Berkeley to end single-family residential zoning

Trend is growing to end alleged racist zoning

BERKELEY >> The same city that was the birthplace of single-family zoning in the early 1900s has now voted to eliminate it by December 2022.

The Berkeley City Council took the first step early Wednesday morning in a unanimous vote to undo “exclusionary zoning,” which would eliminate single-family residential zoning and allow for other types of housing such as apartments, duplexes and triplexes. Single-family residential zoning has roots that led to racial and economic segregation, according to city officials.

Changing the zoning would allow, for example, an existing house, if large enough, to be turned into a duplex or even a triplex. It also would allow the construction of new buildings such as apartments or condos in neighborhoods where previously, only houses were allowed.

Nearly 70 people addressed the council late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, most of whom urged the council to pass the legislation. Council members made it clear the resolution was intended to start the process to eliminate exclusionary housing. It would still, however, require vetting by the Planning Commission and a change to the city’s general plan.

Mayor Jesse Arreguin said the concept was not radical, but the topic has become very heated in the community.

“Change is scary, change is hard, but it must come sometimes,” he said. “I believe Berkeley must do better to help address issues of racial exclusion.”

Vice Mayor Lori Droste, who introduced the legislation, said although the current Berkeley City Council is not responsible for the history of racial segregation in the city’s zoning codes, “we do have the ability to remedy it.”

Berkeley is thought to be the birthplace of single-family residential zoning; it began in the Elmwood neighborhood in 1916, where it forbade the construction of anything other than one home per lot. That has historically made it difficult for people of color or those with lower incomes to purchase or lease property in sought-after neighborhoods, city officials said.

Councilmember Ben Bartlett said anti-racism “requires us to look at not only our behaviors, but our institutions,” giving the examples of businesses, education systems, prisons and housing. Even after racial discrimination such as redlining — refusing home loans to those in low-income neighborhoods — was outlawed, it continued in the form of single-family zoning, he said.

“We have to face our shadow and tear down our wall,” he said.