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Those in favor spoke about the house’s beauty and charm, but others raised the issue of a Bay Area housing crisis and exclusionary neighborhoods.
Students are choosing to live at home or withdraw for the semester. Some are still deciding. Of those who stay enrolled, only 3,200 will be able to stay in on-campus housing.
Mayor Jesse Arreguín made the decision to pull the golden duplex item after so many council members recused themselves that it made it difficult to move the issue forward.
The City Council will look tonight at whether to place a measure on the November ballot eliminating the rent control exemption for golden duplexes.
The house was moved a few blocks to make way for construction of a new 37-unit building on Bancroft Way between Shattuck Avenue and Milvia Street.
Berkeley’s zoning board has approved eight medium-to-large housing projects around the city in 2020 totalling 560 units. See the roundup.
It’s been a big week for subsidized housing in Berkeley. And it just got bigger.
Mayor Jesse Arreguín said it’s the largest amount he could recall Berkeley ever having gotten from the state for affordable housing over his 16 years serving the city.
As many as 60 people from Berkeley will now move indoors from shelters or tents.
The project also includes 89 units of affordable housing, at 50%-60% of the area median income, that will be available to the general public on a lottery basis. It is slated to open in 2022.
The fund has paid for rent from March through June for about 214 people. Most of the payments went directly to Berkeley landlords.
The Rent Board wants voters to adopt those and other changes to the rent control ordinance. The City Council must decide whether to put the changes on the Nov. 3 ballot.
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