Berkeley's Planning Commission is meeting on May 6 to vote on whether to send the Corridors Zoning Update to City Council, and we need them to hear from you before noon on Tuesday, May 5.

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: seven-story base zoning, consistent with what Berkeley is doing on other major corridors. But organized opposition from a small group of neighbors has gotten the draft ordinance scaled back significantly and threatens to delay it indefinitely.

We want the Commission to send Council the strongest, simplest possible recommendation: seven stories across the full corridors, not just a handful of cherry-picked sites,now, without more delays.

Why does it matter? These are some of Berkeley's wealthiest, most resource-rich neighborhoods: great schools, good transit, safe streets, 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 before the Tuesday noon deadline.