ALT My name is Libby Lee-Egan and I'm speaking on behalf of North Berkeley Now!, a local group of residents who want more neighbors to walk and bike with in North Berkeley and I'm here to tell you that we support what the developer team is asking for as far as changes to ODS. Please recommend that City Council adopt the ODS with the changes they defined in their letter dated October 13th. In particular the setbacks cut into the capacity for housing while the sidewalks and planting strip cut are more than adequate for space from the street. In the presentation it was said that changing the setbacks to the minimum of 5 feet will restore 10,000-14,000 sq ft which is absolutely a significant amount of space. Can we really say that plants are more important than housing 10-14 families in a place that is almost certainly more transit accessible than where they lived before? Plants are great but we should prioritize homes for humans. To echo Commissioner Ghosh I also have concerns about the

ALT To echo Commissioner Ghosh I also have concerns about the excessive amount of parking. I am curious about in the event that the amount of parking be lowered, how do we ensure that freed up space becomes more homes? Is there a mechanism for that? Storage for private vehicles is obviously not more important than homes for people. Public transit is a public resource. Taking a short walk to the train station or bus stop ought to be available to as many people as possible. The collection of circumstances, sentiments, and beliefs that led to a subway station in a growing metropolitan area being surrounded by a surface parking lot is a mistake that we are well on our way to rectify. This is not the time to think small. The ODS as written is a good starting point but some parts of it seem to be trying to please a small group of naysayers who do not represent my neighbors and I. You want to please the people of Berkeley? Think big. In the last decade the people of Berkeley have shown with

ALT In the last decade the people of Berkeley have shown with their votes that they want more homes. Pro-housing candidates for state senate, assembly, city council and more are winning and their opponents -- who espouse a less welcoming view to adding new residents -- are losing. We have shown with our votes that we want more housing and more neighbors. You want to give the community what they want? Give us more neighbors. Make it possible for more people to live and thrive in Berkeley. Let's think big, make North Berkeley more welcoming to new neighbors of all kinds, and right the wrongs of the past. Maximize the capacity for homes at North Berkeley BART and make sure as much of the public can enjoy the North Berkeley BART parking lot as possible. Thank you