Berkeley votes to move forward with housing project near BART
BERKELEY (KPIX) -- Berkeley has taken a step toward addressing the need for housing in its community.
After a meeting that lasted more than six hours, the Berkeley city council voted unanimously to work with BART on seven-story housing projects at two sites.
The buildings would be erected in the BART parking lots at the North Berkeley and Ashby stations. They're expected to bring more than 3,000 units but neighbors have concerns.
"I think it's really scary," Berkeley resident Mira Labelle said.
"I have really mixed feelings about it," said Andy Livsey.
Livsey lives right across the street from the North Berkeley BART station. He, along with many of his neighbors, has a sign in his yard that reads "Neighbors not towers."
The Berkeley city council ultimately ended up voting for 7-story buildings that could possibly go up to 12 stories with approximately 3,600 units. Mayor Jesse Arreguin says this is a big step to address the housing issues in Berkeley.
"We have a housing emergency. A particular need for housing that is deeply affordable for people in our community," Arreguin said.
Mayor Arreguin says that, at minimum, 35% of the living units will be affordable and that this is the best use of the expansive parking lots at the BART stations.
"The last four years we've been working with BART and our community on how to plan housing in these two parking lots and really think that land should be better used for housing rather than housing cars," the mayor said.
Many residents disagree. Their concerns range from the kind of shadow a 7-story building would cast on their neighborhoods to the traffic nightmare it could create as BART riders look for street parking.
"One of the reasons this BART station is so successful is that people can drive here and park. All of that parking is going to be gone and they're making the assumption that the people moving in will not have cars," Labelle said.
The mayor says it will take several years of planning to get shovels in the ground but the hope is to have the project completed in 10 years.