Zoning for the West Berkeley Plan, Measure T (November 2012)

A Zoning for the West Berkeley Plan ballot question was on the November 6, 2012, ballot for voters in the City of Berkeley in Alameda County, where it was defeated.

Measure T would have made zoning changes to large parcels in West Berkeley.

Election results

Measure T
Result		Votes	Percentage
d No		25,291	50.51%
Yes		24,779	49.49%

Final certified results from the Alameda County elections office.

Support

Measure T was supported by the "Coalition for a Sustainable West Berkeley."

Opposition

The group "Save West Berkeley" opposed Measure T. They said, "Measure T is a top down plan pushed by a few big developers for the purpose of making their own property much more valuable. Measure T would allow massive office parks in West Berkeley on at least 50 city blocks and 75-foot high, and 6-story apartment buildings next to single-family homes. The 7,000 people living west of San Pablo would have their modest neighborhoods dwarfed and degraded by out-of-scale development."

The Berkeley Daily Planet opposed Measure T. In an editorial written by Becky O'Malley, they said, "It’s bad enough that this ballot measure has been carefully tailored by compliant city council members to benefit a small number of already identified existing large landholders over the next ten years....The proposed new zoning was concocted in a series of poorly publicized meetings which failed to bring existing businesses and residents together with those who sought these changes for open discussion....But worse is the Trojan Horse feature of the Measure T scheme: in ten years all bets are off, and anyone able to assemble a big enough parcel and/or persuade the Zoning Adjustment Board (commissioners are political appointments made by councilmembers) that some kind of 'community benefits' could come out of the deal could build a blockbuster."

Ballot text

The question on the ballot:

	MEASURE T: "Shall the West Berkeley Plan and the Zoning Ordinance be amended to allow development flexibility on up to 6 large sites, each under the same ownership, during the next 10 years, allowing a maximum height of 75’ with a site-wide average height of 50’, and only if community and environmental benefits are provided to West Berkeley?"

Complaint

On October 17, 2012, Zelda Bronstein, who is associated with the "No on T" campaign, filed a formal complaint with the City of Berkeley's Fair Campaign Practices Commission arguing that the "Yes on T" campaign had mailed out a campaign flyer that falsely named two organizations as supporting Measure T when, in fact, the two organizations have not endorsed Measure T.

The two organizations in question are SEIU Local 1021 and the Telegraph Business Improvement District.

The "Yes on T" website then removed the names of these organizations from its website.

On its website, SEIU Local 1021 asks its supporters to vote "no" on Measure T.

Roland Peterson, the executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District, said there are two distinct entities: The Telegraph Business Improvement District and the Telegraph Business Improvement District Corporation. The Telegraph Business Improvement District itself is ineligible to endorse a city ballot measure because it is a "city-sanctioned funding mechanism." The corporation, however, is a nonprofit that is allowed to endorse ballot measures, and it has endorsed a "yes" vote on Measure T, according to a spokesperson.

See also

• Zoning, land use and development in California

External links

Suggest a link

• Text of Measure T
• Save West Berkeley ("No on T")
• Measure T submittal form
• Berkeley Ballot Measure Browser
• Following the Money Behind Berkeley Ballot Measures