Category: Actions

By Posted on Posted in Actions
DEMO_1106
Scenes like this will no longer be confined to Southside if revisions to the Demolition Ordinance allow destruction of small rental properties to build expensive commuter apartments.

DATE: November 5, 2013
TO: Planning Commissioners
RE: Demolition Ordinance

SUMMARY: Please preserve affordable housing by again recommending the June 4 compromise on the Demolition Ordinance. Please find attached our petition — with 270 signatures.

Respected Planning Commissioners:

The Berkeley Tenants Union is extremely concerned about proposed changes to the demolition ordinance. As you may recall, you already approved changes to this zoning code in the spring. We think it might be a bit confusing that this law is before you once again, so we have tried to provide a comprehensive summary with links to all relevant documents in this correspondence.

In December of 2011, the Berkeley City Council directed staff to draft amended language to Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 23C.08, the “Demolition and Elimination of Dwelling Units Ordinance.” (Document: Council Direction 12-6-11) In June of 2013, staff presented a draft that met all the requests Council made in 2011, and was approved by the Rent Board and the Planning Commission. The same draft has also been presented one month before, at the 4×4 Committee, and neither Mayor Bates nor Councilman Capitelli voiced any concerns with the draft. On June 4, it looked like Council was going to pass this compromise draft (Document: June 4 draft), until time ran out on the meeting.

Then something changed. The Council began to question the June 4 compromise, and considered a new draft, perhaps hastily prepared, presented at the July 2 Council meeting. (Document: July 2 Draft). The new draft appeared to be based on requests made by developer Equity Residential (Document: ER Letter to Council), who are now Berkeley’s largest landlord. Since Council got letters of objection from many civic groups, including the Sierra Club, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, Berkeley Neighborhoods Council, and Berkeley Tenants Union, they sent the Ordinance back to the Planning Commission and the Housing Advisory Commission.

What do these drafts say?

Currently BMC 23C says “controlled rental units” cannot be eliminated unless the owner “cannot make a fair return on investment by maintaining the dwelling unit as a part of the rental housing market” and that those apartments must also be “seriously deteriorated beyond the conditions which might reasonably be expected due to normal use.” It also says that demolished rent controlled units must be replaced with permanently affordable housing. (Document: DemoCURRENT)

Problems with the current law arose because the City Attorney decided that empty units which would otherwise be under rent control are not “controlled rental units” and therefore not subject to the rules above. This means any empty unit can be torn down with no mitigation for the loss of affordable older units which would be under rent control if they were rented. Such a policy encourages owners to leave buildings to rot, promotes evictions and harassment, and may violate not only the Demolition law, but also the voter-approved Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance. (Document: NPO)

To end the controversy about the interpretation of the law, the Rent Board and the City Council called for revisions, but Council also asked that new rules require “units are replaced with an equal or greater number of new units inclusive of the current number of existing affordable units.” (Document: Council Direction 12-6-11) Likewise, the June 4 draft required developers who tear down multiunit buildings built before 1980 (those covered by rent control) replace them with “designated below-market rate units equal in number and comparable in size to the demolished units.”

However, the July and August drafts do not call for one-for-one replacement of affordable rent controlled units with housing for low-income renters. The July 2 and August 30 drafts both require developers pay a fee into the Housing Trust Fund. However, the fee in the July 2 draft is about 10% of what it costs to build an affordable unit, and the fee in the August 30 draft is unspecified and thus could be changed by City Council at any time. (Document: Worse Aug 30 draft)

There are numerous other problems with the July and August drafts. For example, one scheme outlined by developer Equity Residential was included in the July draft. This calls for replacement units in the new building which would be “designated rent increase restricted” – however, the Rent Board (Document: Berkeley Rent Board letter) and East Bay Community Law Center (Document: EBCLC Letter) have both pointed out that this violates the state law called Costa-Hawkins, because that law banned any new rent control in California, even if you call it by another name.

In addition, later drafts contradict the voter-approved Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance and may be challenged in court if they are made law. (Document: NPO)

Several community groups have sent communications on this issue that raise various additional concerns, such as the wisdom of tearing down perfectly fine small buildings at all, and the environmental impact of encouraging growth through demolition. You can find copies of public communications from The Sierra Club, Berkeley NAACP, Berkeley Neighborhoods Council, and Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assn. on our website along with all documents we have linked to in the text above.

The real question here is what kind of community benefits does Berkeley need in exchange for allowing speculators to tear down a useable rent controlled building in order to build a bigger one with market rate apartments? This is not just about what legal mitigations a nexus study might allow. We can actually choose, as Berkeley did in the 1970s, to ban demolition altogether. BTU hopes you might realize that rent control has been Berkeley’s most successful affordable housing program, and that rent controlled units should be preserved, even if they are not rented at this time.

You can choose not to allow demolition – and you should choose this if there is going to be a long wait for a Nexus study.

Please see the attached petition, with 270 signatures. Please note that, following pages with electronic signatures and comments, there are scans of the paper petitions.

Please again recommend the June 4 compromise draft.

Sincerely,
Berkeley Tenants Union Steering Committee, on behalf of the tenants of Berkeley

P.S. All documents mentioned in this correspondence can be found here:
https://www.berkeleytenants.org/?page_id=773

By Posted on Posted in Actions

100913Thursday, October 10 at 5 PM
Final Public Hearing on Seismic Retrofits
City of Berkeley Hearing sponsored by ASUC
UC Berkeley Alumni Hall: 2537 Haste Street

Currently, the plan is to allow landlords to pass costs onto tenants if the landlord can claim paying for the retrofit is a hardship. Since Rent Board rules already allow owners to pass costs on to tenants if they are not making a fair return on their investment, these new hardship rules imply that owners who “need” to raise rents for seismic safety are already making a fair return, so where is the hardship??!

REVISED DATE! Tuesday, November 19 at 7 PM
Seismic Retrofits to City Council
Council Chambers: 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way

The Rent Board recommendations were posted in a recent BTU update: Rent Board Seismic
The Housing Advisory Commission recommendations: HAC Memo SWOF with HAC amendments

more info:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Planning_and_Development/Building_and_Safety/Soft_Story_Program.aspx

By Posted on Posted in Actions
garages
2091 California is already retrofitted.

This Thursday, October 3, the Housing Advisory Commission will vote on their recommendations to Council regarding the law to require landlords to fix unsound buildings. BTU attended the last HAC meeting to speak about our concern:

Tenants should not have to pay extra rent for safe housing!

The City will hold the final public hearing on the law to require seismic retrofits for Berkeley’s most unstable rental housing on October 10 at 5 PM. Since the first hearing was held over the summer, and so many students live in these “soft story” buildings, the October hearing is cosponsored by Berkeley’s ASUC and will be held on campus but open to everyone. Only five tenants spoke at the July 27 hearing, although more than 40 landlords were present.

On September 16, the Berkeley Rent Board finished their recommendations to Council, which cite many ways that owners with financial hardship could pay for retrofits without raising rents. However, even the Rent Board voted to consider amending rules so that landlords can raise rents! If tenants do not speak out at the meetings listed below, Berkeley tenants could see increases under the new mandatory retrofit rules like those in San Francisco, where rents in unsafe buildings are going up an average of $900 a year!

Seismic Retrofit Recommendations
Thursday October 3 – 7 PM
Housing Advisory Commission
South Berkeley Senior Center

Final Public Hearing on Seismic Retrofits
Thursday October 10 — 5 PM
City of Berkeley Hearing sponsored by ASUC
UC Berkeley Alumni Hall – 2537 Haste Street

Seismic Retrofits to City Council
REVISED DATE November 19 — 7 PM
Council Chambers: 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way

City website, including draft law and inventory of unsafe buildings:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Planning_and_Development/Building_and_Safety/Soft_Story_Program.aspx

Rent Board recommendations:
Rent Board Seismic

By Posted on Posted in Actions

April 28 BTU - 18Good news on the Demolition Ordinance!

On September 12, the Housing Advisory Committee voted unanimously to support one-for-one replacement of demolished rent controlled units with permanently affordable housing. They recommended the good June 4 compromise draft over the more recent drafts, which provide incentive for developers to empty buildings of all tenants.

The key vote on the Demolition Ordinance will be the one by the Planning Commission on November 6. BTU will be calling all tenants to come out to the meeting. We need Planning on our side to save Berkeley from the bulldozer.

By Posted on Posted in Actions

Berkeley Citizens Action will join BTU to discuss shared concerns at our Fall Potluck, Wednesday September 18.

Free Tenant Counseling by the Eviction Defense Center at 6 PM !!!

Food and Friends at 6:30 PM. Grassroots House, 2022 Blake @ Shattuck

SunsetUPCOMING DATES OF INTEREST TO TENANTS

Campaign Violations, Berkeley Democratic Club
Thursday September 19 – 7 PM
Fair Campaign Practices Commission
North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave @ MLK

Free Housing Counseling for Seniors
Friday, September 20 – 12 PM
Counseling by Berkeley Rent Board
South Berkeley Senior Center: 2939 Ellis Street @ Ashby

More after the jump…

Read more »

By Posted on Posted in Actions

Demolition Ordinance to Housing Commission ThursdayBerkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission (HAC) will consider several hot issues at their meeting on Thursday September 12, including mandatory retrofits of seismically unsafe apartment buildings and alarming changes to the demolition ordinance which would threaten rent control and lead to evictions.

The HAC will also hear an update about the exciting new program that offers energy efficient upgrades to tenants and landlords, a proposed ordinance declaring mold unhealthy in rental units, and changes to the affordable housing fees developers of new buildings must pay to offset the impact of unaffordable units on the community.

TENANTS, Come Out and Have Your Say!

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis Street, at 7 PM Thursday

Demolition Ordinance
The Berkeley NAACP joined with other organizations like BTU and the Sierra Club in opposing new drafts of the Demolition Ordinance which don’t require rent controlled apartments be replaced with units affordable to low-income residents.

The Berkeley NAACP top priority recommendation in the Housing category for the report from their summer Town Hall meeting was, “Demolition Ordinance will include the replacement of all affordable housing that is demolished.” Unfortunately, there is a new draft of the demo ordinance that came out on August 30 which would allow developers to tear down rent controlled units, even those which are occupied or in good condition, and not replace them. The new draft allows developers to pay an unspecified fee which could be changed by City Council at any time.

BTU is standing by our request that Council approve the June 4th compromise draft, and we are still collecting signatures for our petition, which we will also present to the HAC.

https://www.change.org/petitions/berkeley-city-council-preserve-affordable-housing

NAACP Town Hall report: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Planning_and_Development/Level_3_-_LPC/Item%2012.A.2_NAACP%20Corrospondance.pdf

Seismic Retrofits
BTU is determined that tenants should not be forced to pay a rent increase just because their building will stand up for 3-5 more seconds in a major earthquake.

Mold
Right now, Berkeley Housing Code Enforcement can’t cite for mold in apartment buildings because even severe mold, which causes asthma and other health problems, is not defined in our city codes as a hazard. This new law is based on one that has protected San Francisco tenants for years.

If you can’t come to the Housing Commission meeting Thursday, write to them care of kslee@cityofberkeley.info

By Posted on Posted in Actions

potluck_01Our friends from the Eviction Defense Center will provide Tenant Counseling from 6 to 6:30 PM before this month’s BTU gathering.

Come break bread with tenants, smart landlords, activists, and everyone who wants to keep rent control strong and working in Berkeley. Bring any dish you like – but vegetarian food is always encouraged!

If any members have an announcement to share, please contact us before the meeting to be allocated time. We will keep announcements brief, but both of the issues BTU has been focused on this summer are coming up before the Planning Commission, Rent Board and City Council. Learn what you can do to stop dangerous revisions to the Demolition Ordinance, and finally move forward the requirement to retrofit the apartment buildings identified in 2005 as “Soft Story.” EDC will also say a few words about the problems they are seeing most from Berkeley tenants.

When:  August 14, 2013 6:30-8:30

Tenant’s Rights counseling at 6pm, potluck from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Where: Grassroots House, 2022 Blake, Berkeley between Milvia and Shattuck map

Children are welcome.  Please contact us if you would like to share childcare arrangements.

Note: beginning September 18, Potlucks will be the third Wednesday of the month.

By Posted on Posted in Actions

Tenants are urged to speak out about paying for these earthquake safety improvements.

  • Wednesday, August 7th 7pm
    Disaster and Fire Safety Commission
    Fire Department Training Facility
    997 Cedar Street @ 8th Street
  • Monday, August 26th, 7pm
    Rent Stabilization Board
    Council Chambers
    2134 Martin Luther King Jr Way @ Center St
  • Wednesday, Sep 4th, 7pm
    Planning Commission
    North Berkeley Senior Center
    1901 Hearst Street @ MLK
  • Thursday, Sep 12th, 7pm
    Housing Advisory Commission
    South Berkeley Senior Center
    2939 Ellis Street @ Ashby

more info: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Planning_and_Development/Building_and_Safety/Soft_Story_Program.aspx

By Posted on Posted in Actions

softstoryBTU is very focused on Seismic Safety this summer. San Francisco passed a mandatory retrofit law that allows landlords to pass the costs of seismic upgrades to their tenants; it has been reported that the average rent increase there will be $900 a year! We won’t let this happen in Berkeley! Please join BTU by coming to our August 14 Potluck to learn how you can help.

The really good news at the first public hearing on retrofits, held July 25, was that the city has hired one staff member to deal with “Soft-Story Phase 2” – the retrofit law. Berkeley has not really enforced the 2005 rules (“Soft Story Phase 1”) in part because there has been no dedicated staff in the Housing department for this work.

Berkeley landlords had a huge turnout July 25, with their comments ranging from helpful suggestions to difficult demands. Several landlords pointed out that the city permit process makes it more expensive to retrofit by making their construction timeline uncertain and requiring additional safety work be done at the time the retrofit permit is issued. Many also claimed they can’t afford a retrofit and can’t get a loan to do one. The city has discussed creating a low-interest loan fund for owners who really can’t afford to make their buildings safer, but several landlords said they want to see a zero-interest loan from the city.

Most tenants who spoke talked about how they want their building to be safe, but believe any substantial rent increase would be a hardship. Some said they were willing to pay a little more rent if they could afford it. Tenants also spoke about fear of temporary relocation, but Rent Board speaker Matthew Siegel said few retrofits are expected to require relocation. Landlords said the law (Relocation Ordinance), which requires that owners pay a “rent differential” and other expenses for tenants who must temporarily move out, is unfair.

Currently, 109 buildings on the original unsafe list are now retrofit, while 18 have not even done the engineering report required under the 2005 law. There has been no city tracking of compliance with the required posting of warning signs, but BTU joined the Third Annual Day of Seismic Action and found many buildings lacked signage. No fines have been issued.

The Rent Board speaker said that agency would consider allowing costs to be passed through to tenants, so we intend to gather tenants to speak at upcoming hearings at the Rent Board (possibly AUGUST 26), Disaster and Fire Safety Commission (AUGUST 7), and the Planning Commission (SEPTEMBER 4).

July 25 Hearing:
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2013/07/26/berkeley-renews-focus-on-retrofitting-soft-story-buildings/#disqus_thread

Draft Legislation:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Planning_and_Development/Building_and_Safety/Soft_Story_Program.aspx

No Signs Posted at Many Unsafe Structures:
Seismic Day of Action 2013 Report 

Related: Alameda renters got eviction notices from the new owners at Marina View Towers. Carmel Apartments will evict 84 families to perform seismic retrofits.
http://blog.sfgate.com/inalameda/2013/07/27/the-broad-brush-your-alameda-news-in-60-seconds-33/