all right welcome back to our regularly scheduled now monthly zoning adjustments
board meeting it is 7 p.m. so I will begin the meeting by our call to order
of the August 13th ZAB meeting I'll start by reading our public advisory
this meeting will be conducted in a hybrid model with both in-person virtual
participation. The teleconference will be recorded as any ZAB meetings recorded
and all of the rules of procedure into quorum will apply for ZAB meetings
conducted by teleconference or video conference. To access the meeting
remotely, join from a PC, Mac, iPad, or other device. Please use the URL provided
in the agenda. If you do not wish for your name to appear on the screen then
use a drop-down menu and click rename to rename yourself to be anonymous. To
request to speak, use the raise hand icon by rolling over the bottom of the
screen. To join by phone, dial the number is provided in the agenda and enter the
webinar ID number also provided 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. All right, that was our public advisory. Now we're going to do our
roll call vote and ex parte communications. Thank you. When I call
your name, please state present and disclose any ex parte communications.
Commissioner Duffy?
President, no ex parte.
Commissioner Thompson?
President, no ex parte.
Commissioner Kramer?
President, no ex parte.
Commissioner Allen?
President, no ex parte.
Commissioner Ruth?
President, no ex parte.
Vice Chair Young?
President, no ex parte.
And Commissioner Sanderson is absent.
All right, thank you so much.
Now our next item is our land acknowledgement statement,
which I will read.
The commission recognizes that the community we live in
was built on the territory of the Hu-Chun,
the ancestral and unceded land
of the Chechenyo-speaking Alone people,
the ancestors and descendants of the sovereign Verona Band
of Alameda County.
This landing was and continues to be of great importance
to the Alone 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 vibrant community,
in the West Berkley Shell Mound and the Ohlone people
who continue to reside in the East Bay.
We recognize that Berkley's residents haven't continued
to benefit from the use and occupation
of this unseated stolen land
since the City of Berkley's incorporation in 1878.
As stewards of the laws regulating the city of Berkley,
it is not only vital that we recognize the history
of this land, but also that we recognize the Ohlone people
who are present members of Berkley
and other East Bay communities today.
The city of Berkley will continue to build relationships
with the Liszt John Tribe and create meaningful actions
that uphold the intention of this land acknowledgement.
All right, now we are moving on to public comment
on non-agenda and informational items.
So how this works is if you are here in person,
you can approach Secretary Gong and ask for a green card
to queue yourself for in-person public comment.
And as I mentioned previously,
if you're attending virtually,
you can raise your hand to queue
to provide virtual public comment over Zoom.
All right, with that being said,
we will move to in-person public comments,
of which we have one.
And that would be from Philip Lim.
So Philip, if you're here, please approach the mic.
Hello board members.
My name is Philip Lim.
My name is Philip Lim.
M like Martinez is spelled with an M.
And I oppose the construction project
at 2298 Durant Avenue.
I request you.
Oh, I, I'm so sorry to interrupt you.
I personally have made a mistake.
Your comment was on a consent item on a consent calendar.
So you're currently in non-agendized items.
So if I can actually ask you to hold your public comment
until we get to that portion,
I personally made a mistake
and miss categorize your comment.
No problem, yes.
Thank you.
So seeing as there are no in-person comments
for non-agenda items, I'll go to Zoom.
So if you have a comment on non-agenda items,
please raise your virtual hand.
Looks like we have one, so I will...
All right, M. Jones, I will now unmute you.
Feel free to provide your comment.
Hello, I'm actually wanting to comment
on the proposal for the project at 3101 Sacramento Street.
We will get to that item shortly.
Okay.
Thank you for your patience.
All right.
All right.
Seeing as though we don't have in-person
or virtual comments for non-agenda items,
we can move right along.
So now we'll be moving on to our consent calendar.
Thank you everyone for your patience.
So our consent calendar has two items.
The first one is 3101 Sacramento.
And the second one is 2298 Durant.
So now we will move on to in-person public comments
on any of our consent calendar items.
So we have one.
Philip Lim, please feel free to provide your comment.
Before I begin, can somebody let me know
when I have about 15 seconds,
please feel free to interrupt me.
My name is Philip Lim.
M, and my last name like Mark spelled with Martinez.
And I oppose the construction project at 2298 Durant Avenue.
I request the zoning adjustment board,
ZP2026-0039 and I request the board,
direct staff to commission an independent study
to answer the following question.
If the buildings at 2298 and 2300 Durant Avenue
mean to Berkeley with the mansions
in the French Quarter of New Orleans,
means in New Orleans?
Let me rephrase that.
If the buildings at 2298 and 2300 Durant Avenue
mean to Berkeley, what the manshers in the French Quarter
mean to New Orleans?
If the answer to that question is yes,
then I don't think that there should be building
on the site within your apartment building.
And also, I request the board to walk on the north sidewalk
Van Croft in between Milvia and Shattuck and pay attention to how for much of the length
of the sidewalk walls abut the sidewalk. That is what the block of the south sidewalk where
2298 Drant Avenue is trending towards and I want to ask if the city wants that for its
visitors and guests as an experience
when they're going on to their destinations in Berkeley.
And also, I cover this for health reasons,
so you can have the janitor clean the microphone later.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your comment, Phillip.
For those of us who just joined,
we are currently on the public comment portion
of our consent calendar.
So if you have a public comment for any consent item,
feel free to submit a green comment card.
If not, then we will be moving on to virtual public comment on our consent items.
So I'll return to Em Jones. You should be able to speak.
Hello, can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Yes. I live at 3107 Sacramento Street, which is next door to the
proposed construction site. On the other side of me at 3121 is Creekwood Restaurant. The problem is
that I am 66 years old. I have some limited mobility. So the trap, the parking has been
a real struggle. That's one thing. The other thing is that since this building has been
upper sales become a graffiti, it's been influx of graffiti on the on the building.
trash is being put out there and the new owners, whoever they are, are not coming over there and
cleaning up. There's rodents. I've reported to the code enforcement about the rodents.
It's infested with rodents that I could see them running in my backyard, along the wall every
There was a family of raccoons on my fence.
So my question is about, are they going to have vector control come in there and do something
and also the parking situation, is that something that the Planning Commission can address when
they start this construction?
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I have some comments and responses to some of those points, but I'll save that tour for commission deliberation.
So we have no more virtual public comments for our consent calendar and seeing there are no more in person comments for consent calendar. I'll move on to commission deliberation.
So if you have any comments, that would be the time before we make a motion about.
all I'll take this opportunity to respond to some of the points you brought
up miss Jones so the purview of the zoning adjustments board is the review
of permits for you know future work or you know uses for buildings your
comments about you know the current state of the property are definitely
concerning those would best be addressed by the city's code enforcement
specifically I know there is a point of contact in the city's health department
for vector control. I think there's one guy named Bradley who works in there. He
would be great to talk to, came to my apartment a few times. So there's that.
And then the other thing too is we, yeah, the city of Berkeley has, you know, pretty
straightforward objective standards about, you know,
whether or not a structure provides parking.
So, you know, what the applicant's doing is allowed by,
you know, the city's standards.
So that'll conclude my comments there.
Yeah, I guess I'll make a motion
to approve the consent calendar,
including the modification to the revision of,
sorry, the revision to conditions of approval
for 2298 Durant.
I'll second it.
You go ahead.
Oh, put it to a vote.
Put it to a vote, yes.
So this is for approval of the consent calendar
and including the modifications
to the conditions of approval for 2298 Shattuck.
2298 Durant, thank you.
Commissioner Allen had the motion
And Vice Chair Young had the second.
And I will call roll for your vote.
When I state your name, please tell me your vote.
Commissioner Duffy.
Yes.
Commissioner Thomson.
Yes.
Commissioner Kramer.
Yes.
Commissioner Allen.
Yes.
Commissioner Ruth.
Yes.
Vice Chair Young.
Yes.
Thank you.
All right, so the use permits for 2298 Durant
and 3101 Sacramento have been granted.
There's a 14-day appeal period
after which the permits will be finalized.
All right, moving right along.
We can go to our action calendar
and we have one item there.
That would be the use permit for 2974 Sacramento Street.
So first, we'll have city staff's presentation.
Good evening, Chair and members
of the Zoning Adjustment Board.
My name is Simela Stover and I'm an assistant planner
with the land use division.
Tonight I will present the staff report
for the use permit application
for 2974 Sacramento Street.
The applicant requested a use permit
to authorize the intensification
of an existing non-conforming use
by allowing the processing of live poultry
within the existing warehouse.
The proposed process would allow a growing diverse community
to purchase halal chicken for religious
alternative dietary needs and would occur within the residential zone portion of the warehouse.
No expansion of the building footprint or floor area is proposed. Instead, the project consists
of interior improvements to accommodate the proposed operations. The applicant request is,
I'm sorry, the subject property is developed within an existing neighborhood market,
three residential units, and an accessory warehouse. The property is a through lot with
the building. The building is a
commercial zoning district. The
building is located on the
street. The building is located
frontage on 2 public streets
and as a result has 2 required
front setbacks. The market
building is located entirely
within the commercial zoning
district. The access to the
warehouse spans the commercial
and residential zoning district
boundaries with approximately 10%
within the commercial district
to the market and contains features associated with prior meat preparations and storage activities.
The proposal would continue to use the existing warehouse while introducing more intensive
operational use within the building's existing envelope.
The applicant spent two years working with land use staff to assess the feasibility of
the proposed project.
And on March 5th of this year, the use permit application was submitted.
The application was deemed complete and assigned
on March 27th, 2026.
The proposed processing activities
would take place entirely indoors
with a dedicated processing room.
An interior wall would be constructed
to separate the processing area
from the remainder of the warehouse.
No exterior additions or structural expansions
are proposed as part of this application.
As discussed in staff report,
the project has been evaluated for consistency
with the Berkeley Municipal Code,
including the findings required for a use permit
authorizing the anticipation of a nonconforming use.
Staff also evaluated the proposed operational
characteristics and surrounding land uses
and recommended conditions of approval intended
to minimize potential impacts on neighboring properties.
Based on the analysis, staff finds that the required
use permit findings can be made.
With the standard conditions of approval
and the addition of use-specific conditions of approval,
Staff concludes that the proposal will not be detrimental
to persons or property or materially injurious
to the use or development of adjacent properties.
Accordingly, staff recommends
that the zoning adjustment board finds the project
categorically exempt from CEQA,
pursuant to section 15.301 of the CEQA guidelines,
and approve the request that use permit
subject to the standard conditions of approval
and the use-specific conditions contained
in the staff report.
This concludes my presentation.
and I am available for your questions.
Thank you so much for your presentation.
Now is the time for any commissioner questions for staff.
I have a question.
Can you confirm that there are no windows
on the warehouse area where the chickens will be processed?
I can confirm that.
Okay, and then can you also confirm
that there's no new or improvements to the HVAC
or plumbing system that are required as part of this?
At this time there is not.
There will be improvements later on, but that is just make sure
that there's no smells or orders or noise going out.
Okay. Has this, I guess I have a third question.
The staff report for the most part answered most
of my questions and I, not that we were talking before the
meeting, but we were all like, fascinating.
We have never seen this kind of project come.
So we had known that the Berkeley Health and Environmental
Health Division will license.
Yes.
That was one of the things that we did check on within the two
years.
I spoke with staff in the Environmental Health.
It is covered during their annual inspection.
Thank you.
Is there any other such operation in the city?
There is no other such operation in the city,
which makes this particular project very important
to the applicants and they are here tonight
and can discuss why it's important to them.
I wanted to ask, besides the new interior wall
that will be constructed, are there gonna be
any other improvements to the facility to aid
in like sanitation or containing the noise
that might occur in the indoor space?
The room will be soundproof,
the city's office. So we should
of the business like is this going to if this doesn't happen does the business is the business
at risk that I would rather the applicant get into what I can say is that staff does see that
there is a potential for continued sustainability for the community with this particular activity
and I know that it's not a condition of approval but do we have a sense of about how many chickens
We don't have a specific about how many chickens per week, however there is a capita 150 chickens per day at max.
I have a question. Thank you for your presentation and just thinking this through because this is new for us too.
I'd imagined regarding waste.
the waste is it treated the same as any other like restaurant waste I mean
restaurants throw away meat butchers throw away meat and I assume we have a
method for for that is there anything different about this because it to me
it doesn't seem so what I will say is that live animals produce additional
waste than what a restaurant or a normal grocery store would have. The particular animal involved
will have to be cleaned up. There's like in a restaurant or in a grocery store, there's no waste
from the actual animal as is processed elsewhere. This is kind of encompassing processing the whole
thing. So we will have to deal with additional waste, but nothing that will be dangerous to the
community. Yeah, thank you. Can you speak to sort of how you reached the
determination that it's sort of an intensification of a current use versus
sort of an entirely new use? I mean I think on first glance it seems sort of
closer to like a manufacturing process almost or a completely different process
from, you know, a process that would involve, you know, processing already
So, can you just speak to that a little bit?
Historically, Sacramento Market has, and it does have at this time, a butcher shop.
But historically, that particular shop has butchered its own meat in the back.
It just wasn't alive when it reached the warehouse.
In this case, the intensification is the fact that the poultry will be coming into the shop
live.
That is the only difference.
They still have a butcher counter.
They still butcher meat.
They still cut it down.
In this case it's just the beginning process to the end process.
All right.
There are no more questions for the staff.
Sorry.
I had one other question.
Which door will the chickens be coming in?
Will it be the one that's facing the apartment building in that parking lot?
Which is their normal delivery and the trucks will back into the loading zone as the trucks
do now.
So no one will see the chickens.
Okay.
Are chickens normally transported in like an open air truck?
Or is it like a fully sealed, like, you know, 18-wheeler?
Can it attest to how they're gonna get the chickens there?
Okay.
Okay, thank you so much.
We will now move on to the applicant's presentation.
Good evening, SAP members and the public.
My name is Rakia and I'm here tonight
to represent Sacramento Market.
Sure, before I talk about the proposal itself
I would like to share something
that is very important to me personally
and to the way we operate our business.
As Muslims, we are taught by the Prophet Muhammad
that kindness to neighbors, compassion towards animals
and planting vegetation are acts of charity and faith.
The comfort and well-being of our neighbors
is our utmost priority.
That is why we have considered our neighbors
in every part of the planning.
For this project, we have thought carefully
about how to maintain noise, odors, cleanliness,
and operating hours.
We want to be a good neighbor, not simply a good business.
We are proud to be third-generation business owners
with deep roots in South Berkeley.
My parents owned Sacramento Market
before my husband and I took over.
And my grandfather also owned a nearby store
across from Longfellow Middle School.
So serving our community
has been a family tradition for generations.
Our customers trust us to preserve what they love
while continuing to meet their changing needs.
And we want to honor that trust
by offering something unique and in demand,
which is fresh halal chicken.
We currently sell a variety of meat
and fish at our meat counter.
We are requesting approval to provide a particular
type of chicken, fresh chicken,
processed according to the halal method.
What is halal cut chicken?
Halal is a religious way to prepare food.
The Quran tells us to eat meat as halal and bayib,
meaning pure.
Eating halal is a core part of Islamic practice,
intended to maintain physical and spiritual well-being.
Halal cut chicken is chicken that has been processed
according to Islamic rules.
First, the chicken must be alive and healthy,
and then second, a prayer is said,
and the chicken is processed.
As Muslims, we can only eat meat as prepared in this way.
The halal method of preparing is very similar to kosher.
And halal and kosher go hand in hand
because it shares same fundamental similarities.
There's a great need for halal and fresh chicken
in our community.
I grew up in Berkeley and have been an East Bay resident
my whole life, so I understand how limited some of our food
options can be.
Frozen halal chicken is available and limited supply over here.
And the ones we do find are not fresh
and have been packed and frozen for weeks.
And they're not the best quality.
We get customers who ask for fresh,
better quality chicken all the time.
Berkeley has an established and growing Muslim community,
including the Berkeley Masjid and Mosque
that was just four blocks down from our store.
Customers who look for halal often come
and ask for it after Friday prayer,
and especially in Ramadan.
Our proposal would greatly benefit
these Muslim and immigrant families
their needs to help their
employees, the people who
otherwise have to travel
outside of Berkeley to find
fresh hell and chicken.
Our customers want confidence
that the chicken they purchase
is prepared in a manner
consistent with their beliefs
and needs.
Providing this service locally
gives them greater transparency
about their food and where it
comes from and how it was
prepared.
We believe that transparency
adds unique value to our
community.
what fits their values, culture, and beliefs while having greater transparency and how their food
is prepared. Fresh, locally available food gives our community more choice, greater access, and
confidence. For people who need fresh and halal chicken, this would give them a local, regulated
neighborhood option. We are not building something new. We are using an existing warehouse inside an
an existing neighborhood market that served this community
since it was built in 1949.
I'm kindly asking for the opportunity
to serve our community with fresh halal chicken
in a way that is carefully controlled, respectful,
and compatible to our neighborhood.
We are willing to work with the city
and comply with any reasonable conditions of approval
in a way that still provides service
to Berkeley's diverse community.
Our goal is to add value and serve our community
without making changes
that would negatively affect the customers
who have supported us for so many years.
Our proposal is limited in scale,
would operate indoors and would be subject to conditions
set by city staff.
We kindly ask the board to approve this request
so that we may serve our community
while protecting the surrounding neighborhood.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you so much.
Now it's time for any commissioner questions
for the applicant's presentation.
Commissioner Thompson.
It seems like the city would have a rule of some sort,
or is there not one that says that you can process me
on the street in particular?
There's no such thing.
That's the question for staff, sorry.
You know what, my timing is off.
let's scratch that, I'll bring it up later.
Sure.
Sorry.
I wanted to ask, so one of the conditions of approval
is that there would be a maximum daily limit of 150 chickens.
Of course, that's an upper bound.
Would you be able to speak to how many chickens per day
or per week at this point you're anticipating or planning for?
So we want to do it by demand.
So, first, when we start off, it's probably not going to be every day,
maybe two days a week, three days a week, and then depending on demand.
Of course, one of the conditions is the chickens cannot be there at night.
So, whatever comes in during the day has to be gone by night.
So, it's totally going to be based on demand.
Thank you.
This was somebody else's question, but I'm going to ask it.
If you could describe how the chickens are delivered,
I mean, I've probably seen trucks of chickens
on the freeway, but like what is the containment like
and then how is it transferred
from the truck into the building?
It would be a closed truck
and the truck would completely come inside.
So the back has like an unloading area,
like a garage kind of, and that's where it would be.
So it would completely park inside,
close the garage and then take them out.
the public comment. All right.
So we'll start with the in-person public comment.
First we'll begin with how Howard S.
I live in the neighborhood about a block away.
I'm a nice Jewish boy. I didn't know anything about the halala thing. I like this place.
The front is always clean. The prices are low, lower than Berkeley Bowl, which is about
eight blocks away. I go to the meat counter. I know the guy. I get my hamburger specially
made. My daughter just bought me an air fryer. I'm going to make chicken McNuggets. Maybe
they're going to even taste better now. These are good people. This market is so important to the
area. The nearest places to buy food are liquor stores on either side and or you walk to Berkeley
Bowl. So the idea that somehow he's not going to be able to do this is not a good thing for the
neighborhood in the neighborhood.
Thank you so much, Howard. Next up we have Andrea G.
Hi, thank you so much. My name is Andy or Andrea Grace. I live
about three blocks away from the Sacramento Market. I've watched
as this family has taken over and turned it into a really thriving
grocery outlet for the people that live in the
neighborhood, including the seniors who live just a couple blocks away who can walk there.
as our previous commenters said Berkeley Bowl may not only be physically inaccessible but maybe financially inaccessible as is Whole Foods which are the two closest grocery stores.
So anything that contributes to the economic prosperity of this store I think benefits the whole neighborhood. I've watched it on the come up in the last couple of years.
I really love to be able to go there and shop kind of like a European every day or two as opposed to going to do a big shop at one of the big stores.
as much as I love Berkeley Bowl, don't get me wrong, but their meat counter and their
fresh produce, they have been unequaled in the quality that they like to bring and I think if
anything when it comes to animal husbandry and rights, which is very important to me,
a small operation like this can be more attentive and certainly the halal designation is a part of
that, like we can be more attentive to the rights and the and the needs and
the spiritual experience of the animals that we're processing because the
people that I live around eat meat and fresh chicken will be great for our
community. Um, and so will the economic prosperity of this family who have done
a great job of maintaining a wonderful source of grocery for my neighbors and
myself. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next up we have Margaret Oh. Hi everyone my
name is Margaret Owusu. I go by Mimi. I'm actually not a Berkeley native. My
partner JR is here and I started coming out to Berkeley around three years ago
and Sacramento Market has been just a staple of my experience as it leads to
just getting healthy food quickly and then getting snacks for the kids that
are in our lives but I actually just wanted to share more of a personal
testimony as to why this is so important to me. My family is from Ghana in West
Africa and they immigrated in 1980. We identify as Christian and culturally
Halal Chicken is so important to the food or cuisine,
specifically our soups, our stews, and all of that.
And when we were in the Bronx, New York,
we had access to Halal Chicken.
And we were able to eat food from our cuisine.
And it was wonderful.
And then we moved to southern Michigan, a town called Hillsdale
that you probably haven't heard of.
And it was so hard to get Halal Chicken.
And that just impacted the access
that we had to having foods that reminded us of home.
And so when I was speaking to Galao, one
of the owners of Sacramento Market,
and he told me about him bringing live chickens
into Sacramento Market and having a loud chicken,
I was just so elated as someone who
was looking to transition out here,
just thinking that this would be something that
would be accessible to me is something that is so important.
And so I know that they've spoken to the ways
that this is so important from a religious perspective,
but also just culturally, it's important.
And just the institution as it stands on its own is a staple.
So I just wanted to offer that.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Next up, we have someone who has just mentioned JR.
Hello.
She probably said it better than me,
but I've lived in the neighborhood South Berkeley since 2012 I believe and I go to
the laws probably 3-4 times a week. I have a 9-year-old son. He loves going there. Like
sometimes if we want to get to hit something he's like no I don't want to go to
Berkeley Bowl. I want to go to the laws and so I just want to see his store continue to thrive
and succeed and I believe that this offering allows him to continue to be successful going
forward so that's it. Thank you. Alright that was all for our in-person public
comments. We will now move to our virtual public comments so if you have a
public comment and your Zoom attendee feel free to raise your hand going once
twice. Alright well it looks like we have no virtual public comments so we will be
moving on to I believe it's ZAB deliberation now. Actually before that
we have typically the opportunity for the applicant to respond to any public
comments that may have been voiced. So you can do that now if you wish but
there have been no adversarial public comments. So I'll still afford that
opportunity to you if you would like to say any closing remarks. All right now it
Now it is the time for commissioner deliberation.
So the floor is open.
I move to approve the project.
I was surprised I was so fast.
Yeah, I really appreciate the staff work on this.
Because as reading it, I had a list of questions in my mind.
And as I read through it and the project-specific conditions
of approval, it really buttoned things up.
I was like, oh, this is going to be crazy, and it wasn't.
It was well-organized and methodical.
So, yeah.
Thanks.
Yeah, I want to second that in the level of care
and consideration for a unique, somewhat unique thing that
takes time.
And I also, yeah, I just appreciate that preparation.
It really helps with everything.
And then I just want to say yay to neighborhood serving
grocery, because I think that's a really important thing.
Good presentation.
It was very thorough, and I appreciate the support.
I know I kind of sound like a melodramatic teenager,
but as a vegetarian myself, I will probably
abstain from the vote.
But I do want to come and spend my money in your store,
and I will come visit.
I've driven by, and I want to come and buy some groceries.
And I want to see your business thrive,
even though I personally don't eat meat.
And I, well, anyway, for my religious purposes,
I don't do meat, but I do want to see it thrive,
and I will be supporting you.
I did want to share one piece of thought
connecting this to another meeting we had recently.
If you saw us kind of behaving a little squirmishly,
the reason is because this is sort of an unusual type
of application, which is a request to expand
an existing legal non-conforming use,
which is a whole bunch of jargon to say that, you know,
our job typically is to look at the zoning map of the city
and then see what is allowed in that list of allowed uses
within a zoning district and then review
using those criteria.
Here it's a request to expand a poultry processing
use in an area that is residential, the R3 side
of the through lot.
So we recently heard, I think the last request
to expand an existing nonconforming use
was the Holistic Therapy Center on 6th Street.
think similarly our process was you know it is a reasonable request to you know
continue our expanded substantially similar use so you know extending that
you know I feel that I'm ready to support the item as well so then we take
a motion motion and a second oh we were discussing that and if there's no more
discussion on the motion then you vote cool we can take a roll call vote okay
OK, so we'll take a vote.
We have a motion from Commissioner Allen
and a second from Commissioner Duffy
to approve this project at 2974 Sacramento Street.
When I call your name, please state your vote.
Commissioner Duffy.
Yes.
Commissioner Thompson.
Abstain.
Commissioner Quamer.
Yes.
Commissioner Allen.
Yes.
Commissioner Ruth.
Yes.
Vice Chair Young.
Yes.
Thank you.
All right, congratulations, your use permit has been granted.
There will be a 14-day appeal period
after which the permit will be finalized.
All right, I believe that was,
I believe that was all of our action items,
only action item.
It was, all right, so now we can move on
to our design review committee report.
If any member here wants to give an update
on what's been going on with DRC.
Yes, I'll get it together in one second.
So design review we met and we reviewed a property
on Prince Street and I'll get the address in just one second.
It is 2330 Prince Street.
So this is on the corner of Prince and Telegraph.
It's to demolish three main buildings,
including a two-story church
that's sitting on the corner of Telegraph and Prince.
And then there is a one-story school
and a vacant commercial building.
So those would go away
And then it would be replaced by three residential buildings
that are each four stories high.
And these would be units for sale, not for rent.
So they also include, it's 23 townhome-style units
with two parking spaces each.
So there would be a row of garages
that are going down Prince Street.
And there was a lot of objection on that design
and whether, so the builders were saying we want
to attract people who are going to make this permanent
and most of the folks who are buying in this area
want parking spaces and not to impose on the neighborhood.
And we got a lot of responses
and we got a lot of input and feedback
from both the board and the community.
So they're going to come back to DRC with some changes to it.
So we shall see, yeah, interesting project.
And we really liked the fact that it was more permanent
and not so tall, but that's been the biggest controversy
with this, but the design looks great
and we'll see what they come back with DRC again.
Thanks. I feel like it's pretty rare that we see, like, units for ownership that are coming online. So it's cool to hear.
Everybody's like, well, we're really going to get that.
I want to go see that line of garages.
Yeah, it's I think it's on the on the DRC website.
Well, let me see if if they're up.
I think maybe. I also, I think like we have a city wide maximum of our periods, but that's defined differently. Yeah, it was it was. Yeah, it is. Oh yeah. Okay. So it's like a garage is on the bottom. Yeah. So the garages it's it's well in in. Yeah. Yeah. And that was that was there was there was feedback about the appearance of it and just the fact that there was.
You know it looks unwelcoming when you get a row of garages it says go on by and that is that's a neighborhood there's a park next door.
The House the on-street community is very they've got a community there and they didn't want to disrupt it so the designers did say they would come back with some plans that they thought would kind of tie it together better.
So we shall see.
all right. Thank you so much for that update. After that, we have correspondence and there
we have an a link to an email from Steven Shiler regarding the 2128 Oxford Street project.
I think we've heard from him before so likely on similar subject matter. And then there's
a discussion on that? I just just it was his correspondence was law was pretty
lengthy and I just want to make sure I'm understanding that is that a request
to go beyond what the city's disability access requirements are? Because it's
from what I read it sounded like the city has this in place but from an
ethical viewpoint we should do more to make less traffic or more accessible and
that is against me. Yeah, that's I'm answering my own question. Thank you. We, we, yeah,
if we follow the requirements of the city, that's what we were required to follow. And
that's all our purview is. Thank you.
All right. So I think next up our other the last item that we have anything jotted down
for is staff announcements.
Yeah so for staff announcements we have one item.
City Council is considering scheduling a special meeting on November 12th, 2026 which is already
scheduled with one of our regular ZAB meetings for November.
And so I wanted to pull the ZAB members for attendance if they could attend the meeting
if it were moved to November 5th a week earlier.
So I'm wondering if we could kind of take
like an informal poll, like a head count or a hand count
for those who are present here who might be able
to attend the November 5th meeting.
One, two, three, four, five.
Okay, yeah, and you're an alternate.
So, okay, so we've got five.
And I believe five would be a quorum.
So I think we're good and we will finalize
that move to November 5th.
Thank you.
Thank you.
There had been some question about a second ZAB
meeting in August.
Do we have been resolved?
I don't think there is a serious we're
not going to move forward with adding a meeting in August.
We do have really full agendas for September and October.
And there might have been some talk
about adding a special meeting,
but so far we are not moving forward with that, yeah.
We'll let you know if we do consider more meetings
in September or October.
Okay, so our next meeting will be September 10th,
and I can now move to adjourn.
Second?
Yeah, I think so, technically.
Good work.
Okay, we have a second from Commissioner Kramer.
Okay, great.
So we have a motion from Vice Chair Young
and a second from Commissioner Kramer to adjourn.
I'm gonna call your name, please state your vote.
Commissioner Duffy?
I'll say yes, but it does feel silly sometimes
to have to vote on closing the meeting,
but I've been, and part of that meeting is where
we disagreed on closing the meeting,
and voting was very important.
Yes.
Thank you. Commissioner Thompson.
Yes.
Commissioner Cramer.
Yes.
Commissioner Allen.
Yes.
Commissioner Ruth.
Yes.
Vice Chair Young.