An Alternative Future for the North East Mission Industrial Zone

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An Alternative Future for the NEMIZ Mission Coalition for Economic Justice & Jobs Philadelphia Quartz factory in West Berkeley Office conversion of an industrial building in West Berkeley III.16 IPZ Literature Review & Case Studies West Berkeley Since its founding as Oceanview in the mid 19th century, West Berkeley has been the center of industry in Berkeley, and part of a group of industrial areas in Richmond, Oakland, and Emeryville. Over the course of the last century, the area has lost a significant number of its larger companies, such as Hunt & Wesson, Colgate-Palmolive, Canada Dry, and Durkee, to more profitable outlying regions. The area has also always had a certain percentage of residential uses for housing local industrial workers, but after the exodus of factories, artists’ lofts began to filter into unused spaces. By the 1980s, pressure began to increase in West Berkeley to convert industrial uses to live/work space, market-rate housing, retail and office uses, and most of West Berkeley had M-zoning that allowed all types of uses. In response to the mounting industrial conversion pressure and specific incidents such as the mid- 1980s conversion of the former Durkee Foods site to office and laboratory uses, the city initiated the West Berkeley Plan, an eight-year public planning process. Adopted in 1993, the plan recognizes the mixed-use nature of the area and tries to accommodate all existing use types through zoning districts, allowing for more office and retail development on specific underutilized or vacant sites. The plan segregates use types based on areas of existing use. Each zoning category is divided into four categories: Permitted Uses, Uses Requiring a Public Hearing, Ancillary Uses, and Prohibited Uses. Two small areas with existing heavy manufacturing and a large area for light industrial are established through zoning and protected from conversion to higher uses. The Light Industrial District has the highest existing employment of all the Plan subareas, with about 4,500 jobs. There are also areas designated for office development and retail nodes, two uses that have been steadily increasing in the area. The city’s main concern is that “successful mixed use areas…can become so expensive and intensely developed that manufacturing and other uses which cannot pay maximum rents and land costs are forced out.” The Plan also calls for strengthening the ties between Berkeley/West Berkeley residents and West Berkeley employers, so that local residents enjoy the benefits of economic expansion.
In addition to zoning, the city has programs in place through the Office of Economic Development (OED). OED uses a variety of retention and expansion tools, including zoning changes, infrastructure improvements, finance and permit streamlining, site location assistance, and public works issues resolution. Throughout the West Berkeley Plan process, OED conducted interviews with all the firms in West Berkeley, planned lunches with industrial firms, and mailed a survey to all manufacturers and major employers in the area. In 1999, “OED’s outreach efforts linked hundreds of Berkeley residents to jobs and helped more than 10 businesses expand or relocate locally.” Through Berkeley’s First Source Employment program, OED also links qualified residents with local firms, helping to preserve a higher-paying employment base of blue-collar jobs. The OED also helps facilitate the reuse of large, vacant sites (such as Colgate and Utility Body), cited as an economic development activity in the plan. According to one staff person, it is hard to say that the protective zoning has worked. Many of the factories and land sat vacant for a long time. One site that is touted as a success under this plan is a piece of property next to the Bayer complex. Because of the restrictive zoning, the property owners were forced to sell to Bayer because they could not find anyone to develop it as industrial. Some of this site ended up as parking for the Bayer facility, which has allowed them to develop other portions of their property with other lab and office facilities. Many industrial businesses that have located in West Berkeley would have done so anyway, without the IPZ, and have not created high-paying jobs. Most new jobs created recently pay $11 or $12 per hour and are not union jobs. It is also hard to say how many local residents have actually been hired by these businesses. According to new data from the 2000 census, 70% of the employed residents in Berkeley are in professional or managerial occupations, with very minimal employment in manufacturing jobs. This staff person also feels that housing costs in Berkeley have done more to impact lowincome residents than the lack of “industrial land” and loss of manufacturing jobs. Many of the real manufacturing jobs left long before 1993. Mission Coalition for Economic Justice & Jobs West Berkley industrial build reconfigured for live/work units “Working Man’s” cafe located across from the Philadelphia Quartz factory in West Berkeley IPZ Literature Review & Case Studies III.17 An Alternative Future for the NEMIZ
Page 1: AN ALTERNATIVE FUTURE FOR THE Prepa
Page 5 and 6: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 7 and 8: The history of this neighborhood is
Page 9 and 10: The City is addressing areas which
Page 11 and 12: For non-Core PDR users, such as fur
Page 13 and 14: Any IPZ Program Needs to Be Flexibl
Page 15: EXISTING CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT This
Page 18 and 19: An Alternative Future for the NEMIZ
Page 53 and 54: PLANNING & POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS I
Page 55 and 56: C. Evaluate Each Industrial Neighbo
Page 57 and 58: NEMIZ Recommendations The following
Page 59 and 60: PDR Sub-Category Core PDR Medium PD
Page 61 and 62: D. Create a Small IPZ Focused on Ke
Page 63 and 64: Policy & Planning Recommendations
Page 65: APPENDIX
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Mission Coalition for Economic Just
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An Alternative Future for the North East Mission Industrial Zone

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