“Local governments have a duty to ensure the welfare of all their people,” Berkeley City Councilmember Ben Bartlett said in a release. 

The City Council this week endorsed a “Step Up Housing” initiative, co-sponsored by Council members Ben Bartlett, Linda Maio and Lori Droste, to encourage the creation of “supportive housing” for homeless and very low-income people with city help. An earlier iteration of the proposal had specified modular micro-units.

The "Step Up Housing" initiative that passed Tuesday was sponsored by City Councilmember Ben Bartlett. It would require the city to find city land that could be used for modular buildings with below market rental units, expedite permitting and approvals for projects, select a developer to construct the building at no cost to the city, contract with a non-profit to manage the building, and establish criteria for selecting senior citizens, disabled people and currently homeless Berkeley natives.

Councilmember Ben Bartlett was inspired to introduce the item in part because of a past experience seeing a homeless, elderly and disabled Oakland woman fall from her wheelchair into the street while trying to accept some offered change.

Councilmember Bartlett said he is hopeful that these units can quickly house homeless and low-income individuals. 

On January 24, three city council members will introduce a measure to “obtain zoning approval and a building permit for a four-story and approximately 100 unit building consisting of stackable modular units” somewhere on city-owned land.

The “Step-Up Housing Initiative” is sponsored by Councilmembers Linda Maio, Lori Droste, and the newly-elected Ben Bartlett. Bartlett, representing South Berkeley, ran on a firmly positive, optimistic platform that included plans to build at last 600 backyard Accessory Dwelling Units.

Councilmembers Ben Bartlett and Linda Maio have an item on the agenda about micro-units. The item recommends that the city identify public land where such housing could be erected, obtain zoning and permitting approval for a 4-story, 100-unit building, identify a housing nonprofit to manage and operate the property, and establish criteria to determine who would be eligible to live there.

The EOC idea arose following a bold suggestion from new South Berkeley Councilman Ben Bartlett to appoint a czar to act now on homelessness.