Zoning Adjustments Board - June 11, 2026

June 11, 2026 · Zoning Adjustments Board

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Agenda

2. EX-PARTE COMMUNICATIONS: In the context of adjudicative matters that come before

the ZAB, ex-parte communications are those which occur outside of the formal hearing process. ZAB members should avoid ex-parte contacts on matters pending before the ZAB as much as possible, as they may represent, or be perceived to represent, the receipt of evidence that can unfairly influence a decision on a matter before the Commission. If such contacts do occur, they must be placed in the record and disclosed to all interested parties sufficiently in advance of the decision to allow rebuttal.

3. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT: The Commission recognizes that the

community we live in was built on the territory of xučyun (Huchiun (Hooch-yoon)), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo (Cho-chen-yo)-speaking Ohlone (Oh-low- nee) people, the ancestors and descendants of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. This land was and continues to be of great importance to all of the Ohlone Tribes and descendants of the Verona Band. As we begin our meeting tonight, we acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of Berkeley, the documented 5,000-year history of a vibrant community at the West Berkeley Shellmound, and the Ohlone people who continue to reside in the East Bay. We recognize that Berkeley’s residents have and continue to benefit from the use and occupation of this unceded stolen land since the City of Berkeley’s incorporation in 1878. As stewards of the laws regulating the City of Berkeley, it is not only vital that we recognize the history of this land, but also recognize that the Ohlone people are present members of Berkeley and other East Bay communities today. The City of Berkeley will continue to build relationships with the Lisjan Tribe and to create meaningful actions that uphold the intention of this land acknowledgement.

4. PUBLIC COMMENT on Non-Agenda and Information Items (Three minutes per person;

five minutes per organization, or at the discretion of the Chairperson)

5. ORDER OF AGENDA

The Zoning Adjustments Board has the right to rearrange the order of the agenda in order to accommodate projects that will not require significant time.

6. CONSENT CALENDAR

Consent Calendar items are considered routine and non-controversial. Prior to public comment, the Board may move items on the agenda from the Action to the Consent Calendar. Any member of the public may request that the Board consider moving an item from the Consent Calendar to the Action Calendar. Any member of the Board may move an item from the Consent Calendar to the Action Calendar. At any time during or immediately after public comment on Consent items, the Board may move any Consent item to the Action Calendar. Following public comment, the Board will vote on the items remaining in the Consent Calendar in one motion. By approval of the Consent Calendar, the staff recommendations will be adopted unless otherwise modified by the Board. ZONING ADJUSTMENTS BOARD AGENDA June 11, 2026 Page 4 of 5 A. Approval of Meeting Minutes: May 14, 2026 Recommendation: APPROVE B. Use Permit #ZP2025-0084 2620 Telegraph Avenue: To add alcohol retail sales (beer and wine) for a Type 20 Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) license to an existing general retail store. Zoning: Corridor Commercial District (C-C) CEQA Categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15301 (“Existing Determination: Facilities”) of the CEQA Guidelines. Applicant: Mateo Cauchi, San Jose, CA Owner: 2616 Telegraph Avenue LLC, Berkeley, CA Staff Planner: Marytonae Sanchez, msanchez@berkeleyca.gov, 510-981-7419 APPROVE Use Permit #ZP2025-0084 pursuant to Section Recommendation: 23.406.040(E) “Findings for Approval”

Attachments (5)

7. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

A. Design Review Committee (DRC) https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/boards-commissions/design-review- committee

Attachments (2)

12. ADJOURN

ZONING ADJUSTMENTS BOARD AGENDA June 11, 2026 Page 5 of 5 NOTICE CONCERNING LEGAL RIGHTS If you object to a decision by the Zoning Adjustments Board regarding a land use permit project, the following requirements and restrictions apply:

Attachments (10)

Agenda Items

  1. 00:04:06 Consent Calendar The board discussed the 2620 Telegraph Avenue consent calendar item, clarified that certain alcohol-related management requirements are handled by ABC or other departments, and approved the consent calendar.
  2. 00:07:09 Subcommittee Reports Commissioner Thompson reported that the Design Review Committee reviewed the 2800 Telegraph project, including exterior changes, rooftop landscaping, street trees, and possible bird-safe glass.

Transcript

Warning: This transcript is automatically generated by machine and may contain errors, including misheard words, misattributed speakers, and omitted passages. Always listen to the audio or video recording before assuming the transcript correctly reflects what was said. Do not rely on the transcript alone for quotation, reporting, or any other purpose where accuracy matters.
Hello, oh, there we go. Wonderful. All right. Hello. Welcome everyone to the June 11th, 2026
zoning adjustment board meeting. I will start off by reading the public advisory.
The meeting will be conducted in a hybrid model with in-person and virtual participation.
The teleconference will be recorded as any ZAB meeting is recorded and all other rules and
procedures and decorums will apply for ZAB meetings conducted by teleconference or video conference.
To access the meeting remotely, join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device.
Please use the URL which is listed on your agenda. If you do not wish for your name to
be appear on the screen, then use the drop down menu and click on rename to rename yourself to
be anonymous. To request to speak, use the raised hand icon by rolling over the bottom of the screen.
To join by phone, dial the number on your agenda and enter the webinar ID which is also in the agenda.
if you wish to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda press star nine and wait
to be recognized by the chair. Public testimony guidelines for in person. To speak at a public
hearing please submit a speaker card to planning staff prior to the start of the meeting. Those are
the ones that are up there and they're yellow or green. I forget which one but they're one of those.
This meeting will be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act Government Code section 54953. Any
Any member of the public may attend this meeting.
The chair may limit the number of speakers
and the length of time allowed to each speaker.
I will always do in-person attendance
or in-person testimony first
and then I will go online
and I will let you know when to raise your hand
if you are online.
We will now start with roll call
and ex parte communications.
Thank you.
When I state your name,
please disclose any ex parte communications
and state present.
Commissioner Duffy.
President, no ex parte.
Chair Gaffney.
Present, no ex parte.
Commissioner Thompson.
Present, no ex parte.
Commissioner Cramer.
Present, no ex parte.
Commissioner Allen.
Present, no ex parte.
Commissioner Choi.
Present, no ex parte.
Commissioner Sanderson.
Present, no ex parte.
Thank you.
All right, wonderful, welcome everyone.
I will do the land acknowledgement statement now.
The commission recognizes that the community we live in
was built on the territory of the Huijun,
the ancestral and unceded land of the Chuchan-speaking
Ohlone people, the ancestors and descendants
of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County.
This land was and continues to be of great importance
to all Ohlone tribes and descendants of the Verona Band.
As we begin our meeting tonight, we acknowledge and honor
the original inhabitants of Berkeley,
the documented 5,000 year history of a vibrant community
at the West Berkeley Shell Mound and the Ohlone people
continue to reside in East Bay. We recognize that Berkeley's residents have and continue to
benefit from the use and occupation of this unseated stolen land since the city of Berkeley's
incorporation in 1878. As stewards of the law regulating the city of Berkeley, it is not only
vital that we recognize the history of this land, but also recognize that the Ohlone people are
present members of Berkeley and other East Bay communities today. The city of Berkeley will
continue to build relationships with the Lajon tribe and to create meaningful actions that uphold
And we will now go to the
next slide.
Or we will now go to public
comments on nonagenda matters.
The only item on it will there's
the minutes but then the only
actual thing on the consent
calendar is 2, 6, 2, 0
telegraph. So please I don't
have anyone in person but raise
your hand right now online if
you have anything to say on
I'm going to go ahead and do a
second. I'm going to go ahead and
do a second.
All right. We're looking good on there. Okay.
6. Consent Calendar
So we will move to the consent calendar, which is what we.
We only have one item today, which is currently on the consent calendar.
Remember that the consent calendar is if we vote on it,
that means that the item will pass. So if we do not pull it from the
consent calendar, then.
The item will pass if we approve the consent calendar. So that item,
and item B, which is 2620 Telegraph Avenue.
I will first at least open it up to the commission.
This is not your last time to speak.
I'll open it up to the public,
but if anyone has a question or comment for him.
Yeah, Mr. Sanderson.
I have a question about, let me back up.
In the past, we would, this is a question for staff.
In the past, we would put in a lot of performance standards
and the conditions of approval on, you know,
like you have to train them and a bunch of little stuff.
I don't see that now,
and I'm wondering if the requirements
under Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
contain those kind of management requirements.
Yeah, we have recently kind of looked through
our conditions of approval and standard conditions of approval
that we've been attaching to alcohol permits
and realized that a lot of those
are just kind of reminders and they're not in our code,
but they are enforced by other departments
or by the alcohol licensing department.
And so we took them out because it was not our local code.
Okay, but they're in the ABC?
Yeah, there should be.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Sanderson.
Does anyone else have anything before I move to the public?
We're looking good.
So online, I have no one in person who wants to speak.
So online, if you have anything to talk about
I'm not seeing any hands yet.
All right. Then does anyone else on the should have anything say. All right. I will make a mission a motion to approve the consent calendar.
We have a second. Make a second. All right. We have a second.
Great. We have a motion to approve the consent calendar by chair Gaffney and a second from commissioner Allen. And when I say that, I think it's a good idea to make a motion to approve the consent calendar.
Commissioner Allen. And when I call your name please state your vote. Commissioner Duffy. Yes.
Chair Gaffney. Yes. Commissioner Thompson. Yes on the project but I would like to abstain from the
last minutes please. Okay thank you. Commissioner Kramer. Yes. Commissioner Allen. Yes. Commissioner
Choi. Yes and I would also like to abstain from the last minutes. Okay. Commissioner Sanderson. Yes.
great. Thank you. All right. The motion passes. That means you will have your
use permit 14 days after the notice decision is mailed. Um, it is appealable
during that time though. Um, all right. Well, we're moving right along. Then we
7. Subcommittee Reports
have design review committee reports. Uh, I was not there, so we will have
Commissioner Thompson take it over for our last meeting. So please so DRC met
on May 28th and we reviewed the property at 2800 telegraph. That's the
building that's the former used bike shop on the corner of Telegraph that's
been empty it was the original plans the use permit was granted several years
ago and there were a number of delays but it came back to final design review
and the design looks great what really stood out to me was they are going to
to add several graves, oaks along the street, which is be nice. I think it'll be really
nice design. They made some exterior changes. It's going to have a rooftop deck with landscape
on top of it. It's they, this committee, this last meeting, they made some changes,
some recommendations. These are conditions and recommendations. So it's a combination
of them that should make a much nicer project.
This one was not, the designer was very agreeable
with bird safe glass, although when the original permit was
given, it was not a requirement.
But they did say that they were going
to try to make that happen.
So they were very open to that.
And I think that's about it.
Just one project this time.
Thank you so much, Commissioner Thompson.
And we will be meeting next week,
so we will have more to report back next time.
All right, does anyone else have,
does staff have any communications
they would like to share?
Staffs, does anyone on the commission
have any communications they'd like to share?
All right, then I will make a motion to adjourn.
Do I have a second?
Second.
Perfect, and we will take our normal roll call vote.
Thank you.
We have a motion from Chair Gaffney
and a second from Commissioner Sanderson to adjourn.
When I call your name, please state your vote.
Commissioner Duffy?
Yes.
Chair Gaffney?
Yes.
Commissioner Thompson?
Yes.
Commissioner Kramer?
Yes.
Commissioner Allen?
Yes.
Commissioner Troy?
Yes.
Commissioner Sanderson?
Yes.
Great, thank you.
All right, we'll see you all next month.
Thank you all.