Berkeley hosts community meetings on development at two BART stations

The city of Berkeley on Monday will hold the first of three community meetings to discuss planning for the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations.

The meetings are part of a collaborative effort by the city and BART to collect public input and “create a community-driven plan to improve access to these stations for everyone and provide much-needed affordable housing,” the city said in an announcement.

Monday’s session, which will be held online via Zoom from 6-8:30 p.m., will offer information about the Ashby and North Berkeley BART project, zoning standards being created, other development guidelines being considered, and other aspects involved in re-imagining the two stations.

“The project aims to re-imagine these stations as vibrant places that include housing, open space, and community amenities,” the city said. “We are working with BART to create zoning and site planning parameters that reflect a shared community vision for the areas around these stations.”

The meetings are part of “a multi-year, multi-phase process,” the city said, with the current phase including “discussion of zoning and site planning parameters such as housing affordability, density, station access and open space requirements.”