Independent Redistricting Commission discusses districts, future housing
Celine Bellegarda/File
The Independent Redistricting Commission met Saturday for its first hearing and to hear public comment. Community members are encouraged to participate.
The Independent Redistricting Commission explained its redistricting process and heard public comment during its first hearing Saturday.
The Independent Redistricting Commission is composed of eight district commissioners chosen via lottery as well as five additional at-large commissioners who are voted in by the district commissioners, all of whom must be Berkeley residents over the age of eighteen, according to a presentation made at the meeting.
The commission is in charge of producing a new district map that equally represents Berkeley voters using population data, geography, demographics and testimonies from community members, a city newsletter reads.
Berkeley may eliminate single-family zoning in neighborhoods like this one on Hillegass Avenue in The Elmwood. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel
The future of Berkeley could be denser and less segregated, thanks to new proposals to scrap historically racist single-family zoning and legalize the widespread construction of fourplexes.
On Feb. 23, the City Council will vote on a resolution that could start a process to eliminate “exclusionary zoning” – typically viewed as the R1 or single-family-only zones that predominate in richer, whiter neighborhoods in North and Southeast Berkeley, by December 2022. Separately, the council and the mayor are considering allowing multiplexes in places zoned for single families, potentially opening the door for residents of more-diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.