BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO: Donald Evans, Ed.D, Superintendent FROM: Timothy White, Executive Director of Facilities DATE: December 7, 2015 SUBJECT: Withdrawal of Zone Adjustment Board Appeal for 2211 Harold Way Development inBerkeley High School Zone BACKGROUND INFORMATION: On September 30, 2015, the Berkeley Zoning Approval Board (ZAB) approved revised Conditions of Approval and a Use Permit for the Harold Way Project. On October 27, 2015, the District, through its legal counsel, filed an appeal of the ZAB’s decision to the City Council. As the health, welfare and safety of BUSD students, teachers and our facilities are our primary concern, The Board filed the appeal out of concerns about potential negative impacts on Berkeley High School student population. The City Council has set the date to hear all appeals on the project on December 8, 2015. Since the filing of the appeal, representatives of the District and representatives of the project developer have met and conferred to discuss possible resolutions of the District’s concerns and were able to reach an agreement such that the District would be willing to withdraw the pending appeal. The agreement includes several additional mitigations to be completed by the developer for the express benefit of the Berkeley High School and Washington Elementary School communities. The proposed additional mitigations address many of the concerns raised by the District in its appeal. The specific additional mitigations are set forth in the attached proposed Letter Agreement. Should the Board approve the Letter Agreement, it would authorize the District’s legal counsel to formally withdraw the appeal, which request must be made no later than midnight December 7, 2015 (as agreed to by the parties in the Letter Agreement). In exchange, the developer would formally request that the City Council incorporate the additional mitigations into the Conditions of Approval. This request must also be made by midnight on December 7, 2015. Even if the City Council does not formally modify the Conditions of Approval, the developer has agreed through the Letter Agreement to be bound by these additional mitigations in any event. POLICY/CODE: None FISCAL IMPACT: Unknown at this time STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff is recommending that the board approve the letter of agreement for additional applicant concessions and withdraw the appeal to the ZAB’s Conditions of Approval.
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