The Sierra Club enthusiastically supports the resolution to end exclusionary zoning coming before the Berkeley City Council this evening. The trend of cities eliminating single-family zoning began with Minneapolis in 2019, followed by Seattle. The Sierra Club, which played a leading role in both of those cities' efforts, now backs the move in Berkeley, which in 1916 was the first city in the country to adopt single-family zoning.
“As every municipality in the nation grapples with its history, Berkeley is no exception,” said Igor Tregub, Chair of the Sierra Club Northern Alameda County Group. “We recognize that while the causes of today’s housing affordability crisis are myriad, there is considerable evidence that, as the resolution states, '[s]ingle family residential zoning has its roots in racist exclusionary zoning policy and leads to racial and economic segregation.'”
"Promoting infill development is a way to save habitat and rural lands, reduce pollution, and create more convenient neighborhoods for people,” said Tregub. “We look forward to working together with the City to ensure that we preserve housing affordability and tenant protections while promoting thoughtful transit-oriented development through the lens of equity — all of these being long-standing Sierra Club values.”
If the resolution is approved, the Berkeley City Council plans to consider a policy allowing for the approval of duplex, triplex, and quadruplex housing types in areas of Berkeley where, through zoning restrictions, only single-family homes are currently allowed. The Sierra Club looks forward to working with the City Council and the entire Berkeley community on this policy to ensure that it allows for a Berkeley that all can call home.
Read the Sierra Club's letter of support for the Resolution to End Exclusionary Zoning in Berkeley.
Read more about the Sierra Club's housing policy here.