Commercial Vacancy Blight Standards

At a glance

What: The RENAISSANCE program, Part 1: a referral to the City Manager to develop commercial vacancy blight mitigation strategies for commercial districts.
Where it stands: Referral approved on the Consent Calendar on July 28, 2026.
Author: Councilmember Tregub, co-sponsored by Mayor Ishii, Councilmember Blackaby and Councilmember O'Keefe.
Next: City Manager to develop the strategies; no deadline is stated in the minutes.

Performance standards for commercial properties where a building has been demolished, partly demolished or partly built and left in that condition for a set period with no documentation that the project is advancing. Remedies could include temporary landscaping, creative temporary uses, creative fencing, murals and green walls.
Reaffirm the City Manager's authority to declare a permit lapsed for non-compliance, and explore streamlining the permit revocation process in Berkeley Municipal Code 23.404.080.
Add "unmitigated prolonged commercial vacancy" as a defined factor for declaring a commercial property blighted.
No financial implications are listed.
Supplemental communications on this item came from four correspondents, including the North Shattuck Association.

Item 24, Council Consent Items. Approved with the Consent Calendar (Humbert/Tregub, all ayes).