, design review and neighborhood quotas. Staff is scheduled to go back to council with a set of ideas in early February.
“If we make some simple tweaks for things that aren’t controversial, we can make a significant difference,” said Michael Caplan, Berkeley’s manager of economic development.
