Hello everyone, it is 6.04. We're going to get this show on the road. Are you ready? Just about. Let's make sure we are recording in progress. Okay, we're all good. Rose. Okay, hi everyone. Sounds like we're ready to go. I'm going to call to order the Tuesday, April 22nd, special meeting of the Berkeley City Council. We have a quorum here. Let's take roll, please. Okay. Councilmember Kisarwani is currently absent. Councilmember Kaplan. No, I'm actually here, Mr. City Clerk. I need to use one of those authorized excuses to be doing the meeting via Zoom. Yes, okay. Right after the role, we will go through the script. Okay, thank you. And let's start over. Councillor Kaplan is present.ani is present. Council Member Tapplin. Present, present. Council Member Bartlett is currently absent. Council Member Treggub. Present. Okay. Present. Black OB. Here. Loonopara. Here. Humber. Here. And Mayor Ishi. Here. Okay. So Council Member Kessirwani is participating in the meeting remotely pursuing the Brown Act as amended by AB 2449 Under the just cause justification Aquarma the council is present and participating in person at a physical location that was noticed on the agenda and is open to the public and with the boundaries of the agency. Councillor actually vice mayor, Councillor Wanie, if you could provide a general description of the circumstances relating to your need to appear remotely, that would be medical diagnosis, family caregiving, need, or communicable disease? Yes, my reason is a family caregiving need. Okay. And Vice-American Sermon, if you could disclose whether there are any individuals 18 years of age or older that are present with you in the room, and if so, what their relationship to you is. I know there is nobody over 18 in the room with me. Okay, and Vice-America-Sewarri will participate through both audio and visual technology. So that satisfies the requirements of the Brown Act and we can proceed with the meeting. Thank you. I want to check and see if any council members have any ex-partake contacts that they'd like to disclose. Okay, no Council Member Taplin is not in the room, so I want to just check back in with him before he, just in case. But I do want to disclose that my staff have met with both the applicant and the appellant to discuss their perspectives on projects so And I've submitted the paper work for that as well And councilmember Trayga has his hand. Oh, thank you. I can't see that councilmember Trayga Our office met with several neighbors in several district for constituents, both in opposition to the project as well as in support of the project. And council member, I don't know if you've submitted that documentation, but just want to make sure that you do that to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the meeting. I'm not going to go to the that Council Member Traygob can still get his documentation in. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Council Member Nauvar. Thank you. My staff spoke with the appellant and I spoke with the applicant and I'll fill out the paper work also. Thanks. And likewise, my team and I met with the appellant about eight weeks ago. I think we filled out the paperwork but I'll make sure that we do. Okay. Thank you. Okay. And just so we're clear because Councilmember Tapplen's on the room. If he has met with someone,. We just. I just want to make sure he gets a chance to disclose. In case he has disclosure before. We open the public hearing. Okay. And yes, Councillor Broke. Sorry, I'll submit with the members of the Save the UA. Okay. Great. All right. Thank you all so much. We are going to now move on to our action calendar, which just has one item for tonight, which is the Zab appeal for 2274 Shadick Avenue. And we're going to start this evening just so folks know we're going to start the evening with a staff report. We'll have a presentation from the appellant for five minutes, a presentation from the applicant for five minutes, and then we'll open up for public comment before taking council comments and questions at that time. So just so folks are clear about what the structure is for this evening. So we're gonna start with the staff report. There's no non agenda public comment at a special meeting of the City council only at a regular meeting of the city council. Thank you mayor and good evening council members. I'm Jordan Klein. I'm director of planning and development. I joined here at the staff table by Ann Hirsch, the Lenny's planning manager, and Sharon Gong principal planner on our project's team. And Sharon is going to be making the presentation on behalf of staff. Thank you, Jordan. Good evening, Mayor Ishi, Council members and the public. This hearing is for the appeal of Zab decision to approve use permit ZP 2023 00079 for a project at 2024 Chatech Avenue. I'm Sharon Gong, the staff project planner. I will give an overview of the project is approved and then present the main appeal points and staff's response. The project site is an irregular L-shaped parcel located within the downtown area plan. In the CDMU downtown mixed use district, quarter sub area with its main frontage on Shadak Avenue and its secondary frontage on Bandcroft Way. The project site is surrounded by commercial, residential, institutional and mixed use residential buildings ranging in height from one to five stories. The site is currently occupied by a state historic landmark the the United Artists' movie theater, which was originally constructed in 1932, in which operated as a movie theater venue until its closure in February 2023. The project proposes to demolish the movie theater except for the front facade on Shadok Avenue, as you see here, along Shadok, which will be preserved and restored, and the theater lobby behind it. That's the one story volume behind the facade on Shadig, which would be renovated and repurposed and re-corporated into the new building as a cafe. The project Senate Bill 330 preliminary application vested the site's historical resource status as not a historic, not a city landmark in November 2022. This vesting by state law prohibited the landmarks preservation commission from denying the demolition of the theater or from imposing conditions related to a cultural or historic resource protections on the project. The demolition of the theater was referred to LPC for review under the use from an application. In addition, a landmark initiation application was submitted in December 2023 by Save the UA Theatre Organization, who is the parent in this appeal. The UA Theatre was designated by the LPC as a city landmark in March of 2024. In its review, the LPC considered the request to designate. Sorry, staff, sorry. We need to take a brief recess. Some things come up. OK, excuse us. Recording stopped. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm going to go to the next one. I'm sorry. So sorry about that, Chair, I'm sorry to interrupt you. So Council Member Taplin needs to recuse himself. He's going to read a statement and I just want to make sure we take care of that before we go any further. So. Leaving even though I have not been advised. Recording in progress. Even though I have not been advised of a conflict, I am recusing so I avoid even the appearance of a conflict. Good evening. Okay. I think we can continue on with the presentation. Thank you. Thank you. In its review, LPC considered the request to designate the entire theater building, including interior elements as a city landmark, but chose to designate only the building facade and its decorative detail as the distinguishing features to be preserved. In its designation, the LPC specifically identified the upper portion of the Shadok Avenue building facade and its decorative features seen here on the slide as the character defining feature that should be preserved and restored. The project's impact on cultural resources under SQL, however, was not affected by the LPC's designation. To give a bit of legislative framework for the SQL discussion, I'll provide some information on the State Housing Accountability Act and Assembly Bill 1633. The Housing Accountability Act is a state law that was enacted in 1982 that promotes infill development and that streamlines housing development in the state. AB 1633 is a law that became effective in January 2024, which made revisions to the Housing Accountability Act to allow developers to claim that a violation of the HAA was made, if the local agency fails to determine exemption from environmental review or sequa for a project when the project is eligible. The UA Theatre Project applicants submitted an AB 1633 notice on March 4, 2024, along with technical reports to support an exemption from CEQA for the project. On October 4, 2024, after reviewing all evidence on the project record, staff determined that the project was categorically exempt from the provisions of SIKWA because the project meets all of the requirements for the infill exemption. Further, staff determined that the project would not result in a substantial adverse change to the historical resource due to the preservation and restoration of the main character defining feature of the resource, namely the Uprashatic Fassad. And therefore, the project would not meet the criteria for the historical resource exception to the exemption, which would have disqualified the project from using the infill exemption. On December 12, 2024, the zoning adjustment sport approved the use permit to demolish the theater, observing the Shatic facade and the theater lobby, and constructed mixed use building that is 17 stories, 183 feet in height, has 227 dwelling units, 23 very low income density bonus qualifying units, approximately 8,000 square feet of usable open space space and a 900 square foot ground floor cafe. Here's a comparison of the existing theater facade and the proposed building facade with the new 17 story volume behind it. This comparison shows how the project proposes to preserve and restore the main character defining feature of the theater that was identified by the LPC in its landmark designation. On January 13th, 2025, the City Clerk received a letter of appeal for the ZAB's decision from Susan Brent-Holly on behalf of Save the UA Berkeley. Next, I'll be summarizing the main points of the appeal letter and staff's response to each. In the first appeal point, the appellant asserts that the UA theater is a mandatory historic resource via its listing in the California Register of Historical Resources, that its historic status encompasses more than the facade, and that substantial demolition of the theater would cause a substantial adverse change in its historic significance and therefore the historic resource exception to the sequel exemption applies. The city recognizes that the UA Theatre Building is in historic resource as defined in the sequel guidelines and that the building as a whole was designated in the California Register of Historical Resources in 2006 by the state. However, the applicant has submitted substantial evidence that the building has been significantly altered over time, such that its character defining features no longer convey the site's significance. The historic resource evaluation extensively evaluated the history of alterations to the building and found significant loss of integrity that negates the property's ability to convey significance. The project impact analysis evaluated the building's current condition and proposed project's consistency with applicable secretary of interior standards of for rehabilitation. The PIA concluded that the project would not cause substantial adverse change to the remaining character defining features of the theater building that still convey significance, namely the upper front facade, and that the proposed project is consistent with the secretary of interior standards for Rehabilitation. To make the secret determination for the project, staff reviewed all of the evidence in the record, including project application materials, plans, and technical reports, city consultant peer reviews of the submitted technical reports, including the historic resource reports, the LPC's landmark designation, notice of determination and findings, city attorney guidance, and city council's deliberations at the closed session meeting held in September 2024. Staff also considered the city consultants revised PIA, which recommended contrary to the applicant's PIA, that the demolition of the theater would result in substantial adverse change to the historic resource, and that the Sequit exemption could not be used for the project. Upon consideration of all of these evidence, staff determined that there's a substantial evidence on the record that the project meets all of the requirements for a class 32-info exemption from the Sequit view. Further, staff determined that the project meets all of the requirements for a class 32 in full exemption from the CEQ review. Further, staff determined that the project would not result in a substantial adverse change to the UA Theatre Historical Resource because it proposes to retain the architectural design and details of the upper shattik facade, the character defining feature that embodies the theater's historical significance. And therefore, historic resource exception would not disqualify the project from the sequoic exemption. In the second appeal point, the appellant argues that the categorical exemption is not consistent with the downtown area plan, including policies for protection and expansion of historic theaters that specifically reference the UA theater. The city's downtown area plan is comprised of broad policies and goals that guide development in the downtown district. It includes policies and goals that encourage the retention and expansion of cinema along with live theater and music venues with the goal to strengthen the downtown as a prime regional destination for these types of art. Specifically, the economic development policy ED 1.7, entertainment and culture in the DAP, speaks to the goal of preserving cinnamon in the downtown. A photograph of the U.S. theater's front facade is included in the figure in this policy, as a figure in this policy section, and the theater is described as a building that helps to contribute to the special sense of place that distinguishes downtown from other destinations, along with the California Theater and Music Lobs, and live theater venues in the area. The project complies with this policy by preserving as much of the existing theater as is feasible, the front facade and the lobby area. A structural review member which submitted, which was submitted by the applicant's structural engineer to the LPC for its landmark review concluded that substantial demolition of the theater building would be required in order to bring it into compliance with current seismic and building code and that preservation of the larger building would not be feasible. Consequently, the ZAB found that the project is consistent with all applicable objective general plan and downtown area plan goals and policies as discussed in the ZAB SAF report, and the board approved the project accordingly. In the third appeal point, the appellant asserts that the project description relied upon in the Zabs review is not finite or stable and is inadequate for consideration for the categorical exemption for the applicant's recent public assertions that the application would be substantially modified. Staff determined that the sequel exemption applies to the project that is represented in the plans and that is described in the use permit that was approved by ZAB on December 12, 2024. Any substantial change to the project as approved would be required to undergo a use permit modification that is subject to a new staff review, including any review required pursuant to SIKWA and a decision by the ZAB on the modified project. To date, no application to modify the approved project has been submitted to the city. In the fourth appeal point, the appellant asserts that there was a potential due process violation in the ZAB proceedings, based on the representation in the applicant's letter to the ZAB that the city approved the Class 32 categorical exemption in October of 2024 after deliberation by the City Council and in consultation with the city attorney. And there has been no public review before any City Council deliberation regarding the subject categorical exemption. It is acceptable under CECWA and is common practice for exemption determinations to be made at the staff level. Staff review the project in accordance with the regulations and time frames set forth in AB 1633 that apply to projects which invoke the law to ensure that the city determines a project to be exempt from Sequa when it is eligible. The City Council met in closed session on September 24th, 2024, to discuss potential litigation related to the project under Sequa as publicly noticed. No public discussion. One second. Folks in the audience, please keep your comments to yourself and everyone, please make sure your phones are off and put on silent. No public discussion regarding the sequel determination is required by AB 1633 or the Housing Accountability Act and the city is not obligated to disclose discussion conducted in closed session. In the last appeal point, the appellant asserts that the ZAB was not provided with all relevant city reports from the architectural historians regarding the UA theater. The city consultants peer review of the historic resource reports and the revised PIA were publicly released concurrently with staff's Equidetermination Letter on October 4, 2024. Staff had already made the secret exempted determination prior to the ZAB hearing on December 12, 2024. The reports that the staff relied upon for the secret determination were not necessary for ZAB's deliberation on whether to approve or disapprove the project's use permit and thus were not included in ZAB's hearing materials. Nevertheless, all technical reports were publicly available well in advance of the ZAB hearing. In conclusion, the project is exempt from CEQA under the in-fill exemption and pursuant to the Housing Accountability Act, the project is compliant with all applicable objective planning standards and cannot be denied nor can the density be reduced unless findings of specific adverse impact to public health and safety can be made. Finally pursuant to state permit streamlining laws, tonight's meeting is the fourth out of five meetings that the city can conduct for a decision on the project. And that concludes staff's presentation. Thank you. Thank you very much for the presentation. We are going to move on to the presentation from the appellant before moving on to the presentation from the applicant. Will the appellant please come forward? And then for the applicant, if you could just prepare anything that you're trying to move forward closer up to the front. Thank you. Please start when you're ready. And you might want to move the mic up higher. Good evening, Mayor Ishi and members of the City Council. I'm Tom Lippey. I represent the appellant, saved the UA Berkeley. So this appeal concerns the Class 32 categorically exemption from environmental review under SQL, that staff and the zoning adjustment board granted for this project. My presentation is about a provision in SQL that prohibits the use of a categorical exemption where a project quote may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. So that's section 2108 for subdivision E. I'm going to use that number or that section number often. historical resource, unquote. At section 21084 subdivision E, I'm gonna use that number or that section number often. There's a similar provision in the SQL guidelines which staff referred to, and those are regulations issued by the Secretary of Resources, a lower level of government than the legislature, which SQL was adopted by. The historical resource exception is one of six exceptions that preclude the use of a categorical exemption. Staff and his app decided that the exception in the SQL guidelines did not apply based on reports prepared by the applicant's consultant left coast, which found that all parts of the building except the facade are no longer historically significant. And therefore demolishing almost all of the building except the facade would not cause a substantial adverse change in the historical significance of the building. Now, staff retained its own consultant, Rincon Consulting, to peer review, left coast reports, and Rincon reached three important conclusions. that left coast improperly segmented their analysis of the historic significance of the building and whether the project may have a significant impact on it between the facade and the rest of the building. And Rincon pointed out that under guidelines issued by the National Register of Historic Places, parts of buildings are not separately listed, so you cannot analyze impacts on the resource by dividing it up and excluding parts of it from the analysis as was done here. This guidance is also the policy of the State Historic Preservation Office, it's shown in a letter from that office, it's attached to exhibit four to my April 9th letter and I would encourage you to read that exhibit four because it deals with a project very similar to this one where a facade was retained and the rest of the building was proposed to be demolished and the state office said, you can't get around Sequa with an exemption by doing it that way because the entire building has to be analyzed as one. So that wasn't done here, it's clearly violate state policy. Rincond's second conclusion is that left coast improperly failed to consider the irreversible loss of any future opportunity to use the building as a theater as a significant impact. Because the building's use as a theater is an important feature that conveys historical significance. And so Rincond's third conclusion is that when you correct these errors, you in fact have a project that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of the building. So for over 40 years, the CEQA case law has held that where CEQA uses the word may in connection with causing significant effects, the fair argument standard applies. The standard applies to section 21084E of CEQA because that section uses the word may in connection with causing significant effects. The standard is environment friendly because it requires resolving disagreements between experts in favor of conducting environmental review under CEQA. And applying this standard here is straightforward because RINCON's opinions are substantial evidence supporting a fair argument. So this requires resolving the disagreement between RINCON and left coast in favor of not applying the exemption and conducting environmental review under CEQA. The applicant contends that AB 1633 changed the legal standard for whether the guidelines exceptions preclude the use of a categorical exemption to a standard that favors development, the so-called substantial evidence standard. This argument actually doesn't make any sense, because the new provision in AB 1633 only refers to the exemption exceptions in the SQL guidelines. It does not purport to refer to or address Section 21084 point. I'm sorry, 21084E of CEQA. So the applicant now has to engage in another argument that adopting AB 1633, the legislature engaged in something called implied repeal of Section 21084E. But courts will avoid finding implied repeal if two statutes can be harmonized using established rules that govern interpretation of statutes. Here the two statutes are easily harmonized because Section 21084E is more specific than the new provision in AB 1633. And the established rule governing the interpretation of statutes is that the more specific state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of the state of mitigations or alternatives that might reduce impacts more than this project would. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Okay. So the applicant now will give a presentation for five minutes plus one sentence since I allowed one sentence extra. feel free to, if you want to wait till there, set up, that's fine too. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. All right. Good evening, Mayor Ishi and members of the City Council. My name is Robin Brawl. I'm a partner at Hanson Bridget LLP and Lee Langley's Council for the project. Patrick Kennedy Isaiah Stachowski with Trachtenberg. Now, STT is here as the applicant and project architect. In responding to this appeal, first I want to emphasize that I have responded to some of the key issues and a letter to the City Council that I've submitted to the City. Second, I want to recognize the challenge that the City Council and the Berkeley community pretty much everybody has in keeping up with the evolving state housing laws in California. AB 1633 is a bill that was sponsored by the Bay Area Council in 2023 and took effect in January 1, 2024 by amending the Housing Accountability Act to change the way CEQA exemptions are processed for a small subset of high density and filled residential projects, such as this one. In my role as a housing committee chair in the Bay Area Council, I have had direct insight into the bill's framework and its legislative intent. I can say with complete confidence that this project meets all the eligibility requirements of AB 1633. The applicant's legal letter and his testimony goes into detail about the standard of review under CEQA. These are the general rules that he's citing. My letter responds to those claims also in great detail. To summarize briefly, for this project, if the city were to use the fair argument standard in reviewing this project under CEQA, that approach could result in an HAA violation if it were to prevent the city from following the express statutory mandates of AB 1633. There's three core provisions of AB 1633 that are worth mentioning here. Now for these projects, the HA puts the burden on the project applicant to prove then an exemption applies. And the burden is on the applicant to prove that there are no exceptions, including the historical resources exception, that would disqualify the use of an exemption. After the applicant provides this information through a notice to the city, the city has 90 days or up to 100, up to 180 days, if more time is needed, to review the notice and confirm that it is supported by substantial evidence. Third, a city is liable under the HAA if substantial evidence provided by the applicant is provided by the applicant but the local agency does not determine that the project is exempt. This framework is important. It shifts how the burden of proof operates for this small subset of projects. the applicant followed the statute and as required submitted an AB 1633 notice in March 2024. The notice was based in part on findings from Lefkoas' architectural history, the historian that prepared the historic resources evaluation and project impact analysis. The historian spent more than six months gathering records from every available archive, compiling those materials, comparing them to prior surveys, addressing inconsistencies in prior surveys, and ultimately preparing a detailed HRE, which was finalized in December 2023. Equally important is that the historian for this project followed the specific process required by CEQA and analyzing potential impacts to historic resources, which notably includes an analysis of whether demolition would impact the features of the project that features of the building that convey its historical significance. The staff therefore made the correct decision when they found the project exempt under the Class 32 in fill exemption and found that the historical resources exemption does not apply. Thank you for considering these points and thank you to the Planning Department for its careful attention to the new requirements under the HAA that were implemented by AB 1633. Thank you. My name is Patrick Kennedy. I have great sympathy with the movie lovers that are represented here tonight. I too am a big I too own big fan of movies. And in fact, in February of this year, I attended the dog film festival in San Francisco. It's real. There's a real it was the ninth annual one. There are three points I'd like to make. First off, when we took this project over in February of 2023, we offered the space to UA theaters for $1 a year, for as long as it took us to get the project approved, which would have been probably now at centering its third year. They declined, they stayed for one month and they closed it and they said that the business was inadequate in Berkeley even though they had seven screens in the theater. They closed here and they closed elsewhere. I think they're still open in Emeryville. A second point I'd like to make is the Facebook group does have incredible reach. They're from Cork and Saudi Arabia but we have the support of the local preservation group Baja and their president, Leela Mone-Charge testified in support of this project. You can finish your sentence plus one more. And the LPC. One more sentence. Finally, we are doing everything that the LPC asked us to do in the last two years. We have facade, restoring the lobby and incorporating the significant architectural details that remain in the building in the new structure. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, so we are now opening for public comment. So I will ask if the applicant can maybe move these posters so that folks can speak. So if you are interested in giving public comments, I'm going to ask that you stand up on this you so much. I really appreciate it. we have a lot of And then you can finish your sentence if the buzzer beeps right as you're ending and then I'm going to ask you to stop. So thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I know we have a lot of public comments tonight. We want to make sure we can hear from everyone and I want to thank you all for coming here to share your opinions with us. So I'm going to start with the first public commenter and also the other thing is I'm going ask that folks please not speak because it can be very disruptive. We want to make sure we can hear everyone. so thank you. Go ahead Thank you, everyone. I think I know most of you. I'm Cara bins and I'm speaking Go ahead, okay, I'm speaking tonight in strong support of the proposed project at 2274 Shadick. This development aligns with Berglies Commitment to building more housing downtown near transit services and jobs and reflects our broader vision for a more sustainable and inclusive city. As we all know, we are in a housing crisis and projects like this are essential to meeting our goals under the downtown area plan and our regional housing needs allocation. Last month I personally toured the United Artists Theatre site. What I saw confirmed what preservation experts have already noted very little of the historic theater remains. What was once beautiful is now mostly concrete and decay. Importantly this project doesn't come at the cost of our city's artistic spirit, which I dearly love. The near and right redevelopment of the California Theatre, it proposes to include a dedicated performance space, preserving a vital venue for artistic expression downtown. Thank you. Okay. Next commenter. My name is Connor Mitchell and I am rising in opposition of this project. I am a film director living in San Francisco but I do consider Berkeley one of the great American cities. For the last few years I've been helping produce and direct a documentary on old art house movie theaters in the Bay Area since the COVID pandemic more than a thousand movie theater screens have gone dark across the country. More importantly, since COVID, all three movie theaters in the downtown stretch of Berkeley have closed, including the Shadok and the California. On a technical level, I'm not sure of what the specifics on what the solution is going to be for this project. However, I do know that over the last few years, theaters have become much more important and much more rare across communities. And with the times that we are living in now, we're free speech and right to assembly are being challenged nationwide. It is far more important now that buildings like the UA, Berkeley, are not only preserved for the connection to our past, but also to help forward the generations of the future. Thank you. Thank you. The next person can come up. Good evening, Council. My name is Jake Price, and I'm speaking in support of the project and against the appeal. I grew up in Berkeley. I grew up going to the UA theater. It's a lovely theater. But times are changing, and it's's no longer a viable business and we need housing, especially downtown. When I was at Berkeley High over a decade ago now, all the businesses on Chadwick were vibrant and serving high schoolers and college students and now I see vacancies throughout the street. We need more foot traffic, we need more dense urban and fill development, and this project exemplifies that perfectly, and I ask that we move it forward today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I get it and understand where the passion here comes from. Who isn't for artistry and unity? Who would not love a bold and exciting vision of a once glorious art deco movie theater? Restored as if straight out of the same Hollywood that birthed this building's creation. It's an alluring story to fantasize about sticking it to the big bad developers and showing how the common folk can win. But it appears that it lacks any grounding in the reality of construction costs or what credible business plan would justify such an investment. So what will the B City Council? Is this a popularity contest? Or have you been elected to make thoughtful and informed decisions about our city's future? Saving the UA would provide for us a damaged and faded star, an empty shell with only an implausible screenplay and no producer to make it anything more than a good story. Thank you. Hi there, good evening. My name is Alan Chamorro and I'm in support of the project. I think the most important thing I can say here is that the rules have been followed and it's important that we redevelop buildings like this with better use. I think it's admirable that the historic facade has maintained. I think that's going to be a beautiful remembrance, but we need housing and this is a good project, so I hope you'll support it. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, my name is Sean Carson. I'm speaking as a part of the project. The housing affordability crisis that California and the rest of America faces is probably my generation's greatest conflict. I think we need to do everything in our power to fight against this and build whenever we can. And it's probably my greatest reservation about staying within this state, having affordable housing and And we have 45 units that are up for taking so people who need it can have it. I walked inside of the movie theater when they were doing the tour. I wouldn't pay to watch a movie in there. That place is run down and it needs millions and upon millions of dollars in remodeling costs. And there's no plan that's been outlined to say, well, how is it's going to be done? Who's going to pay for it? But the voters are right here right now ready to put up apartment complex. We should let them do it. So let's vote, Berkeley. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Monivore. I rise to speak in favor of housing downtown, economic vitality, and this historic landmark United Arts Theatre. As a filmmaker, mom, an actor, mom, I've enjoyed movies at this very theater theater and I'm convinced that the cultural event of movie theaters is not dead. $60 million was made by Ryan Cougar this last week in an opening at Grand Lake Theater. Secret State law still applies and is not nullified by SB 330 or AB 1633. The UA theater operated continuously for 91 years and I pray that it will do so in the next 90 years. The facade does not a landmark make. It's the building itself and we could do both housing and a theater. I say in the famous Star Wars quote, may the force be with you, Council, to make the right decision in favor of retaining this cultural gem. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Teresa Poletti. I am the Preservation Director of the Art Deco Society of California, which is based in Berkeley, and I'm also a Berkeley resident. I would like to urge the City Council to please consider that this building is not, does not qualify for an exemption to CEQA. It is a major historic resource. It is an art deco treasure and Berkeley is going to be tearing down the equivalent of the Paramount, theodore and Oakland should the demolition happen. So please really reconsider what could happen if this turns into either a hole in the ground with nothing or if this theater is gone with just a facade. We have a major, major treasurer here in Berkeley that should not be demolished because once it's gone it's going to be gone forever. Thank you very much, here time. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Heather Ripley, and I'd like to see my time to Laura Linden. Sure. I think she's in there. Oh, OK. So you have two minutes. And you might want to move the mic down. And oh, no, I'm not Laura. I am also seating my time to Laura. You can all come up. Why don't you all come up since you're seating time to her? It would be easier. So I'm clear who's seating time. No, no. Okay, so the three of you are seating time. Who is? One, two, three. Okay, great. Come on up, please. I think I want to do two minutes on one and two minutes on another. You can separate it however you'd like. Yeah, so will it start and then I can look? There's a clock here and then there's one here too that you can check. Okay, go ahead. Okay. Why don't the line want to move up a bit too? All right. So hi, I'm Laura Lindon and co-leader of the group saved you a Berkeley, been going strong for two years. We have nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. Look at all the people here. Come on. Thousands, hundreds, if not thousands of people, have written you guys letters over the past year. You know, a lot of people in Berkeley, the wider East Bay, This is a very legitimate issue with a very legitimate legal and also a wider policy argument. That's why we're here to talk to you guys about it. That's why we tried to meet with you guys because we really feel like some bad faith things have been said by the developer about us and about our arguments and that. And so, anyway, you might want to speak into the mic because- Yes, okay, so the most people online. This is being held up here if you could turn it, we're as a little bit- Because, you know, to say that there's nothing historic in the interior, other than let's say the lobby, or let's say the facade is ridiculous. Even as a multiplex, this thing is chalk full of art deco, decor, and ornamentation, okay? All throughout, even as a multiplex in the auditoriums, in the hallways, the mezzanine, the grand staircase, it's on the level of radio city musical. Those are the angels that are behind the partitions because the original auditorium exists behind the partitions and sure there is damage behind there, but it is incredible that this auditorium exists. It was preserved in the 70s before this very reason for the ability to possibly bring it back. So this theater has a lot of options. So please look at all of the photos and do not dismiss what is in the interior of this theater. And as our attorney has talked about this theater, the nut of it is that it is on the state historic registry, which is a listing that protects the entire building. So very quickly, I wanna just call out what has been, unfortunately, and again, we respect the City Council, and we really are counting on you to give us a fair hearing, and also to be independent and problem solvers. But really, we've had a lot of trouble getting information. This, this, sequa exemption was so pivotal to the project's approval. We feared that this deliberation would all be done in secret and then it would be granted and then it would be over. And that's pretty much what happened. In February of last year, you know, the sequo was outlined in January and then actually in March, I spoke with Sharon Gong for 20 minutes, took notes. She did not mention that the developer had actually two weeks before in a 300 page document demanded a full exemption to sequa. I spoke to her, I asked her about any possible exemptions. She did not answer. She didn't say she said nothing like that happened. We only found out in May that that had happened. And then we began sending letters to you guys and sending letters to the whole city. Please seek, you know, peer review, get other input. Please, we heard nothing. It was pretty much just, we heard nothing, all spring, all summer. But what we did hear was that the housing proposal was on hold, on hold, on hold. And then only in May did we find out that there was this demand. And then nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. And then on October 4th, then suddenly, You know, the exemption is granted and then, oh, what do you know? That same day, finally those documents are popped into that little portal that most people don't know how to get to, but I did eventually find it. Okay, so we didn't, you know, we have been trying to get information to the public. And we didn't get it. So sorry our time. So that's four minutes. Yep, that's four minutes. Thank you for your comments. All right. Could you allow the next speaker to come up please? Thank you. I'm sorry. I wanted to. Someone's not in the mirror me and nobody cares. I'm two and a day ago. I've seen it rose park. I'm trying to strangle me to death. I was there because I'm sorry. I'm currently homeless. Why am I homeless? I am homeless. Sorry, you know, this is, this is a common comment on me. I want to tell you why I'm homeless because I live in KVK for 40 years. City manager, can I afford a few? Are you going to give me the app? No, I'm so sorry, but we're actually having a public hearing right now on a specific issue. Just ask him ask because there's a murder around him. He wants to ring your neck. I hear you and I'd like to refer to the City Manager and see if we can have someone take this woman's report. Thank you. Shall I start? Yes. Thank you. My name is Tova Halpern. I knew I had to do my part to preserve this iconic movie theater. I was born and raised in Berkeley and have many memories of going to see movies there. I represent my homies from Berkeley who went with their friends and families to see their first films at the UA theater. They want their grandchildren to be able to have the same opportunity. There are also groups of local actors and artists who are without a venue to perform, so a stage and an auditorium would be of great benefit. Downtown Berkeley was the hub and this theater was the place to go. The beauty of this theater is its location and accessibility by Bart, walking and by bus. You see was the place to go. The beauty of this theater is its location and accessibility. By Bart, walking and by bus. UC Berkeley students from all over the world become acquainted with American culture at this theater. Films importantly depict and instruct us about the past, present and future. Let us not deny the in rope. One more thing. Sorry. That's your, the end of your time. Okay, sorry. I'm sorry, thank you. Unless you could find someone to give you a minute if you'd like. Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. Feel free to move the mic. Yeah since there are now no longer any theaters in downtown Berkeley, including the fine arts cinema, which was in a space where a patricated building now exists, and he had guaranteed, said that he would put the movie theater back in, and the fine arts cinema now no longer exists. Also, the fact that there is a gaping hole where the Shatic Cinema is used to be and the fact that there are empty storefronts is because all the businesses were moved out to make way for a housing development, which is now unhulled and is not happening, all of the places up and down center. I've been moved out for a housing project that is now unhulled and I would like to give the political will for the grounds well behind me to oppose the project at the United Artists. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Jeff Baker. I'd like to yield my minute to David. Go ahead. Thank you. Just move close. Yeah. When I was a kid in the 80s, I would see movies at the UA. And it never, ever occurred to me that this building was remarkable in any way. It had long since been carved up into a multiplex, and even back in the 80s, it no longer made economic sense to have that style of movie palace in downtown Berkeley. 200 plus apartments seems like a much better use of this space than a movie theater in an era when nobody goes to movie theaters anymore. I'm not saying that this appeal is in bad faith, but I think it's worth noting that nobody was interested in landmarking this property 50 years ago or 40 years ago or 30 years ago or 20 years ago or 10 years ago or five years ago or three years ago. I think you see my point. Now somebody wants to build apartments here and suddenly everybody wants to landmark is magnificent to example a Berkeley's cultural patrimony that they hadn't managed to notice for 50 years. It makes me a little bit cynical. And if it seems like I'm being mean, that is not my intent. But I would like us to be clear that this is an issue of values. I am asking the Council and the city to value our current and future generations. You see students are living in their cars because of our housing crisis rather than indulge this nostalgia and sentimentality. Places for people to live are simply far more important for the Berkeley that exists today than preserving a mid-20th century movie house. It is time to prioritize the future of Berkeley rather than its past. Thank you. Thank you. These two people are going to see their turn to me. Which two people? Jemaye, Ellis, and Ann Wienberger. Okay. Are those you, can you just... Can you, can you just wave your hand so I know who you're, thank you. Okay. And then I'm going to ask that you sit down unless you've got something to hold up. I think Gary over there. Gary are you also giving your minute? Yes. Okay if you are can I ask that you step out of the line please so that we're clear. Thank you. I just want to say quickly before I speak that the reason it wasn't this part of your time just just so okay, yes, I don't understand. The reason it wasn't landmark 50 years ago is because if they landmark it they couldn't put in the multiplex or alter it. And as the owner of a movie theater, landmarking it wouldn't serve their purposes at the time. So, dear Mayor and City Council, this document, which is a part of the appeal referenced above, will focus on the fact that the housing development proposed for 227 for static avenue is out of compliance with the city's downtown area plan, DAP. And that's the general plan and is therefore not eligible for the Class 32 exemption that staff granted to the project. The exemptions should be reversed and the proposal set that sent back to staff to undergo the sequel review process that was outlined by the city in January 2024. The city's vague claim that there are now competing interests affecting downtown planning. In no way excuse us or make legal, I'm sorry, make legal letting a developer demolish the massive, historic U.S. structure, which is now a local landmark on the California register of historical resources and NR eligible. According to California Code, regulations, Title 14, 15332, and infill development project must be consistent with the applicable general plan designation and all applicable general plan policies as well as with the applicable zoning designation and regulations. But the project, because it calls for destroying the palatial four-store U.S. structure, only to retain part of the facade and perhaps part of the lobby. It is our understanding that the developer is not legally bound to retain the lobby. Does not follow the DAP. The Berkeley Downtown Area Plan adopted in 2012 in part of the general plan was a product of up to 200 meetings and many years of work. As a democratic document of citizen input that was approved by two thirds of Berkeley voters in 2010 and it must be followed, even with the raft of state pro-housing laws that have been adopted since 2017, the general plan and the DAP are still in effect in govern planning in the city. On the city's DAP webpage, it states these top goals, making downtown a recognized center for culture and arts, bringing new housing to downtown and preserving downtown's historic assets. The whole DAP document outlines the policies and goals to promote historic preservation and support the downtown cinemas. And I just want to say this is not an argument about whether should be housing or this old archaic theater. This is about following the law. That's what our appeal is about. It's not about whether it's worthy or not. It is our feeling the law to not exempt this theater from the SQL EIR. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next speaker. Okay, folks, just move up. It's okay, don't be shy. Hello, my name is Ania Fuchs. Can I give 30 seconds of my time to dance? Yes, go for it. Okay, 30 seconds. I grew up with you. Can we do 30 seconds on our clock? Or we'll just keep track of it. Okay, go ahead. I'll just stop you at 30 seconds. Go ahead. I grew up with the UA Theatre. Up to just a few years ago, I brought my friends from out of town. They're completely impressed. They're completely impressed. There's nothing like the UA theater. In other cities, it's a source of pride. It makes Berkeley unique. I just, from an outside point of view, I don't understand there are many storefronts open that are just vacant and empty. Yes, housing, absolutely important, but I don't see a conflict here. This is one of these pearl gems that make it so unique and sorry, if you want to continue giving that. That was on me. Mayor council last 10 years, I've been fighting for affordable housing in the South Bay. Last year's efforts led to the approval for a thousand housing units. In Santa Clara, I'm a Yimbi. Up here, I'm a Nimbi. This is what happens when the political pendulum swings left and right. Whenever it hits the amplitude, serious mistakes are made. We're trying to prevent you from making one here tonight. The California Register of Historic Resources and two separate city commission peer reviews are saying that the building has incredible historic merit. left coast architects and the developer are saying there's nothing worth saving. No one in this room except one person sitting right there has opened the patch of the Adiré and looked up at that Art Deco splendor in the auditorium. It is incredible and it's intact. These buildings are not endangered, they're beyond endangered. If you tear down the UA, it's extinct. It's over. We are not here tonight to ask you to vote to save the theater. We are here tonight to ask you to make sure that you follow the law. A building like the UA is a rare prime example of when the implementation of CEQA is appropriate. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Arlene Osayich, Berkeley resident. I'm seating my time to Alan Mishon. Okay. And I'm sitting in my pocket. You okay, two people are sitting three. Berkeley residents sitting my time. Okay. Three people are sitting their time to you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. My name is Alan Mishon and I'm the owner and operator of the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. I have a long time history in Berkeley. In 1972, I built, opened and operated for many years the Realtors Cinemas on Gilman Street. Later on, I operated the Sunset Theatre on Telegraph Avenue, subsequently the Fine Arts on Shadok. I built the Shadok Cinemas. I have also a time to operate at the Northside Theatre and as well as the Oaks Theatre on Solano Avenue. Berkeley had a long history with entertainment. The downtown plan calls for entertainment. One of the exhibits that staff put up earlier in the day was fraudulent. It was an aerial site visit, site plan of what we are talking about. It showed the UA building, but to the right, it also showed the Shatic cinemas building that is no longer there. It is a gaping hole in the downtown and the developer has not been able to move forward with that. It broke my heart to see the Shatic closed. I want to explain that regal cinemas closed this theater. They were in deep financial trouble because of COVID. We were all forced as operators of public places to close our places of business for a year and a quarter. And after that the public was afraid to come back. The grandlake would not have survived, had it not been for a government program called the SVOG, Shuddered Venues Operators Grant. I received a substantial amount of money from the federal government to take us through that period. Regal did not. Big companies were exempted from that government help. Small operators like myself were allowed and given the ability to stay in business. Some people tonight have said, people don't go to the movies anymore. That it's not a viable business. I invite any member of this council and city staff to accompany me over to the Grand Lake after this meeting is over. you can count eight or nine hundred people watching my movies in the Grand Lake after this meeting is over. And you can count eight or 900 people watching my movies in the Grand Lake by the time the 730 show starts. It is still a viable business. It is still recovering from COVID. And most importantly, please don't look at this building as a movie theater coming back, as a multiplex coming back. It was a terrible multiplex. It was a prime example of bad multiplexing of a beautiful low theater, but at the time that work was done, the city council, the city planners had the foresight to say to the owner of the property, okay, we'll let you multiplex this theater, but all the original elements have to be retained. You build your new auditoriums inside the shell of the old theater. You leave the ceiling alone, you leave the pristine alone. You create something that could be brought back. And I urge you not to look at this theater now as a movie theater for the downtown, but as a future performing arts center for the whole region. It is a fabulous theater with a fabulous stage, a full fly-off right on bar, 15 feet away from the front door. This can be the pride of Berkeley, just as the paramount is the pride of Oakland. And it can serve the citizens of this town and then surrounding communities for another hundred years. There's nothing structurally wrong with that building. It's a fortress that's built just like my grand leg. I'd love to see it restored and preserved. Thank you. Thank you. Please come next speaker. Okay. All right folks, we want to make sure folks come on. We want to let this next speaker speak. Please go ahead. I'm Ellen Rode and I'm Ellen Rode and I'll see my time to join. Okay. I love the joy. It's great. I just want to make sure we can hear from everyone. Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Greg King. I've operated theaters for 30 years in a past life and then involved in many restorations. I urge you to support to appeal this ad decision and give the United Artists Theater the proper and lawful assessment it deserves. It is a prime and irreplaceable example of Art Deco. It retains most of its original fixtures and decoration. It's a public lobby in Lounge areas. You now see are impressive, but the mind-blowing part is the auditorium ceiling, the Oregon grills, and the prercenium. All existing behind the sheet rock multiplex walls. I am one of the few people in this room have seen this personally. The UA is steeped in history and has entertained multiple generations of East Bay residents for 90 years. The robust steel and concrete frame and a restored interior can be a relevant part of a future downtown, whether as an 1800 seat, live venue or continuing as a multiplex, the feeder has generations of life in it left to give. I implore you to do the right thing. This building is on the California Historical Resource List and is eligible to be on the National Register of Historic Places. It deserves to have a full-sequa evaluation. Exempting it from sequa is against the law. Please understand that once demolition is started, it is not reversible. The United Artists is too important to be ground to dust and end up in a landfill. Please give this treasure the time to properly be evaluated and assessed. Do not let this building disappear in a cloud of dust and become a crater like the Shadick cinemas. I would suggest to make sure all funding is in place for the new build before any demolition permit is issued. And to have a requirement to fully photograph and document this magnificent Ardeco jewel before its final act. Thank you and good evening. Thanks for listening. Thank you. Madam Mayor, council members. Thank you for letting me speak. I'm Kirsten Schultz. Berkeley is my hometown and I'm a resident. I've never been to Riyadh, fair city that it may be. Berkeley's downtown and its movie cinemas were for us like a piyata or as a friend who comes home to visit his parents said no not a piyata a pasajata because we all came down and walked around town and I think that's what we have to keep in mind when we look to future generations. Young people are going to want to be among people together in the real world. And some of our downtown venues are spectacular, but I don't have $175 to go to the theater and young people don't either. We need to preserve our spaces. If we don't preserve our big public spaces, what are we going to do 10 years from now? When we need them to preserve us for climate incidents, we all remember the orange summers. Where did you go to breathe? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Brandon Brode. I'm a Berkeley resident. UC Berkeley alumni. I've been in Berkeley since 1990. And I would ask that you do the review. I think 23 affordable units on this nice shiny tower on the schematics is not really a good number affordable units. Park Theater is now lighting up their old theater and law for yet. I think we need some bright and vision for Berkeley downtown as some of these people have addressed the filmmaker here. Imagine a Berkeley International Film Festival. How much money would that bring in to downtown San Francisco? The Castro Theater was saved. They rebuilt and they made a live venue. We have the Percedo Theater, as I said Lafayette, a Rinda Theater. I gotta go to Rinnen now to go to some of these live events because we don't have one in Berkeley, that's a similar theater. There's film festivals, mill, ... the Presidio Theater, as I said Lafayette, a Rinda Theater, I gotta go to Rinnen now to go to some of these live events, because we don't have one in Berkeley, that's a similar theater. There's film festivals, Mill Valley, et cetera. The Presidio Theater, private foundations are helping Lafayette, they've raised $2 million. Thank you. Please do the review. Hi, my name is Christine Uranum. I'm a long time Berkeley resident. I think in a dispute like this, we have people of good faith on both sides. It always helps to get more information. And under the law, it, there really seems to be a lot of support to do this inspection and figure out is the theater really seismically safe? Does it really have all these beautiful article ornaments? I know what I've seen going there. I've seen the staircase, I've seen the carved medallions, I've seen the ceiling murals that the new development doesn't seem to retain. The marquee doesn't seem to be perfectly retained in that new development. Quite a bit of it is going to be sheared off. I would like you to really look at what we have and consider everyone here who we all want to build housing. But we've been losing a lot of things and Berkeley, and everyone has something they love, they'd like to retain. I think you need to look into what we really have. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Sarah Bell, and I'm here to speak in favor of the project and against the appeal. There are legal merits which I believe favor the housing project, but there's also the reality on the ground. If you sit in the theater, you'll see for yourself, it's not the grand like theater, it's a shabby multiplex. Pull back the metaphorical and literal curtains and you'll see crumbling concrete. The building is literally unsafe for those inside it and for structures around it. To finance saving the facade and lobby, the last original parts remaining, we need to find a new use for the site. Thankfully, well not thankfully, Berkeley desperately needs housing and the housing developer proposing this project plans to preserve the facade and lobby. This project is the best choice both for historic preservation and our housing crisis. Let's build homes for theater goers to come. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, folks. Good evening and thank you for your attention. My name is Summer Brinnerer and I just want to put a plug in for all the theaters that used to be here and also the the very logical reasoning, historical reasoning that we heard about COVID being so devastating for our public places. Now there's an opportunity to preserve the public places above and beyond what was lost and irrevocably lost. And let me just say something about housing. We all went housing. I think it's very disingenuous to think that students are going to be moving into the Kennedy Tower there. That's just very unrealistic. And we're going to have a meeting next week about middle housing and that's going to hopefully address the affordability crisis because the housing crisis is different about the affordability crisis. Just one more thing is aesthetics, sorry, your time is one more word, aesthetic. OK, thank you. Hi, Karen Westmont. I live in on road street. I'm offered one bit of information that you would find if we did a sequel. And that is that the United Artists themselves were significant. They were part of a labor movement in this essence. They thought the studios, they formed the reason Charlie Chapman came and Mary Pickford came is because this was their effort to free themselves from the control of the studios. So there is more to be found about what this resource is. On the point about housing, I used to do the regional housing needs determination for the state of California. I did those determinations for 71% of the state's counties. Not the Bay Area. Berkeley was never supportive of the housing numbers it was assigned. And so now that you've got an opportunity, I want to suggest something else you should do instead. Housing units built in the city of San Jose recently in the thousands, only increased households. You can finish your sentence. Thank you. Only increased households by four or 500. The thousands of units didn't go for a visit. Thank you. I'm going to make a video about the way I'm going to do it. I'm going to make a video about the way I'm going to do it. I'm going to make a video about the way I'm going to do it. I'm going to make a video about the way I'm going to do it. I'm going to make a video about the way I'm going to do it. I'm going to make a video aboutathy and I'm a student at UC Berkeley. I've listened to people here speak tonight with such deep love and passion for the theater and I respect that. And it's clear that this place meant something because Berkeley afforded a people's opportunity to live here long enough to build these memories. And I want that same chance, but so many of my friends can't afford to stay here. They're living in cars, overcrowded apartments, and commuting hours just to be here. This project creates 227 new homes, including 23 deeply affordable homes, and it preserves the Shadok facade and rest resource historic lobby. It brings a new life to building that's now empty and unsafe. Even when it was offered at a dollar a year, the theater couldn't survive. The city, the city attorney, and over 10 independent experts have all agreed that this project qualifies for a CEQA exemption. I think it's really time to move forward. And I think the city should approve this project, so students like me can continue to build a future here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Folks, hey, folks, you know what? When you all were giving your comments, people were respectful and allowed you to speak. I'd like you to do the same for them. Thank you. Go ahead. I'm good evening, council members. My name is Theo Gordon, and I'm here to ask you to reject the appeal and approve the housing. to speak, I'd like you to do the same for them. Thank you. Go ahead. Good evening, council members. My name is Theo Gordon, and I'm here to ask you to reject the appeal and approve the housing. But I also actually don't want you to listen to me. I don't want you to listen to anyone else in this room. We are not normal. Normal people don't spend their Tuesday nights waiting for hours to give 60 seconds of comment. We don't represent Berkeley. That's your job. And our other elected representatives as well. And the people of Berkeley have said time and time again they want more housing. They rejected two former members of this body who constantly found reasons to oppose housing and instead elected a mayor who campaigned specifically on ending the housing crisis. And just today assembly member Buffy Wiggs in Sacramento was working to try and pass her bill AB 609 which to it exempt even more infill projects from Sequa, because she knows that frivolous appeals like this one do not protect the environment. And shouldn't be held in projects, dense infill housing should not be held up by 40 people with $5,000 for a lawyer and a lot of time on their hands. Assemblymember Wix has made a career of championing housing and voters responded by reluctant here with 70% of the vote. You can finish your sentence. Please build more housing. That's what we want. Thank you. We have a lot of blight in downtown Berkeley, right? We have a lot of blight in downtown Berkeley, right? We have a lot of blight in downtown Berkeley, right? We have a lot of blight in downtown Berkeley right now. And it's not a vibrant downtown without a movie house. We have not bounced back from the terrible isolation of the COVID shutdowns as a city or as a culture. It is in the interest of the city to the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of the city of The UA Theatre restored could be a civic jewel. 30 years ago, there were 20 or so movie screens in downtown Berkeley, and now there are none. Thank you for standing up for the rule of law. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Bill Schrader. I purposely waited to go close to last, so I don't have to repeat what's already been said by many others. One of the things I would like to say is I appreciate the passion by all the folks here tonight who want to save this facility. However, sometimes it's really better to kind of step back away from the bark and look at the trees and the forest. One thing that's not been discussed that I want to bring up is even if this group was able to find a benefactor, I don't know, Bill Gates or somebody else, to tear this building down because it's not structurally sound and build a new theater, i.e. similar to the Fox or the Paramount. What would that do to the freight who's struggling? The UC theater struggling. Don't know what impact it would have on the Greek, but I don't think this is a good use of this particular property. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, folks, I know there's a lot of folks standing near the wall, so I just want to make sure are you coming to speak? No. Okay. Go ahead. Hi. My name is Horace Gray. My grandfather, what do you see Berkeley in 38. I went to Berkeley High Class of 84. I can't afford to live in Berkeley. I got to live on 60 second in bankruptcy. But the theater should stay. I know there's no way on God's green earth with my $100,000 a year salary. I'm going to be able to afford to live in that tower. I can't move to Berkeley and live in that tower, which you need downtown is the reason to come downtown. And there is no reason to come downtown. There's a two-bit punk rock club that everybody been over backwards to get to happen. The Castro theater got the carte blanche treatment getting rebuilt over in the city recently. You can't fill the schools in San Francisco. Housing is not a problem. Housing is not really a problem. It's the price of rents in the East Bay that are the problem. Save the UC theater, do what they did at the Fox, make it happen. The Fox Theater single-handedly revitalized downtown Oakland. Period. Thank you. Our final in-person commenter, I believe. Good evening. My name is Zaden Lippman. I'm speaking in opposition. I do not understand this plan that seems to basically remove a lot of the existing culture. However long it's been there in downtown already, to replace with homes that are not affordable. There is a small portion that might go to a few people while the rest is just increasingly beyond anything already in existence. And there is higher and higher buildings all coming in at the same time. Blocks have been shut down for buildings that don't have funding to come into place. What is there? Nothing now. You're wanting to build a concentrated downtown for people to enjoy by only building homes for people to come into and then go elsewhere. We need more of what's already around, revitalized, and what has been come into place as new housing is not operating in mixed use or being lived in there above the average price. Thank you. Any other in-person comments? If not, we're going to move online. Okay. We currently have 11 hands raised on the Zoom with 12.13. If you're interested in providing public comment, please use the raise hand function on the Zoom. And we will begin calling on speakers. First is Gail Simpson. I yield my time to Madeline Roberts. Okay. Madeline Roberts is the next speaker and Madeline will have two minutes. Hi there, Berkeley High School Class of 2012. I'm also a former home builder. I recognize that home builders in California are trying to do the Lord's work as our policy makers. However, let me just tell you this EMBs. I am typically one of you, but in this case, there are hundreds of sites included in the Berkeley housing element, which was a hurricanek-A-Lian effort by the city to pave way for housing development sites, and that was an enormous process. 227 for Shaddik is conspicuously not one of them. Therefore, the downtown area plan, which was the culmination of hundreds of public meetings, and I believe seven years, an enormously democratic process that many retailers bought or rented their spaces accordingly with still stands and many of those policies are still objective. Patrick Kennedy closed on the land knowing full well this site was not included in the updated housing element therefore was still governed by the downtown area plan. He took on that risk. I don't know if he has a superb land basis or he thought he could get away with a sequel categorical exemption. I'll add that Cineworld, the operator that was formerly in the UA theaters, is a UK-based company and was going through global restructuring at the time it pulled out. So I don't believe that comment was in good faith. Next I'll say this, Mill Valley, the Marina District, Hays Valley, the Mission District, Lafayette even, as of late, the Elmwood, uptown Oakland. These are all neighborhoods you want to be in, you want to work in, you want to fall in love in, you want to meet your friends in. These are our senses of place. These are what are called the third places. They have fought like hell to preserve their movie theaters. I have a brother in law from Australia. He's only ever been to Berkeley once. He was pre-COVID and he remembers it fondly because he went to an animation film festival in downtown Berkeley. He remembers that vividly. I am not an historical preservationist. Rather, I care about providing accessible and equitable third places in downtown center. Thank you. you. Thank you. Thanks for your comment. Next is Kate Bolton Schmuckler. Hi there. So I just wanted to support the theater being looked over carefully by following the law. I want to support the folks at what the theater to stay put because once it's gone, it's gone. I can't afford Berkeley either. I live, I'm slowing it in El Serito sereto, and I hardly go to downtown Berkeley anymore. I've, again, born and raised in the Bay. Just because there's not much to go to, I don't, I can't afford life stuff a lot, but theaters, you know, movies are something a lot more affordable, and I do think we really need to value our third spaces, especially with fascism on the rise, we need safe places to gather and be in a community together, and I don't think it's either or, it's not housing or a theater, it wants to get creative and think maybe we can have both. So once his art deco icon is gone, there's no way in hell anyone's going to rebuild it to this beautiful glory that it is. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Next is Harvey Smith. Harvey should be able to unmute. I'm sorry. I just want to point out a broader perspective here, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the country's leading preservation organization has recently featured the preservation of a number of historic theaters across the country. Let me quote Carol Quinlan, the president and CEO who underscored quote, the indisputable truth that historic preservation doesn't stifle progress. It fuels it. By reinvesting in historic places, we unlock their potential to foster economic development, sustain local character, and enhance people's lives in both immediate and lasting ways. So the question that I want to bring to you when I ask is Berkeley has been on the forefront of so many important issues. Why is Berkeley now so far behind with this on the issue of preservation? Thank you. Thank you. Sorry, can I next up is Alana Hourback? Can I just check in really quick how many comments do we have left? Still 13. Okay, 13. Allow Alana Hourback. Okay, because I do want to give council a chance to take a stretch break if there are a lot more comments left. Are folks feeling like they need a quick stretch break or you're okay? 12 more. 12. Okay, all right. So I think we should take a break though after the 12 because that is a really long time for us to be sitting. So, okay, go ahead. Good evening, everyone. With so many of the Downtown Construction Projects stalled by the developers to a date uncertain, imagine if you don't require the sequa, if you don't follow the law, and this project goes the way of so many others. You'll feel horrible. It won't be a good feeling for anybody. So just to abide by the law because not only is it the law but it'd be so refreshing in our current political climate and then in the meantime we can partner can partner with this vast, potentially 100,000 people strong community. That's impassioned to create the theater, to have a community space. This is what we need. And we can do this. The City Council's an Oakland enrichment and then the previous speaker just named so many others have done, have done that, have partnered with the community and preserved theaters in their cities we can do this. Please require the sequel. Thank you. Thank you. Lillian King. Hi, yes, this is David McFadden Elliott on my wife's computer. I'm a writer and Berkeley resident of 16 years. You know, I used to take pride in telling my friends, I live within walking distance of four movie theaters. Now I lament the destruction and draw escape, not just a city park marked by abandoned storefronts, but scarred by entire rows of blight. Our movie's dead, consider. In summer 23, CNN crowed that Barbenheimer's box office success as reawaken America's movie going muscle. Last Thanksgiving, the Hollywood Reporter boasted domestic rip. In summer 23, CNN showed that Barb and Hymer's box office success has reawaken America's movie-going muscle. Last Thanksgiving, the Hollywood reporter boasted domestic revenue for the five-day weekend short to an all-time high. And just this past week in the latest Barb and S. Double Features scored another blockbuster holiday haul. That flip traffic and energy can return to downtown Berkeley. See the sell-out lines at Bamfuss single screen. the thriving corner of college in Ashby, anchored by the Elwood Theater, see the families flocking to Berkeley's movies in the park each summer. I enthusiastically voted for the Manhattanization of Berkeley, but I took for granted that division called for bustling streets, thriving restaurants, and movie theaters. You know like Manhattan, the Manhattanization has stopped. Do the the right. Thank you. Thanks for your comment. Next is Chance Brezky. Thank you. Good evening, Mary Shee, members of the City Council. My name is Chance Brezky. I'm here speaking on behalf of East Bay for everyone. It's interesting that some of the applicants here are talking as though the council has a discretion to conduct a full-seq review or not. That's really not the question here before us tonight. The question is whether or not CAB was acting in accordance with the law and with AB 1633 when they granted the categorical exemption, I think the evidence is massively substantial that they were. And past that, nothing here really matters. This is a question about whose side the law is on and whether the ZAB acted correctly. Now, getting into those extra legal concerns, the only way to maintain attractive amenities in downtown Berkeley is to have people that live near them. And what cuts me up about this is that if the appellans had taken all this money they raised and donated it to the new parkway in Oakland, for example, that could have done some real good for independent theater. This will not. Thank you. Okay, next we have Andrew Talbot. Hi, yes, I'm glad for the opportunity to be able to talk about this. I want to second the person who said that you shouldn't listen to us. The people that are willing and able to show up or talk on Zoom on this started thing are not represented perfectly. You are elected to make decisions for work. And also you're responsible for the law. And hopefully you do not reject this housing and have to get sued again because you were for rejecting housing. So please once again follow the law and approve this housing. Thank you. Okay. Thanks. Next is Kelly Hammergren. Okay. I wish we still had film in Berkeley. Are you getting an echo because I am? No, no echo here. Okay. I wish we still had film in Berkeley, but if you should approve this project, please apply to this project, the LAPS permit ordinance. It is written as one year, and so far it's rarely enforced enforced but council has previously made a section exception and applied two years to the lapse permit. I think I want any more dead zones and holes with stalled project in our city and so I ask that you would apply a two-year lapse permit if they're not initiating construction the entitlement goes away. So that's my comment I can't see the clock. Thanks Kelly. You finish right on time. We have Sandra Cassleton. Hi, I can't tell if I can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Hi, Mary, Eastshire and Council. My name is Shondra Castleton. I'm an adjunct professor, Berkeley resident and parent of a graduating Berkeley High student. As a parent, I'm a student., as a parent of a student who has been essentially living in the downtown area because of Berkeley High. It's been very tough and disheartening. I want to say that I think that the idea that this question is housing versus a movie theater is a false equivalency. I think that this group is rightly asking for due diligence. And I think of San Francisco now desperately trying to bring people back into the downtown. And I think what we would see very wealthy people. Sorry, time is up. Thank you. I could just hear your comment. Next is Mark Siegel. Hello, actually Sam here. Cal alum who's always enjoyed the beautiful details in the UA when I went. One only need looked at the San Francisco Fox to see what regret of destroying the cinema palace looks like. Contrary to Patrick Kennedy's falsehoods, the U.A. could be more than a cinema. It could be a multipurpose event space for live theater lectures, conferences, concerts, festivals, you name it. There are innumably more appropriate sites for housing and Berkeley, but this theater is irreplaceable. In LA, the Egyptian faced seemingly insurmountable structural issues, yet Netflix restored it to high praise. Follow the law and help pave the way for a brighter future for Berkeley, one guided by community vision rather than Kennedy's greed. issues yet Netflix restored it to high praise. Follow the law and help pave the way for brighter future for Berkeley. One guided by community vision rather than Kennedy's greed. Thank you. Next we have Donna West. Wait, hold on. Don, wait, where's she going? Donna West. Hi. Hi. Okay, thank you. Good evening, Mayor City Council City staff. I am a 40 year resident of the Bay Area, and I understand the housing and the prices that we have to have. But let's move into this new building. Where is the entertainment in downtown Berkeley that we will have to go to? Do the review. Both of these buildings may coexist. As residents of the new building, we need a place to gather and enjoy with each other. These theaters are open across the country. They are booming now. Please leave the residents living in the apartment complex that we are building a place to gather for movie theater entertainment to get out of our closet living. These two buildings may coexist. Let the public go in and see behind the partitions. There are historic. Thank you. Sorry, your time is up. Next is Cheryl Dabble, a former council member. Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. So it's amazing that the owners of several theaters and filmmakers were at the meeting tonight. Thank you to the Grand Lake, which is an amazing theater. I just saw freaky tails there, a premiere. And wouldn't that be nice if Berkeley could have a theater downtown to hold a event that was so amazing? But Berkeley's downtown is vacant. And the planning department always sides with Patrick Kennedy or any other multi million dollar developer. You shouldn't do the sequa. Do what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it. Um, we market rate housing is not needed in Berkeley anymore. And why are we looking at e-global time? It's really not okay. Your time is up. Thank you. Next is David Roberts. I yield my time to Madeline Roberts to finish your statement. Oh, well, she already spoke. He can't speak two different times. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're attended Elmwood and it was a wonderful experience to go there during the day. It no longer exists in downtown Berkeley. You can do the right thing. You can impose, follow the strict letter of the law, not what you, staff tells you that they accomplished by their quote unquote sequel review provisions. Thank you. Okay. Madeline already spoke and Harvey already spoke so that's all of the online commenters. Okay, thank you very much. I'd like to give us actually 15 minutes to take a break because I've been sitting a while and I know we want to do some comments still. I'm really trying to model some self-care for us. So I encourage all of you to get up and take a stretch break as well. I'll have some water. So thank you. We'll be back recording stopped. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. 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Reporting in progress. And now we are back in person to go over council comments and questions. So I will look to my parliamentarian here to see if anyone would like to begin. Oh, and I want to just acknowledge that we have both council members, Kessar Wani and Traygub, I think still on our Zoom. So perhaps actually council members, if one of you would like to go first since you're online. Council member Traygov and Kessler-Wonnier, are you there? Okay, yes. I'm here and I do not have any questions or comments at this time, thank you. Okay, thank you, apologies. Okay, go ahead, council member Traygov. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And just to clarify, is this question on me or questions and comments? Okay. Thank you. Okay. I would like to thank everyone for devoting their time to be with us tonight. Thank you to members of the community. Thank you. Thank you as the many members of the public who have written in with their comments. I have reviewed every single comment that I had the opportunity to review. Let me start by painting a picture. The city has a deficit that is only likely to be aggravated by the current political and financial situation, inter-nation in the world. The city manager just issued a hiring squeeze. Berkeley is just one of the American cities going through these financial austerity measures. I also was just in a meeting with key state officials and the financial situation at the state level does not look any more rosy. I did not run for office to shy away from difficult decisions, but this one is undoubtedly one of the hardest ones that I hope I will have to make because of its irreversibility and permanent nature. I'm a big supporter of the arts of a while and performing arts in particular. It breaks my heart truly to even contemplate an option of demolishing a building that I have fond memories of going to the movies in as a college student that can never be replaced. The district that I'm honored to serve is unique in its richness and diversity of art organizations, particularly in the performing arts. I've spoken to many representatives of that industry. The financial picture of many arts organizations is pretty grim. If anyone wants to be able to join me in saving the part of the arts district that we still have, whether it be the UC Theater or the freightight or Aurora or Berkeley Web. I urge you to please join me and consider supporting them by coming to see a movie or a concert, a show or a concert there. I've met with people who agree in concept that historic buildings and the UA theater should be protected and saved. In reality, unfortunately, the city has not received any other offers or proposals for the UA theater. So this is the dilemma that I and my colleagues are faced with. Deny the appeal and forgo the construction of housing units that we desperately need, including dozens of low income units or upholding the appeal in the hope that something happens and somebody with millions of dollars buys this property, we have it possibly has to have it down to the studs to rebuild and then finds a profitable way to recreate the theater in it. The first option promises to protect and restore the facade and the lobby and provides housing units. This option will stop the dilapidation of the historic building, save the parts that are still in a condition to be restored, and also bring the city tax revenue that we desperately need as a community. The second option has no guarantees of anything happening within the next several years or beyond that. Unfortunately, I have not heard any concrete or even possibly realistic plans that materialize in bringing the right investor to preserve the building the way it is. If I had a magic wand and in the absence of a new state law, AB 1633, I would have given more time to the people for serious about preserving the theater, to come up with realistic actionable leads that could not only preserve the building, but also generate the revenue to sustain it and bring much needed revenue and liveliness to the city and district. That is not what is before us tonight, however. And I will just say both supporters and opponents of the project and I have listened to every one of your comments and have taken meticulous notes on your key points. both of you have implored us to follow the law and do the right thing. In the absence of any case law on the matter as this is a new law that has not been tested, I am following the recommendation of our city attorney, which I believe to be legally sound. I will also note there was a comment about looking at lapsed permits. This'm not going to be able to look at the first meeting. I'm not going to be able to look at the first meeting. I'm not going to look at the first meeting. I'm not going to look at the first meeting. I'm not going to look at the first meeting. I'm not going to look at the first meeting. I'm not going to a reasonable amount of time. Before my final decision tonight, I would like to ask staff, the applicant, and a parent of few questions and provide information for both my and the public's benefit to better understand the issue at hand. the staff. can you comment on the question, there was a comment that was made about the developer not legally required to retain the lobby or the features inside the theater that our team to be historic and must be preserved? Can you speak to the force and effect of conditions of approval in the item before us, as well as what steps could be taken? Should there be a failure by the applicant to comply with such conditions of approval? A real quick before you respond. Council member, could you just give us a sense of how many questions you have and if you're asking both applicant and appellant, I'd want to ask that they come closer to the front so that they can respond? That is my only question for staff and I have three questions, a piece for the applicant and appellant, which I will ask in rapid fire format to save a little bit of time. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the question, Councilmember. So the lobby is not considered in any of the studies as one of the character defining features. And so that was not one of the features that was asked to be preserved in LPC did not list it as one of the features that should be preserved in its designation. The ZAB did attach a condition of approval to the permit requiring a historic resource inventory of the parts of the building, I think mainly the interior parts of the buildings that should be studied and put into an inventory and submitted to land use planning prior Planning Prior to Final Design Review. The project, the inventory needs to go to Final Design Review and be subject to DRC Review before Final Design Review is approved. Thank you. What happens if, let's, at the tail end of the process what accountability does the city have to make sure that the applicant stands by these conditions of approval. As they have agreed to the conditions of approval of the permits, the city will not approve the building permits until all the conditions are met. Thank you. And DRC is the design review committee or commission of the city. For the applicant, can you please describe the state of the building? Can you describe which historical components are going to be preserved and restored in their entirety or partially if you have that information at the moment. Sorry, four questions. Can you please elaborate on the construction timeline that you estimate? And can you also please provide some information regarding the estimated revenue to the city after your proposed project is complete? Okay. Okay. Is this on? Well, the building that we're proposing is probably going to be worth north of $100 to $120 million in taxable real estate. So the city's property tax would probably be $2 to $3 million a year. And the state of the building right now, the theater part of it is we have photographs of it over there. It's non-ductile, unreinforced concrete. It's spalling. The rebar in it is rotting and rusting. You can see photographs of it in much the same fashion, actually, of that condominium in Florida that collapsed when the rebar in it rusted and it lost its structural integrity. The lobby however is in pretty decent shape it doesn't show water damage nor spalling of the concrete and the facade in front is also in decent shape the part that is the remains. The lower one third of it has been removed and we're going to be adding new storefront there and then restoring the upper two thirds of it for the request of the LPC. Thank you. Let me just make sure yeah construction timeline to the extent you can estimate that given the current situation nationally. That is very hard to predict. It's the the the the proposed tariffs are going to significantly impact construction materials and it's really a cipher right now, to be honest. We'd have no idea what steel, lumber, components from Mexico and elsewhere are going to cost. But assuming that that stabilizes, once we build the building, it will take approximately 24 months. Thank you and I do have three questions for the appellant. Could you please share some specific ideas that you think are worth pursuing in order to protect and rehabilitate the theater? Have you encountered anyone who is willing to invest time and money into the preservation and we have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to do that. I'm going to address the first question and ask other members of the appellants to address the second and third questions. Can you identify those people so they can start moving towards the front please? Okay, go ahead. So, ideas for rehabilitating. I think that was the first question. So one of the things that an EIR would do would be to investigate ideas for rehabilitating the project. I mean, the building or what other feasible alternatives there might be to this particular project description. So I do not have those ideas because that investigation has not happened. And exempting the project from CEQA would prevent that investigation from happening. And that's the entire point of my presentation is that investigation should happen. So that those ideas can be vetted publicly. CEQA has a public process when you have an EIR. This exemption process is kind of quasi public because you have an appeal right from the ZAB. But the public participation is not built in. Whereas if you have an EIR, the public participation is built in. And at that point, you would have a free forum for ideas that would be alternative to this particular project. Thank you. Okay, Councilmember, your other two questions were for these folks, I think, to answer. We have a wishes to answer them. Look, I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Rose Ellis. And can you reframe the question again, please? Absolutely. Have you encountered anyone who is willing to invest time and money into the preservation and rehabilitation of the theater? And according to the information you have, can you please share what's talk to your condition the theater is in? Alan, would you come up with? Well, and we did submit a rebuttal to their structural report and we, that is part of our appeal. And so you should have had that to read. And that was written by a couple of people in our group who are theater historians and also people who have run theaters. I mean to have Ellen Mishon come up and explain the condition of the concrete but I just want to say if we had come up with people who wanted to buy this theater or you know come up with money, then we would have been accused of being a self-interest trying to take over the property from Kennedy. So that was kind of a no-win situation. We only have five months to really, I'm sorry, five hearings to fight for the theater. And we don't feel that it was our purview, our responsibility to find somebody to buy the building. We're here to argue about sequela in the law. I think that that answers the council member's question. Okay, he's going to discuss. Well, I just wanted to add to that that, you know, we are, you know, we've been accused of raising money. We only raised money at the end. We've just been working basically off nothing. But I just want to say there's an unfair onus on this community group to suddenly be a deep pocketed multi-million dollar development interest to provide an alternative. I'm sorry, I don't think the council member's question. Yeah, I think my question has been answered unless there's something you'd like to add on the question. I was, I think we're just trying to explain. Excuse me, I'm sorry. I understand. And I think his question was just whether or not you had identified. And it's okay that you had lots of thoughts about this. It's just the theater and there's definitely, but if you destroy all options are lost. I'm there still. And okay, so you're going to answer the question about the structural condition. Yeah, if you want to speak to that, I believe that your question is about the structure. The structure, yes. The developer just referred to this as an unreinforced concrete building. That's just- I want to speak to that, I believe that your question is about the structure. The structure, yes. The developer just referred to this as an unreinforced concrete building. That just is not what the definition of this building is. Unreinforced concrete is concrete without steel and rebar. This building is the same construction as the Grand Lake. We had some spalling issues on the back of my theater a few years ago that sort of looked like that and what you do When you have that is you expose the area you sand down the rebar and the steel to remove the rust You then you treat it with rustolium or something and then you put the concrete back It's what they do on the Golden Gate Bridge year in year out. It's what's done on any 20s or 30s or teens, steel and concrete building. That building is a fortress. And the Grand Lake is the same way. It's steel everywhere and concrete. It is a high quality building. And you can't call that unreinforced concrete. I think you've addressed the question. Thank you so much. So I appreciate everyone going into detail. And I've done my very best to review the full body of the record and the communications that we have received. We are bounded by state law. It is fast moving and it has changed in this regard. Regardless of what happens tonight, though, I think we can all agree and we will welcome everyone's engagement and ideas around what we can do to ensure that downtown remains or becomes again a vibrant, safe, accessible, affordable destination. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. I'm gonna move on to Councilmember Bartlett. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And I wanna thank the people for your energy tonight. It's really, it warms the heart to see people care about something in our community. And I always encourage it. And the arts are very special to me and to us. And you're right. We should have a movie theater downtown. We should have things downtown. We should have places to walk to. This culture of our city is one of walkability and enjoyment. However, it seems as if this moment is not the one. And, you know, while we did lose three theaters in one short time, the same way Oakland lost three sports teams. Not a good look. However, this project will not be the one to save that a condition. It is out of reach and scale. The cost is prohibitive and the very nature of it is just beyond the scope of this city to rescue. And the nature of this product as well in terms of the commercial aspect, that train is left to building. And irrespective of that, and I do it again when I thank you for your commentary, your energy, your red outfits, and all that, I went thank you. But again, this is about CEQA, and this is about, this is a very specific thing we're speaking of today. And I wish you had been here two weeks ago when you had seen me fight using Sikha with all my powers and all my energy to require another look at benzene in the soil of a gas station that's being demolished to make an apartment building. Because you see, I was concerned about the actual environmental quality. To residents in the building, neighbors in the building, workers in the soil in the building. Benzian, in case you don't know, destroys your nervous system and really gives you a horrible life. So when you apply your energies in this way, when you marshal resources in the name of Sikha to confront what's really an emotional appeal or a commercial appeal as opposed to the environment, it does a disservice to that law and in dangers are people everywhere as it gets weakened as a result. So tonight you helped discredit a very important law to protect our children and families in California. And so- Okay, folks, please. Sorry. Excuse me. So again- Your time to speak is over. Again. Go ahead, Councilmember. I want to thank you for your energy and I'd want to ask you to stick to the the the the true issue of play here. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to Councilmember Blackby. Thanks, Madam Mayor. I've had a few questions and then some comments. And I'll start again. Thank you to staff of the presentation. Thanks to the appellant, the applicant for being here and for everyone in the community for being here. I wanted to just focus this really quickly on slide 10 and I know that this appears throughout the record as well, just helping me understand this is in the discussion of the historic resource evaluation in In a comment here, the significant loss of integrity negates the property's ability to convey significance. He talked a little bit about what that means when you talk about a significant loss of integrity. Is that structural integrity? Is that historical integrity? What does that mean? I may let the applicants give a little bit more information on this. They may have their historic resource expert be able to speak more on this. But I believe that the integrity is in reference to the ability of the characteristics, the remaining features in the building to convey the significance of the stark resource. So there have been a number of alterations of the building over time throughout the decades. And since it's been designated a historic resource in the state register that have diminished the features of the building and diminished their capacities to convey the historic significance of the building. Great. I agree, look, you know, we do as a council have an obligation to follow the law. I think all of my colleagues here are thinking about that and wrestling with that very carefully. And we're trying our very best to follow the laws. Is it demonstrated us under the HAA, under SB 330 and under AB 1633, and how that intersects with CEQA. So one other question, yeah, and so again, is I understand kind of what we are to do tonight as we consider this appeal. It's really considering whether the project's eligibility for the infill development exemption is correct, and whether or not the project meets the criteria for the historical resource exception. I mean, that's really our function, as I understand it. And I've listened a lot, kind of, to the presentation, to the arguments, and I've read a lot from the experts. So I think the one question, last question I would just ask, and I'd ask this to staff, and I'd also ask this each, the same question to the applicant and the appellant. Because again, I think there's broad agreement that preserving the facade is valuable and is preserving an element that does convey historic significance. I think preserving elements of the lobby also provide that function. So my question to each of the parties is, is the auditorium in its current state a character defining feature that conveys historic significance? I like to ask the same question of staff as well as the applicant and the appellate. So for staff, I can give a little background. Staff and consideration of the applicants consultant as well as the city's consultant found that there's substantial evidence that the auditorium no longer is a character defining feature and no longer conveys the significance of the building. And that's because of the current manifestation of it, the repair, the quality of the environment. The state of the the and the quality of the the auditorium as it is having undergone all the authorations over the years. Okay. Could that's the applicant? Answer the same question is the auditorium and its current state in your view a character-defining feature that conveys that continues to convey historic significance. And that's the appellant to all say that. That means for the same question. I just want everybody's views on this particular piece. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to go to the next room. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. I'm going to put it on the top. This photograph right here shows how the once grand 1800 seat theater has been carved up into four new theaters. The ceiling has been destroyed. The decorative moldings throughout the sides and the stage and elsewhere have all been removed and destroyed. And that has been catalogued actually by the architectural historian who says that the proscenium and auditorium has been altered. The original theater, organs and grill have been destroyed. The atrium and decorative finishes have been destroyed. The lobby and murals have been altered. The original theater seats and lounges have been altered. Essentially, all of the character deriding character, all of the character features in the original theater have been removed or destroyed. The lobby and the facade are the sole remaining portions of the building that are capable of being restored to their original close to their original status. The rest of the building has been modified beyond recognition and repair. The building also, I didn't just spoke when I said it was non-reinforced concrete. It's non-ductal concrete, which is minimal steel reinforcement, but also a seismic hazard to the city and to the adjacent properties. Thank you. I think you've addressed the question. Yes. And then ask the opponent. I'm hesitant to have these questions just be opportunities for people to extend their presentation. So folks, I just want to ask that people respond to the questions directly and. I'm hesitant to have these questions just be opportunities for people to extend their presentation so folks like I just want to ask that people respond to the questions directly and try to stay on topic It's just really like this to me is the crux of the whole argument and so I just I just really want people to put in but I agree with you. Thank you So the information I have is the answer to the question is yes And I'll just read you from the conclusion of the Rincón report, which is the City's Unconsultant, which is the second report that they did. And it said, those several aspects of the distinctive art deco design are proposed to be retained. The proposed demolition of the former theater auditorium would result in loss of integrity of design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. It would no longer reflect its historic significance for its role in the depressionary development of downtown Berkeley, specifically as a purpose built entertainment venue for motion pictures. So that's what your consultant said. There's also two gentlemen here, Alan Mishan, who you heard from earlier, who knows what it looks like in there, from personal experience and Gary Parks, who also has personal visual experience of the ceiling. The question was asked is whether there is architectural and value in the auditorium, what is there? I'd like to use the developers exhibit right here. If you look, this is what's going on above the ceiling of the new auditoriums in there. The original ceiling is intact. It's suspending the ceilings of the multiplexed auditoriums by wires that have been placed up through into the attic and tied off to the steel and the rebar in the attic. Also here you can see that elements of the major proscenium are still intact. This is an easy restoration. I've seen theaters restored around the country where there's been extensive water damage over the course of decades that has melted much of the ornamental plaster. The Lowes King in Brooklyn is a perfect example of that. It was an absolute wreck before restoration is now the pride of that burrow. Please envision this theater as something that can host broadway touring shows. It can restored and it should be- Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Appreciate the answers. And I know there are some again responses to some of those criticisms in the Lefkost report, which I also find useful that says that again, the statement characterizing the theater space fails to acknowledge the loss of auditorium's integrity, and its subsequent inability to be a character-defining feature, or a spatial space of the property any longer, that the National Register supports the conclusion that the interior of the theater does not qualify as a character-defining feature, particularly when taking into account its current condition. So I know there has been some discussion about that on the record. And so, but again, I appreciate the conversation here. So let me just finish up with my comment. So let me just say is my lived experience as someone who loves the arts, participates in the arts, values the arts, and the role of the arts here in Berkeley. I've been a choral singer my entire life, high school college. I met my partner Larry in our college chorus, so it is a very personal thing to me. I sang with the Symphony Chorus in San Francisco for 15 years. I'm a frequent attendee of arts events in Berkeley. And I firmly believe that downtown Berkeley must continue to be a thriving arts ecosystem, and we have to foster it. I totally agree with that, and I want to dedicate my time on the council to doing everything I can to make that possible. But we also, I think I have to separate some of the business argument and some of the historical argument from the legal issue in front of us. And I do think the record is, again, I know there is some dispute, but I'm comfortable with what staff has come up with on the record here. Again, I don't think this is the end of the discussion about the role of the arts in Berkeley. But as I think my colleague, Councilman Bartlett said, this just may not be the particular project where we can accomplish that particular goal. But it is a worthy goal. And I share the vision that people here have. I just think that given the circumstances around this particular project and all the elements of it, the discussion about the historical value with the law is telling us to do. I'm gonna support staff's recommendation here. So thank you. Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Linopara. Thank you. I am grateful to this place and celebrate the memories that have been created here. And I hear the passion and enthusiasm of everyone who has spoken here tonight. And I love American history and architectural history, and I can see how this building exemplifies that. And I also wish that we lived in a world where a movie theater was profitable or a possible business to have here, but we don't. And we cannot keep our city as a museum. Some of my constituents are forced to live in their cars or couch surf or overcrowed because they can't afford housing. And I'm happy, although I'm happy to share that rents have gone down in the past few years, partly due to housing development at all income levels, we still have work to do. Someone joke that students won't live in this tower. The alternative historically has been sleeping in cars or four people to one bedroom apartment or in UC dorm housing double the price of Martin New Market rate units. I hear that people want affordable housing. 27 units of very low income units is a lot and is more than the zero that we have now. And the city will be building 100% affordable housing with the mitigation fees mandated by the city. This housing is incredibly expensive to build and to be able to meet the urgent housing needs of our community, we much leverage the capital available to us. And I recognize that our position here today is specifically on the arguments made by the appellants and to which I agree with the analysis done by our Planning Department and Legal Department and we'll be supporting a denial of this appeal. Thank you. So I just want to check and see if anyone has any more questions for the applicant or for the appellant, because if not, I would like to close the public hearing itself. No? OK. Then I'd like to close the public hearing. Let me just, we need a motion for that. Let me move back. Okay. Okay. Close the public hearing. Councillor Wanning. Yes. that's absent Bartlett. Yes. Trigger. I. I. Okay. Yes. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. Councillor Schell. for your comments and Councilmember Humbert. Thank you Madam Mayor Member Lennopara, for your comments. And, Council Member Humbert? Thank you, Madam Mayor. Excuse me. First, I do want to say, like, as Council Member Tregub said, that I've looked through the record very, very carefully. And I think I've read most of the not all of the hundreds of comments that have come in. It's possible that I've missed a couple, but I really was trying to be very diligent in reading all the public comments and listening tonight. I want to take a step away very quickly from the quasi judicial role that we occupy here. the questions, the legal questions really that are before us tonight. I completely understand why people want to see the United Artists continue to serve as a movie theater. As the only council member who still has a first run movie theater in his district, the Elmwood, I'm extremely sympathetic to the sense of loss that came with the closure of this cultural institution, and which will come when the rear of the building is demolished. I know I would personally be devastated if the Elmwood cinema were to close. But reality is that cinemas are an incredibly tough business right now. There was a time when a typical US resident would go to the movies at least once a week. Now the majority of people only go a handful of times per year. Sixty-five percent of people would rather watch movies at home. And people tend to prefer to see movies on extra large screens with state-of-the-art sound, which are historic theaters generally can't feasibly accommodate. Our task tonight is not to rule on the merits of theaters, though, in general, or in downtown Berkeley specifically. But I know that's why a lot of you are here. I appreciate your comments, and I want to address this. Movie theaters are an incredible community asset, but nearly every effort we have made to attract or keep cinemas in Berkeley has fallen flat in the face of these overall cultural headwinds. Even though these cannot be taken into account when we adjudicate whether this product project is met all applicable requirements, I want folks to know I understand their feelings around it and appreciate their passion. Having said this, what we have to decide tonight is whether the project is met applicable, local and state requirements, and can therefore move forward. I feel that Director Klein and Planning Staff have done an excellent job reviewing this project and taking it through the appropriate processes. Their presentation tonight superbly summarized the issues before us for consideration and affirming the ZAB decision is the sensible approach in my view. I therefore won't belabor the points they presented this evening and in the staff report, and I've not heard anything in the public testimony tonight that would leave me to believe that the staff report is inaccurate or that the Zabs approval of the project was wrongly decided. Having reviewed the staff report and attendant information listened to testimony tonight. I believe the project conforms to the applicable regulations and procedures and that we must move it forward for the requirements of state law. Most importantly, the proposed project would maintain and restore those features that have been identified as contributing to the historic resources. And I believe that satisfies what would be required and sufficiently addresses any sequit issue. Thank you. I'll be supporting the staff proposal, the ZAB decision. Thank you, Council Member. Councilmember O'Keefe. Thank you, Mayor. Many people tonight portrayed the UA Theatre as this last great cultural venue that we're losing. And we'll have a deserted downtown. And okay, you see Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Aurora Theatre, Pacific Film Archive, Freight and Salvage, the Marsh, the Backroom, Cornerstone. That's just downtown. Go a half mile out, and there's more. We have problems downtown. We have vacant storefronts. But cultural venues are not the problem. It's the vacant storefronts that are the problem that make it feel dead. That's what the UA Theatre is doing right now. And it's not going to come back as it was. I understand how hard it was it is to say goodbye to this place full of memories I have seen probably 50 movies there. But change is inevitable. Does anyone here remember E.D.'s ice cream parlor? Yeah. I still grieve that place. I think it closed in 1992. I mean, I feel you. I don't disregard your feelings. It's very sad to say goodbye. My son loves the UA theater because he thought they had the best tasting water at the water fountain. I don't know why, but that makes me cry to think about it going away. But the thing is, excuse me, if we want those cultural venues to survive and we want a vibrant downtown, we have to move towards growth. We have to say goodbye to this. It's not coming back and we need to instead bring more people downtown and support the vibrancy of our city. I'm casting my vote to deny the appeal, support the Zab decision, because I really honestly believe, all think considered, this is in the best interest of the future of our city Thank you Thank you councilmember I just want to check and make sure councilmember Kessor-Wanney doesn't have any comments or doesn't have her hand raised No, I do not I'm ready to vote. Thank you. Thanks. So just some brief comments I just as everyone said I really love the theater. I am very sad that we don't have any movie theaters downtown. I support third spaces. My parents, born in the film industry, I grew up with it my whole life. But I also understand our needs for housing. And I trust our staff and their analysis. I want to comment on something that was made, a comment that was made earlier about the aerial 3D view image being a fraudulent image and you know just want to highlight for folks that this was supposed to be focused on this project. So you know things change on the map around it. So I just want to say that what they shared was not fraudulent. And as we, as was mentioned earlier with Council Member Trega,ub, we don't have funds to save this theater. The Fox Theatre was funded with redevelopment funds, I believe. And these are funds that we just don't have. I really do want to encourage folks to support some of our other spaces here, but I am also in support of moving for staff's recommendations. And so with that, I'm going to ask if there's a motion. If we did a motion. So we can, I move the staff recommendation. Second. Second from Council Member Humber. Thank you. And since we've got folks online, I'm going to ask the clerk to take the role, please. Okay. To affirm the decision that was zoning adjustments forward and reject the appeal, council member Kester Wain. Yes. Tap on his absent, Bartlett. Yes. Tragob. Aye. O'Keefe. Yes. Black to be. Yes. Lunapara. Yes. Humber. Yes, and Mayor Eishi. Yes. Okay motion carries. Thank you folks. I'd like to see if there is- I move we adjourn. Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you. Okay, and we need to- We need to encounter member Kessarwani to adjourn. Thank want to ask a question. I want to ask a question. I want to ask a question. I want to ask a question. I want to ask a question. I want to ask a question. I want to ask a question. I want to ask aned. I'm sorry, go ahead. Remember Oaky to adjourn? Yes. Black Abbey? Yes. Loonopara? Yes. Umbert? Yes. Okay, we're adjourned. Thank you, clerk. Thank you, everyone, for being here this evening. Thank you for your comments. Recording stopped.