ACTION ALERT!!!
Re: Speak out at the city's Zoning board meeting tonight at 7pm, and/or at other public meetings in the near future
Hello Save the UA Berkeley community:
Time is running out to put pressure on city staff and city leaders in our campaign to rescue the glorious UA Berkeley from ruin. Our mission is more important than ever: the Shattuck Cinemas has been demolished and the art deco Cal theater has final approval to be torn down. This is a movie theater MASS EXTINCTION EVENT for Berkeley!
For various reasons, including a raft of state laws that fast-track housing development and limit public input, city leaders are very inclined to approve the development project that threatens the theater. We have to mount MASSIVE PRESSURE NOW if we have a chance of reversing the project's forward trajectory.
The city's Zoning Adjustments Board meeting, tonight at 7pm (Thurs Aug. 8), presents a great opportunity to raise your voice in support of preserving Berkeley's glorious art deco United Artists theater at 2274 Shattuck Avenue. The meeting will be held at 1231 Addison Street as well as on Zoom and over the phone (see bottom of message).
To be clear, the development project we oppose is not on the ZAB agenda tonight. We want to speak during the public comment period at the START of the meeting, which is for non-agenda items. Please be on time to sign up, and use the address of 2274 Shattuck Ave. to identify your topic.
Make sure to say that the ENTIRE theater must be saved from demolition -- the developer's plan to raze the palatial four-story theater while keeping just a fraction of the facade and lobby is unacceptable.
Built in 1932, the UA is a historical landmark -- it is on the California Register of Historical Resources, is National Register-eligible, and is also now a city landmark, thanks to an LPC decision earlier this year.
Housing construction is indeed very important, but housing is being proposed or actively being built in many other places in the downtown -- it's not necessary to destroy arguably the finest theater ever built in Berkeley. The UA has the ability to be restored as a multi-use mid-sized theater like the Paramount in Oakland. Or it could also remain a historic multiplex cinema that serves a public eager to resume moviegoing in the wake of the pandemic.
Those possibilities are lost if the city lets a developer level it into oblivion.
Our letter campaign has hopefully been making an impact, but we must also get up close and personal with city leaders at public meetings. Everyone who cares about saving this theater is encouraged to participate, but input by Berkeley residents is especially important.
If ZAB ultimately approves the project, there is a chance to appeal the decision to the City Council, but an appeal would be expensive and most likely unsuccessful. Better to fight now before it gets that far.
If you can't participate tonight, please consider attending ZAB and City Council meetings in September.
ZAB meetings: Thursday 9/12 and 9/26;
City Council meetings: Tuesday 9/10 and 9/24
As for the issue of whether the city will grant the developer the CEQA exemption, we will find out soon. The city says it will make the decision by Aug. 30. Stay tuned.
Cheers and let's keep fighting!
SAVE THE UA BERKELEY
https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveourua
P.S. Here's how to connect remotely:
To access the meeting remotely: Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Android device: Please use this URL https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85118069453. If you do not wish for your name to appear on the screen, then use the drop-down menu and click on "rename" to rename yourself to be anonymous. To request to speak, use the “raise hand” icon by rolling over the bottom of the screen.
To join by phone: Dial +1 669 444 9171 and enter Webinar ID: 851 1806 9453. If you wish to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda, Press *9 and wait to be recognized by the Chair.
ZAB agenda for tonight: