After years of study, we are finally on the home stretch for the Corridor Zoning Update in Berkeley. The City Council will be meeting later this summer to vote on whether to accept the Planning Commission’s proposal (and/or make changes), and we need them to hear from you.

This is a big deal. After two years of workshops and study sessions, the city is finally deciding how much new housing to allow on three of North Berkeley's most beloved commercial streets: Solano Avenue, North Shattuck, and College Avenue in the Elmwood. The City Council already gave clear direction: an equitable plan featuring seven-story base zoning, consistent with what Berkeley is doing on other major corridors. Organized opposition from a small group of neighbors has gotten the draft ordinance scaled back, but a workable compromise now sits before the Council.

It is time to close the book on Corridor Zoning so we can continue work to make housing abundant and affordable in Berkeley. Let the Council know that it’s time to get it done: either go with the uniform seven-story corridor option, or, at a minimum, adopt the Planning Commission’s proposal with no further cutbacks and ideally a few improvements.

Why does it matter? These are some of Berkeley's wealthiest, most resource-rich neighborhoods: great schools, good transit, safe streets, amenities, fresh air, and abundant green space. They are exactly where lower-income Berkeleyans, families, service workers, and people of color deserve the chance to live. For decades, exclusionary zoning kept them out. This rezoning is one of our best tools to start changing that. And far from threatening local businesses, more residents living on these corridors means more customers walking to the shops and restaurants that make these streets special, less commuting for employees of these businesses, and more accessibility for the mobility impaired.

It takes two minutes. Click below to send your comment and feel free to customize and sign the letter.