Tired of frivolous' landmark attempts, Berkeley council members want to raise bar for petitions

"Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani's proposal calls for increasing the number of petition signatures from Berkeley residents required to start the landmarking process for a property from 50 to 200, if the property owner is one of the signers, or 400 if the owner isn't on board. If we can raise the signature threshold, we might be able to avoid what we call the frivolous attempts to landmark that end up not being warranted, Kesarwani said."

"Councilmember Igor Tregub on Monday submitted proposed revisions to Kesawani's item that call for using the 200-signature threshold on all petitions, regardless of whether the property owner agrees. Tregub's item would also bar landmark attempts on structures where a housing project has been submitted within the past five years. The item asks city staff to study and develop ordinance changes that would come back to the council for final approval in the future."

Berkeley City Council could raise the citizen petition signature threshold to limit attempts that block housing projects by landmarking properties. The proposal would increase required signatures from 50 to 200 if the property owner signs, or 400 if not. The item asks city staff to study ordinance changes and return them for final approval. Councilmember Igor Tregub proposed revisions to apply the 200-signature threshold uniformly and to bar landmark petitions on structures with housing project applications within the past five years. Housing advocates support the change to prevent delay tactics. Preservationists warn it would make preserving historic properties harder.

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