A victory for Berkeley's Creeks

Two years of intense public effort to protect Berkeley's creeks came to an encouraging conclusion in November, with Berkeley's City Council solidly supporting the compromise revisions developed to the city's creek ordinance by the Berkeley Creeks Task Force. The City Council voted to adopt the task-force recommendations and language as the revised ordinance, which should go into effect by the beginning of 2007. These recommendations were based on 18 months of twice-monthly meetings in which task-force members heard from scientific experts, representatives of regulatory agencies, and city planners from throughout the Bay Area, in addition to receiving extensive public commentary and holding numerous public hearings.

The Sierra Club played a key role in this victory, with Club leader Helen Burke, chair of the task force, carefully managing the controversy surrounding the issue to bring about the thoughtful discussions and negotiations that achieved the finely tuned compromise between creek protection and property rights. Club activists wrote numerous letters, attended hearings, and helped phone-bank throughout the process to build support for a strong ordinance, as well as lobbying councilmembers to support the task-force recommendations. Club activists collaborated with other local non-profit organizations such as the Urban Creeks Council to develop a broader support base throughout Berkeley and the East Bay.

Berkeley's previous ordinance covered both above-ground creeks and creeks in culverts. Unfortunately it was only sporadically enforced, and loopholes allowed damaging actions such as building patios right up to the edge of the creek. The new ordinance gives more flexibility to homeowners: rebuilding and repair of all homes near creeks is allowed, upward or downward expansions are generally allowed, and building slightly closer to creeks is allowed under certain conditions. Culverted creeks are still regulated under the creeks ordinance - to reflect their critical integration with the overall creek ecosystem - but with much less stringency than open creeks. On the pro-environment side, the ordinance includes new protections for creekside ("riparian") zones, including a prohibition on any new impermeable paving within 30 feet of a creek centerline, and new regulations for decks and patios. Finally, the City Council approved zoning changes that encourage rebuilding of creekside homes farther away from the creek if they are damaged or destroyed. City staff have become strong proponents of the new ordinance.

The Sierra Club's political efforts were also important: Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Kriss Worthington, Dona Spring, Linda Maio, Max Anderson, and Darryl Moore, all of whom the Club had endorsed for election, all voted to support the task-force recommendations. These elected officials also spoke to the need for broader watershed planning and restoration to improve water quality and control flooding across the entire city, and expressed their hopes for moving forward on such efforts in the future.

Juliet Lamont, vice chair and chair-elect, Bay Chapter Executive Committee