- Brianna Smith
- May 9, 2024 (DailyCal.org)
District 7 Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra was sworn in at yesterday’s City Council meeting, where Berkeley Building Codes, Vision Zero and the Market Match Program were addressed.
Lunaparra expressed her gratefulness and eagerness to get to work as the first undergraduate, Latina and queer woman of color on the council. Many attendees and several public comments expressed their support.
“Serving on the Berkeley City Council and representing the Southside neighborhood will be the honor of my life,” Lunaparra said during her first statement at the meeting. “My presence here is a testament to the power of students and young people in Berkeley and beyond.”
She also expressed her full support for the demands made by the “Free Palestine Encampment” at Sproul Hall and encouraged the city and university to avoid “mass police violence and repression.”
On the meeting’s action agenda, Item 57 called for the re-adoption of the Berkeley Building Codes, with the proposed amendment of zero NOx buildings. NOx is shorthand for nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which both contribute to air pollution.
The amendment would require Zero NOx Emitting Appliances, including space heating, water heating, cooking, clothes drying and lighting equipment, for new buildings to be considered Zero NOx.
“This is a fairly novel approach that has only been adopted in one other jurisdiction, Los Altos Hills, which is not a big metropolis, and there it only applies to residential, and here we’re looking to expand to commercial,” said District 5 Councilmember Sophie Hahn. “I think it’s worth a conversation because this is a cutting-edge policy.”
All councilors affirmed re-adopting the building codes in their current state, and the NOx policy amendment will be further discussed by the health life enrichment committee at a meeting May 16.
Item 47 on the consent calendar stood out as public commenters expressed their support for it. It called for the continuation of the Market Match Program, which supports low-income Berkeley residents in accessing produce from the Berkeley Farmers’ Market.
“I don’t want to see the market become a place only for the wealthiest shoppers. The farmers’ market is not just an outdoor grocery store — it’s a community space that connects small farms and people together,” said one vendor who gave public comment.
The item was not discussed further by the council at this meeting.
Brianna Smith
GA reporter
