CINEMA SOLIDARITY: Save the UA Berkeley gets marquee recognition in Oakland as Berkeley officials delay pivotal CEQA decision
Hello Save the UA Berkeley community —
There are only TWO WEEKS LEFT until the end of the month, when the city is expected to finalize its fateful decision on whether to let the developer evade scrutiny under CEQA, a state environmental law that protects historic buildings. If the city grants a full exemption to this law, the developer’s project could move swiftly to approval, hastening the destruction of this palatial and irreplaceable art deco theater in downtown Berkeley, CA.
Please continue to make your voices heard through the end of the month!
Thank you so much and let's keep fighting!
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Here’s the summary of the latest developments at City Hall, a reminder of what CEQA is and why it matters in this case, and updated info on taking action:
In a sign that our pressure campaign is having an effect, the city of Berkeley recently obtained another postponement on the question of whether to grant Panoramic an exemption to CEQA. Before the Aug. 30 deadline, the two sides "mutually agreed" to a one-month extension, the city said this week.
Anne Hersch, land use planning manager, said that the City Attorney's office needs more time to finalize its decision on whether to grant the developer's CEQA exemption request. The city attorney's office is "taking a complete look at the picture" to see "where we’re going to land on CEQA review," she said. It is evaluating "the level of legal risk exposure" of imposing CEQA review.
Allen Michaan, owner of the Grand Lake Theater, heard the recent news and took big action by putting a Save the UA Berkeley message on the marquee of his Oakland movie palace. What a beautiful, neon-lit display of CINEMA SOLIDARITY!
For background, the developer that owns the art deco United Artists Theater at 2274 Shattuck Ave. is proposing to preserve parts of the facade and lobby while destroying the palatial four-story theater itself. On top of that, it claims that it should be awarded a total exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act.
The UA would be the third and last downtown commercial cinema that closed during the pandemic to be demolished, leaving only one movie theater left in the entire city.
In a March letter, the developer's law firm, Hanson Bridgett, demanded that the project get a total exemption from CEQA under AB 1633, a pro-housing law passed last year that outlines CEQA breaks for developers. The law firm pressed the city to make its decision sooner rather than later, but the city has now obtained two delays in making the determination.
In June, the city said it needed more time to make the decision, until Aug. 30, but Save the UA Berkeley has learned that the city got an additional (1-month) extension. We have filed a records request to see the extension paperwork, to see if there are other terms beyond just the additional month of time allowed.
Regardless of AB 1633, the UA is a landmark building and is still a cultural and historical resource under the CEQA statute; the proposal to demolish it amounts to a “substantial adverse change” requiring CEQA review. Hopefully this delay is a sign that the city is committed to following the law and imposing some level of CEQA review, which would allow the public and experts more time to evaluate the development proposal that threatens the UA.
With CEQA review, there is potential for the city to hire INDEPENDENT experts to evaluate the UA theater or conduct "peer review" of the developer's reports. The developer has a report from an architectural historian that they paid for that is totally one-sided and not wholly credible. We need the input of experts not bought by the developer.
ACTION INFO
The most important thing to do, if you haven't already, is go to our Take Action page on the website. Go to this page and make sure you've done everything on the list.
www.savetheuaberkeley.org/take-action
Attend city meetings. Attend ZAB (Sept 12 and 26) and City Council (Sept 10 and 24) meetings, in person or online, to speak during the public comment period at the start of each meeting. The meetings are in person and online.
(NOTE: ALWAYS MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOU LIVE IN BERKELEY WHEN CONTACTING CITY OFFICIALS. IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN BERKELEY, MAKE CLEAR WHAT CONNECTION YOU HAVE TO THE CITY.)
Why attend meetings now, when the project is still going through staff review? Because the meetings are a great way to spread the word to other Berkeley citizens, who are there or are watching online, and to put city officials on notice that the citizenry is unhappy with losing yet another historic theater. Eventually the project will go before ZAB, which will give the final thumbs up or down on the project. It only goes to the Council if it is appealed.
Pass out flyers and handbills. We have great flyers and handbills to distribute, and you can print out your own too. You can bring them to meetings or give them to shops, or hand them to people. This work won't get done unless Berkeley people step up. See attachments to this email.
Inject our cause into the mayoral and council races. It's an election year. Bring up Save the UA Berkeley with the mayoral and council candidates.
Organize with other Berkeley residents. Want to meet and work together? Let us know and we can help facilitate a Berkeley working group.
Contact city officials, by email and/or phone:
CALLING. Here is a list of city officials to call and leave a message. The emphasis now is on the City Attorney's office. Please leave your name, be clear, forceful and to the point, and make clear you are speaking about the proposal to demolish the UA theater at 2274 Shattuck Ave.
Please call all of them if you can but calling one is absolutely worthwhile. You don’t have to be from Berkeley but if you are, make that clear.
Farimah Brown, city attorney: 510-981-6998
Jordan Klein, planning director: 510-981-7534
Sharon Gong, head planner on project: 510-981-6620
Anne Hersch, land use planning manager: 510-981-7411
If you have any issues getting through to voicemail, call the city's customer service number and they will transfer you: 510-981-2489
EMAILING
City Attorney Farimah Brown: attorney@berkeleyca.gov
Planning manager Anne Hersch: ahersch@berkeleyca.gov
City planner Sharon Gong: sgong@berkeleyca.gov
Planning department: planning@berkeleyca.gov
Zoning Adjustments Board: zab@berkeleyca.gov
City Council: council@berkeleyca.gov
And please cc our group: savetheuaberkeley@gmail.com
Subject line: No CEQA exemption for developer of 2274 Shattuck Ave!
TALKING POINTS
—The UA is a protected landmark building. Built in 1932, the UA is on the California Register of Historical Resources, is National Register-eligible, and is also now a city landmark — that is why the proposal to demolish the building amounts to a “substantial adverse change” requiring extensive CEQA review under the law.
—Don't cave to the developer after already committing to CEQA. The city already informed the developer that the project should undergo CEQA review, in January. To grant the developer an exemption now would be unfair and unethical and represent a total reversal by the city in favor of the developer — it should not go back on its commitment to enforce and oversee the CEQA evaluation process.
—The public deserves transparency. An exemption to CEQA would deny the public a chance to learn more about the historic and cultural resources that stand to be lost if this theater is demolished. This theater and citizens deserve a public CEQA meeting and further expert evaluation of the development proposal.
—The city is abandoning its downtown planning policies to the detriment of historic architecture and local cinema. The city's Downtown Area Plan, which is still in effect, calls for the "retention" and "support" of downtown cinemas. The beloved Shattuck Cinemas has been demolished and the art deco California theater now has final approval to be razed. The UA Berkeley is the last of the downtown theaters to be saved, and it is the most historically and architecturally valuable of the three—it must be preserved.
—Big potential if the UA is preserved. The UA Berkeley could be restored as a glorious mid-size theater featuring live performance and film, like the Paramount in Oakland. Or it could remain what it is now, a uniquely historic multiplex movie theater. The potential is huge—but not if the theater is destroyed.
—CEQA is still in effect in California! No unfair exemptions for the developer!
--Last, it isn't true that the theater building is so damaged it must be torn down. The UA operated as a movie theater for 91 years until it closed in Feb. 2023. There is no evidence that it closed because it was falling down or deemed unsafe. UA owned and operated the theater for decades and then Regal bought it several years ago, and then sold it to the developer in 2022. Regal continued operating it as a movie theater until it closed for good in Feb. 2023. Declining movie business was cited as the reason for the closure, and also the fact that a residential developer now owned it with plans to build on the site.
We have several people in our group who have extensive experience in historic theaters -- whether running them or renovating them or preserving them -- and they have seen the UA up close and have also read the developer's report on the physical state of the building. They assert there is no convincing evidence that the building is too damaged to be renovated. Yes, it has damage in areas and might need some structural work, but that's not remotely the same as saying it's so damaged it must be knocked down.