Leaving a crowd of about 50 people in limbo, Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board once again postponed making a decision on whether to certify the Environmental Impact Report for Congregation Beth El’s proposed new synagogue at 1301 Oxford St.
The purpose of Monday night’s meeting was for the Berkeley city attorney to issue an opinion on whether the Zoning Adjustments Board’s certification of the EIR obligated the board to approve the project. The matter was continued to Dec. 14 for a decision.
The EIR had been before the board previously on Nov. 9, when the nine-member panel listened to about three hours of public comment on the adequacy of the report. That time the board postponed its discussion and decision in deference to the late hour and the fact that it still had other matters on the agenda.
Certification of the EIR is necessary before Beth El can apply for a use permit, which would allow construction to begin. But there are several hurdles between certification of the EIR and breaking ground. The Landmarks Preservation Board must approve the project and the zoning board has to issue a use permit. It is expected that the zoning board’s decision, whatever it is, will be appealed to the City Council.
“Ultimately the council will decide about the project,” said Vivian Kahn, acting deputy director of the Planning and Development Department for the city of Berkeley. “That’s what we expect.” And if anyone is unhappy with the City Council’s decision, the matter can be taken to court.
“We are not considering the project itself,” said Carolyn Weinberger, zoning board chairwoman, when she presented the matter to the board at Monday’s hearing. She said there would be more public comment and the project would be evaluated when the question of the use permit arises. The only issue the board has to decide now is the adequacy and completeness of the EIR. “The purpose of the EIR is to inform the zoning board of physical impacts related to the project. To certify the EIR, there must be a good faith effort of full disclosure of potential impacts.”
The EIR, which is several hundred pages long, addresses everything from hydrology to parking and noise to steelhead trout. It includes all public comment on the project and ways in which any possible adverse impacts can be mitigated. Weinberger explained that certifying the EIR does not signify approval of its contents; it just means that it contains sufficient information for the board to make an informed decision on the project when the time comes. The city’s Planning and Development Department, which worked with Beth El and outside consultants in preparing the EIR, recommended that it be approved.
“Can the EIR be approved but the project denied?” asked board member Gene Poschman. Quoting the appropriate regulation, Kahn assured him it could. Consultant Eric Norris, who helped prepare the EIR, cited a proposed church expansion in Livermore, where the EIR was certified but the project was not approved. Poschman was not convinced. He wanted the authority of the city attorney behind the representation.
Other board members raised more questions.
James Peterson asked whether alternative sites for the synagogue had been thoroughly investigated. David Blake questioned the EIR’s finding that underground parking was not feasible.
“How do you determine feasibility?” Blake asked, acknowledging that underground parking would increase the cost of the project by about 25 percent.
“There’s nothing to be gained by putting parking underground,” said Norris. But at the heart of Blake’s question is one of the major controversies that have erupted over the project. Codornices Creek runs through part of the property, as it does throughout Berkeley. Where the creek surfaces, Beth El plans to restore it and add native vegetation. But the problem lies in those places where the creek is culverted and about 25 feet underground.
Supporters of the creek want Beth El to excavate or “daylight” it. They claim that if the entire creek is daylighted, then the steelhead trout that once lived there will flourish again. But excavating the creek is expensive, will create its own environmental impacts and will render the property largely useless for the intended project. Plus, Beth El’s property is only one small link in the length of the creek, which runs underground throughout Berkeley, and there’s disagreement over whether the steelhead trout would return even if the entire creek could be daylighted.
With Beth El planning to have an onsite parking lot built over the culverted portion of the creek, “There’s the loss of the possibility of opening the creek,” said Blake.
“The loss of potential is not part of an EIR,” said Norris.
Although a motion was made and seconded to certify the EIR, Poschman trumped it.
“I’d like to make a substitute motion to continue the matter to Dec. 14 to make a decision on the EIR, in order to get a memo from the city attorney about the relationship between certifying the EIR and making a determination on the project.”
Poschman said it was important that there be unanimity on the board over certification of the EIR, and that an opinion from the city attorney would promote unanimity.
“There’s already a motion on the floor,” someone from the audience yelled out.
“It’s a substitute motion,” said Blake. Smiling, he suggested that who ever spoke check their Robert’s Rules of Order.